Welcome to the UK Rights of Nature Map
This map brings together Rights of Nature initiatives across the UK: council motions, legislation, community charters, guardianship arrangements, petitions, research and artistic projects. It is a living record and not definitive.
What's included
Earth law, sometimes called ecological jurisprudence, is the effort to recognise the natural world as a subject with its own standing, rather than as property or resource. This map is fairly broad, including formal instruments such as council motions, legislation, charters and guardianship or "nature on the board" arrangements; and wider work such as research, community organising, and artistic and creative projects concerned with knowing ourselves as part of Nature, and with giving Nature a voice.
What's not included: general environmental campaigning, conservation or water-quality work that does not engage with rights, standing or representation for nature. The boundary is deliberately loose, and contested cases are welcome; get in touch if you think something belongs.
Where does the data come from?
The map draws on three sources, and every case is labelled with its own:
- Eco Jurisprudence Monitor: the EJM, an international repository maintained by researchers affiliated with the Academic Hub of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature.
- Riverknowing research: cases compiled by Riverknowing from council records, campaign material and public reporting.
- Community submissions: added by members of the public.
Several initiatives appear in more than one source. Those show as a single marker, with buttons at the top of the detail panel to switch between each source's account. We do not merge them: the accounts sometimes disagree, and the disagreement is worth seeing.
EJM's records are reproduced exactly as EJM published them; we do not edit their data. The filter categories are an overlay created for this map and only partially match the EJM.
How complete is it?
Where no reliable date could be established we have left the year blank rather than guessing; those cases sit under Undated in the year filter. A case marked at an early stage may only reflect the earliest category found, not evidence that a document exists. Locations are approximate, usually marking a town or catchment rather than a precise site.
Can I add something?
Yes! Click + Submit a case in the sidebar. Pick a location on the map, then fill in a form. Not all fields are mandatory, just add what you know. Submissions are held briefly before publishing. Corrections are welcome: each case has a Propose addition/adjustment button.
Privacy & ethics
We only use your email to contact you about your submission, and we don't use tracking cookies. See our privacy & data ethics note for how we handle this map's data, and EJM's own Data Ethics statement for theirs.