UDTR Global Rights of Nature Radar

Case study report on rights of rivers in practice in Bangladesh and Colombia

Identification

Public canonical key

doi:10.51414/sei2026.022

Authors

Yesica Rodríguez-Blásquez · Dayoon Kim · Robert A. Farnan · Alison Dyke · Sushmita Mandal · Cláudia Coleoni

Reported year

2026

Reported language

en

Source type

report

First detected

2026-11-09T19:04:47.859121+00:00

Last metadata observation

2026-11-09T19:18:45.594809+00:00

Last HTTP verification

Not checked

Institutions reported by the source

Chulalongkorn University · Stockholm Environment Institute · University of Oxford · University of York

Reported affiliation countries

GB · SE · TH

Documentary abstract — original language

This report examines how the rights of rivers are being implemented in practice through comparative analysis of two case studies: the Turag River and all rivers in Bangladesh and the Atrato River in Colombia. The findings highlight that while legal recognition represents an important step, its transformative potential depends on broader political, institutional and epistemic conditions: 1. Legal recognition is a starting point, not a solution. Granting legal personhood to rivers introduces a significant normative shift but does not in itself ensure implementation or desired ecological outcomes. In both cases, a persistent gap remains between juridical recognition and its translation into enforceable actions and measurable environmental improvements. 2. Community agency and guardianship are critical. Inclusive and representative guardianship arrangements are central to translating rights into practice. The Colombian case shows that collective community participation can strengthen legitimacy and continuity of governance processes, while its absence, as in Bangladesh, constrains meaningful implementation. 3. Including different forms of knowledge determines transformative potential. Implementation of the rights of rivers is not only a legal or institutional challenge but also an epistemic one. Where governance systems fail to integrate local and relational knowledge, rights remain abstract and difficult to operationalize. In contrast, in Colombia, the partial inclusion of biocultural knowledge, which links ecological processes with the cultural practices, values and livelihoods of local communities, demonstrates pathways toward more grounded and context-sensitive governance. 4. Governance arrangements shape outcomes. The effectiveness of rights of rivers depends on governance design. Fragmented institutional mandates, unclear coordination mechanisms, and weak enforcement capacities limit implementation. Where governance remains misaligned across sectors and scales, legal recognition risks adding complexity without improving outcomes. 5. Structural conditions constrain transformation. The implementation of rights of rivers unfolds within existing governance systems shaped by historical and colonial legacies, anthropocentric paradigms and institutional fragmentation. Without deliberate efforts to address these structural constraints, the legal recognition of rivers as rights-bearing entities risks remaining a symbolic framework rather than becoming a transformative one.

Identifiers

DOI

10.51414/sei2026.022

OPENALEX

W7165735781

OPENAIRE

doi_________::b335bddce2dba18b6c014777feba6970

Documentary context

Documentary family

Report — institutional provenance unspecified

Source-reported types

Report · report

Jurisdictions studied — explicit sources

BD · CO

Natural entities mentioned

River

Entity mentions are not evidence of legal recognition. Jurisdiction studied is separate from author affiliation country.

Sources

OpenAIRE · Record 1

OpenAlex · Record 1 · Record 2

• DOI · https://doi.org/10.51414/sei2026.022
• OpenAlex · https://openalex.org/W7165735781

Documented bibliographic relations

Source-declared references and links; they do not establish legal support or UGLC qualification. Up to 20 outgoing references are displayed.

• openalex:w1486155751 · CITES
• openalex:w2055519739 · CITES
• openalex:w2067438931 · CITES
• openalex:w2106414433 · CITES
• openalex:w2110122526 · CITES
• openalex:w2760735077 · CITES
• Conferring legal personality on the world’s rivers: A brief intellectual assessment · CITES
• openalex:w2971219075 · CITES
• openalex:w2974045912 · CITES
• Trace elements in sediments and fish from Atrato River: an ecosystem with legal rights impacted by gold mining at the Colombian Pacific · CITES
• openalex:w2992457244 · CITES
• El Atrato y sus guardianes: imaginación ecopolítica para hilar nuevos derechos · CITES
• Stop Burying the Lede: The Essential Role of Indigenous Law(s) in Creating Rights of Nature · CITES
• openalex:w3143018460 · CITES
• openalex:w3157373637 · CITES
• openalex:w3173903848 · CITES
• Rights of Nature in Practice: A Case Study on the Impacts of the Colombian Atrato River Decision · CITES
• openalex:w4200215852 · CITES
• ¿A quién pertenece la naturaleza? Sobre los derechos de la naturaleza · CITES
• openalex:w4223964533 · CITES

0 incoming references within the detected corpus

Documentary status

Relevance pending

Library

This identity is not yet included in the Legal Library.