Nijmegen (Netherlands): guardian of nature on Veur-Lent Island

Summary

On 12 November, 2025, two students, Rosanne Takacs and Tijne Osinga, both aged 17, submitted a citizens’ initiative in the Municipality of Nijmegen regarding the recognition of Rights of Nature, and to establish an independent guardian to represent the interests of nature on Veur-Lent Island.

The citizens’ initiative has the following decision points:
1. That the Nijmegen City Council recognize the Rights of Nature in Veur-Lent
2. That the City Council and the Municipal Executive take into account the impact that municipal decisions have on nature in Veur-Lent
3. That the City Council instruct the Municipal Executive to appoint a guardian for Nature in Veur-Lent

Regarding the rights of nature, it states: “Nature has the right to exist, and as a municipality, we must commit ourselves to that. That is the recognition we expect. By this, we do not mean that nature should become a legal entity, as that would require a change in the law that cannot be achieved at the local level. Therefore, we believe it is a feasible and effective solution to work with a guardian who acts as a voice for nature.” (page 2, machine translated)

On 17 December, 2025, the City Council decided to consider the citizens’ initiative and to schedule it for a round of discussions with the initiators and the municipal executive, regarding the initiative’s content and how the municipality will proceed with it. The discussion was held on 25 February, 2026.

How to Represent Nature
At the Nijmegen City Council meeting on 11 March, 2026, the council adopted a motion that stated it believes the citizens’ initiative offers an opportunity to implement ecocentric decision-making in urban development, and noted that the municipal executive views the ideas behind the citizens’ initiative favorably, but that further research is needed into this representative role. They noted that the principles governing a representative role are not specified in the citizens’ initiative, and that laws and regulations at the municipal level do not provide for “legal rights” for nature. This underscores the need for a clear vision from the City Council.

The municipal executive, as well as the City Council, called for the citizens’ initiative to be further developed.

It noted that there are also other ways to advocate for the Rights of Nature, such as a council of guardians or a nature ombudsman, and as such, it will investigate the best structure through which Nature in Veur-Lent can have a voice in the municipality’s planning and decision-making processes. The council emphasized that “the form of representation for Veur-Lent must provide added value compared to existing forms of representation.”

Topics of Investigation
c. The representative body must be able to act neutrally and independently. The representative body has an advisory role only and has no formal decision-making authority.
d. It must be entirely clear what the body’s rights are, how far they extend, and how its role respects the council’s ultimate authority. It must be explicitly ensured that final responsibility for decision-making remains with the council and the executive board.
e. The representative body provides the executive board and the council with “ecological” advice and arguments, not legal advice.
f. The representative body is objective and neutral. Its vision and convictions are scientific in nature and never political.
g. The municipal executive clearly explains what the appointment of the representative body means for other nature areas in our municipality.
h. The representative role aligns with existing participation and advisory structures in the area.

Background and Ecological Context
Veur-Lent is a river island located in the Waal River near Nijmegen that was created through the Room for the River flood protection programme, a national initiative designed to improve flood safety while restoring river landscapes and natural habitats. The island contains a mosaic of floodplain forests, wetlands, grasslands, side channels, and riparian habitats that support a biodiverse range of plant and animal species. Part of the island forms part of the Natura 2000 network under the European Union’s Habitats and Birds Directives. Portions of Veur-Lent already receive legal protection through Natura 2000 designation and Dutch environmental legislation; however, the students argued that these protections do not ensure that the more-than-human communities of Veur-Lent Island have an independent voice during planning and management decisions.

This submission was sent for consideration after the students collected the required 100 signatures to place the proposal before the municipal council (Nijmegen’s citizens’ initiative procedure). The proposal originally envisioned recognizing the island itself as a legal entity but was revised after the students concluded that legal personhood would be difficult to achieve under existing Dutch law.

The proposal remains subject to review and approval by the municipal council before any guardian can be appointed.