Right of Nature in Africa: Assessing the Feasibility of Granting Legal Personhood to Rivers and Forests

Abstract

A global movement has begun to grow, one that argues that nature itself ought to be viewed as an important subject of law and not only an object of mere regulations. This growing idea is often described as granting rights of nature or legal personhood to natural entities, which includes important environmental elements like forests, rivers, and some other components of the ecosystem. Drawing insights from emerging global experience, this study assesses whether granting rights of nature or legal personhood to natural entities across the continent is currently viable and, if so, what the recognition and adoption might entail. The study employs a doctrinal approach, alongside a structured narrative review style and complemented by illustrative case examples, to highlight how significant this notion of legal personhood to natural entities has become worldwide and its implications for Africa. Potential legal, guardianship and institutional challenges in its adoption are highlighted, as well as promising prospects for Africa’s environmental governance if widespread acceptance and recognition of the rights of nature are ever achieved. The study reignites the historical idea that Africa’s pre-colonial legacy was always accustomed to the idea of natural entities bearing a semblance of personhood, and provides recommendations that African states must adopt if the continent is ever to utilise the concept of rights of nature to help address its current environmental challenges, improve accountability, and also, possibly, widen access to environmental justice.