One Monday morning in spring last year, 12 people gathered in the morning drizzle at Joyce’s Pool, one of the sources of the Bristol River Avon, and took the first steps of the inaugural Avon pilgrimage. Over the course of eight days, a revolving cast of pilgrims walked about 100 miles from the source of the river to the point at which it reaches the sea, in some cases bivvying on the riverside at night. Along the way they planted trees, sowed seeds, restored footpaths and presented councillors and decision-makers with a fledgling Avon charter, developed by the Bristol campaign group Conham Bathing.
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 charter enshrines the Avon’s rights to exist, thrive, and evolve naturally, to flow sustainably, to not be polluted, to preserve its biodiversity, to aim for regeneration and restoration, to build cultural and community connection, and to represent and advocate for the rights of the river. River charters are part of a national and international movement to establish legal rights and stronger agency for nature.
Recent UK initiatives include Lewes town council recognising the rights of trees, organisations putting nature on the board, “interspecies councils” exploring interspecies decision-making, and a nature’s rights bill being debated in parliament. About 40 river charters have emerged since the Sussex River Ouse became the first in England to have its rights recognised by a local authority, in February 2025. The ABCRR contains similar language, but it also breaks new ground.
An unprecedented nine councils have endorsed it, including Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES), Bristol City, and North Somerset (under its motion for the ocean). More are expected to follow. We Are Avon’s bioregional movement also represents a new model for upholding charter rights.
River charters do not replace statutory duties, create legal obligations, or explain how competing rights should be handled. But proponents argue that they can align governance bodies around clear moral rights, empower grassroots stewardship and hold institutions to account. Josh Levene, a founder of the UK River Rights Network, says the best charters are “social contracts between humans and the river”.
The more integrated they are with existing institutions such as councils and catchment partnerships, he says, the stronger they become. Through the charter campaign, We Are Avon convenes cross-council workshops exploring bioregional river governance for the first time. This has increased communication between councils, Wessex Water, and the West of England combined authority.
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