France Declaration of the Rights of Nature in Nature Reserves

Summary

On 21 May 2026, during its General Assembly in Taglio, Corsica, the Réserves Naturelles de France (RNF) network unanimously adopted the “Declaration of the Rights of Nature in Nature Reserves,” accompanied by an explanatory note intended to guide its interpretation and implementation by individual reserves and local territories. The declaration represents the first collective commitment by France’s national network of nature reserves to formally embrace a rights of nature framework within protected area governance.

The declaration affirms the principle that nature reserves are not only administered protected spaces, but living communities whose balances, cycles, and ecological needs deserve to be recognized and taken into consideration.

The text recognizes several fundamental rights in nature reserves:
the right to the health of ecosystems and the continuity of natural cycles;
the right not to be destroyed, polluted, fragmented or artificialized;
the right to restoration when an environment is degraded;
the right to conditions favorable to the reproduction, migration and evolution of species;
the right to a stable climate and water essential to the existence of environments.

The declaration recognizes that reserve managers already act as guardians of Nature’s rights to work to preserve ecological balances, and that “The governance of nature reserves should incorporate representation of the distinct interests of the ecosystems and entities that comprise them, by combining the voices of members of existing advisory committees with those of citizen associations representing the rights of nature.” (Page 3)

The declaration emerged from a multi-year collaborative process of dialogue between RNF and Wild Legal, which began in 2022 during the network’s 40th anniversary, exploring how rights of nature principles could strengthen conservation practice. In 2024, RNF unanimously adopted a motion committing the network to examine rights of nature approaches, which led to two years of discussions among reserve managers, scientists, jurists, conservation practitioners, and local stakeholders. The 2026 declaration reflects this collaborative effort while intentionally avoiding a one-size-fits-all model, allowing each nature reserve to adapt its approach to implementation according to its history, its challenges, and its local partners.

Involved Organizations