On July 29, 2021, the Declaration of the Rights of the Tavignanu River was proclaimed. It is the first declaration of its kind regarding the rights of an ecosystem in France. This initiative was launched by the collectives “Tavignanu Vivu”, “Umani”, and “Terre de Liens-Corsica” with the support of “Notre Affaire à Tous”.
The Declaration recognises Tavignanu as a subject of rights with a legal personhood and fundamental rights. This declaration is supported by numerous citizens, by people involved in politics or culture, by the Assembly of Corsica, and by different municipalities that have adopted motions of support for the Declaration. Tavignanu is the second-longest river of Corsica. Its source is at 1743m above the Ninu Lake, and its mouth is in Aleria, on the Tyrrhenian Sea coast. It flows through three “Natural zones of ecological, faunistic and floral interests”. The low valley is classified as a Natura 2000 site for its biodiversity and for the presence of numerous protected species.
Nevertheless, Tavignanu is threatened by an enormous project of an industrial landfill for household waste, asbestos waste, and asbestos soil, to be located in one of its meanders, where the land is notably unstable. Hence, this declaration of rights aims at raising awareness on the situation of the Tavignanu river and to promote the rights of nature to better protect this river.
