Charter for the Rights of the River Wye

Summary

On 24 May 2026, the Charter for the Rights of the River Wye was launched, recognizing the entire river system as a living ecosystem with intrinsic rights. The Charter is the first full-catchment river rights framework in the UK. It has been adopted by Herefordshire County Council and Powys County Council, and it is expected to be adopted by Gloucestershire and Monmouthshire County Council, covering the entirety of the Wye’s 130-mile course.

The original proposal was presented by Herefordshire Councillor Elissa Swinglehurst. It was developed in 2025 as a shared statement of intent by a working group of community representatives, environmental organizations, and local councillors. The working group included members of the Wye Catchment Partnership and the Wye Catchment Nutrient Management Board.

The Charter recognizes the intrinsic rights of the River Wye and establishes a framework for action to improve the river’s ecological condition:

The right to flow and perform natural functions
The right to biodiversity
The right to be free from pollution
The right to be supported by a healthy catchment
The right to regenerate
The right to representation

Regional Adoption
The Charted has been signed and adopted by local government councils of Herefordshire County, Powys County, and Forest of Dean District (located within Gloucestershire County). In England, the first tier of local government is a County, the second tier is a District, and the most local tier are civil parishes, which may also be called a “village council”, “town council”, or if the parish holds city status, “city council”.

By adopting the charter, the councils resolve to embed its principles into local policies and strategic planning. The next step is to integrate the Charter’s principles into policy development. This includes Herefordshire’s new Local Plan being drafted.

2025 Herefordshire Council Motion
The launch of the Charter follows a non-binding motion passed by the Herefordshire Council in December 2025 that resolved the Council to support the rights of the river and its tributaries and utilize the Charter for the River Wye as a reference document regarding Herefordshire’s rivers. Herefordshire’s motion also expressed support for neighboring authorities to champion the Charter and work “toward a holistic, cross border and catchment-wide acknowledgement of the intrinsic value of the River Wye and its tributaries”.

The passage of that motion was not yet legal recognition. It was an acknowledgment that signals intention around the rights of rivers, and was an opportunity for further legal development.

Background
The Charter for the River Wye comes after previous initiatives seeking rights of nature for the River Wye. In 2023, a motion on River Wye Byelaws was brought before Herefordshire Council; however, following advice, its legal team determined that a byelaw was not an appropriate approach. Alternatives approaches were sought, including in 2025, when the Wye Catchment Nutrient Management Board appointed ecologist Dr Louise Bodnar as the “Voice of the River Wye” with a formal voting seat on the Board to represent the river’s interests in official decision-making and act as legal representative.

Involved Organizations