Key Points
- Historic Signing: Councillors, environmental organizations, river guardians, and members of the public participated in signing the Avon bioregional charter of river rights (ABCRR) on the occasion of World Rivers Day at Parade Gardens in Bath.
- Unprecedented Endorsement: Nine local authorities have offered unprecedented endorsement to this charter, which includes B&NES, Bristol City, and North Somerset.
- Core Rights: The ABCRR ensures that the river enjoys the right to existence, flourishing, natural evolution, sustainable flow, cleanliness, biological diversity, regeneration, and community connectivity.
- Grassroots Campaign: This movement emanated from the We Are Avon campaign, which conducted a historic 100-mile journey from the source of the river to its mouth and also works with 18 local river guardian groups.
- New Governance Framework: Even though river charters have no legal binding power on any government institution, the proponents as well as local authorities stress their significance in setting a moral framework for governance.
Bath, (Bristol Express News) September 28, 2026 — Following a pioneering 100-mile community pilgrimage across eight days from the source of the river to the sea, the Bristol River Avon has officially achieved a major conservation milestone. As reported by Samuel Firman of The Guardian, councillors, environmental groups, river guardians, and members of the public gathered at 11am at Parade Gardens in Bath to publicly sign the Avon bioregional charter of river rights (ABCRR).
The initiative originated when 12 people gathered in the morning drizzle at Joyce’s Pool—one of the sources of the Bristol River Avon—to launch the inaugural Avon pilgrimage. Over the course of the journey, participants planted trees, sowed seeds, restored footpaths, and presented decision-makers with a fledgling charter developed by the Bristol campaign group Conham Bathing.
Reflecting on the initial political response, pilgrim Hamish Evans, who co-founded We Are Avon, stated that “the reception was so good across political parties and interest groups,” adding that “it felt inevitable that we would one day achieve better rights and representation for this river.”
What Are the Specific Rights Enshrined in the New Charter?
The newly signed ABCRR formally establishes a moral and social framework for the waterway. As detailed in reporting by Samuel Firman of The Guardian, the charter enshrines the Avon’s rights to:
- Exist, thrive, and evolve naturally.
- Flow sustainably and remain unpolluted.
- Preserve its biodiversity.
- Aim for regeneration and restoration.
- Build cultural and community connection.
- Represent and advocate for the rights of the river.
River charters form part of a broader national and international movement to establish legal rights and stronger agency for nature. Recent initiatives across the United Kingdom include Lewes town council recognizing the rights of trees, organizations placing nature on governing boards, interspecies councils exploring inclusive decision-making, and a nature’s rights bill being debated in parliament.
Since the Sussex River Ouse became the first in England to have its rights recognized by a local authority in February 2025, approximately 40 river charters have emerged nationwide. However, the ABCRR breaks new ground by securing an unprecedented nine council endorsements, including Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES), Bristol City, and North Somerset.
How Will the Charter Be Implemented Across Local Authorities?
While river charters do not replace statutory duties, create legal obligations, or dictate how competing rights should be handled, proponents argue they successfully align governance bodies around clear moral principles, empower grassroots stewardship, and hold institutions to account.
Josh Levene, a founder of the UK River Rights Network, described the best charters as “social contracts between humans and the river,” noting that their strength scales with their level of integration into existing institutions like councils and catchment partnerships. Through the charter campaign, We Are Avon has convened cross-council workshops exploring bioregional river governance, boosting communication between local authorities, Wessex Water, and the West of England combined authority.
While individual councils are yet to publish formal implementation plans, B&NES has appointed a river advocate to represent the Avon. Councillor Oli Henman stated that the charter “allows us to embed some of those principles into our [climate and nature] strategy,” which is due in early 2027. Henman added that the charter “is really about re-energising, stepping up ambition, expanding that partnership.”
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What Role Do Grassroots Guardians Play in Protecting the Avon?
The We Are Avon movement plans to pressure existing institutions into upholding the charter while simultaneously modelling alternative approaches. Bioregionalism advocates for environmental governance that maps directly onto ecological systems. Since 2023, We Are Avon has mobilized farmers, river guardians, and local groups around grassroots stewardship. Josh Levene noted that the “Avon is furthest along the way to showcasing the bioregional approach.”
Campaigner Meg Avon, who symbolically “married” the Avon in 2023 to highlight pollution, reported that 18 Avon guardian groups now actively test water quality, collect litter, and “maintain that relationship with their local tributary or section.”
Paul Powlesland, a co-founder of Lawyers for Nature, emphasized the importance of this groundswell, stating that “river rights charters are an amazing way to begin changing our attitude towards rivers, but they don’t change the law by themselves.” He added that “most important is what comes next. The Avon is lucky to have an amazing community of river guardians and supportive councils who can begin to make these rights a practical reality.”
Rather than waiting entirely on top-down governance, Hamish Evans stressed the community’s proactive stance:
“We want to keep the pressure on councils, but don’t want to wait for that. We’re also making our own table.”
This strategy includes convening farm clusters to share regenerative practices and preparing a campaign to acquire a community-owned hub to demonstrate regenerative land management.
Concluding on the cultural shift sparked by the movement, Meg Avon observed that “we’re already starting to shift cultural consciousness into acknowledging that rivers are alive and subjects worthy of rights,” adding that “people are willing to go wading in shit because they get so much joy out of walking with us.”
Background of the Development
The signing of the Avon Bioregional Charter of River Rights represents a continuation of the rapidly growing global “Rights of Nature” movement, which seeks to legally or morally recognize that natural ecosystems possess inherent rights to exist and regenerate, independent of human property ownership. In the United Kingdom, this movement gained significant traction following the historic decision in February 2025 when the Sussex River Ouse became the first river in England to have its rights recognized by a local authority.
Environmental campaigners have increasingly turned to bioregional charters as a tactical response to widespread pollution, regulatory backlogs within statutory water companies, and insufficient funding for traditional environmental protection agencies. By establishing moral frameworks and fostering cross-council collaboration, communities along waterways like the Avon are attempting to bridge the gap between traditional municipal governance and ecological realities.
As the ABCRR model takes root across the Bristol Avon catchment, its success in bridging grassroots activism with institutional cooperation could serve as a blueprint for river conservation across the United Kingdom. For local residents, environmental groups, and regional water users, this development signals a shift toward heightened public accountability for bodies like Wessex Water and local councils.
If We Are Avon successfully pressures institutions while driving autonomous community stewardship—such as through farm clusters and water quality testing by local guardians—audiences living along the Avon can expect increased transparency, improved collaborative management of climate and nature strategies, and a stronger cultural consciousness regarding river health. However, because the charter lacks direct statutory enforcement powers, its ultimate efficacy will depend heavily on whether endorsing councils translate these moral commitments into binding financial and regulatory decisions in their upcoming 2027 strategies.
