Skip to main content

Forum on Decentering the Human

Municipal legislation

Select a country from the list below to access legislation issued by municipal governments in that country relating to the rights of nature. The documents are categorised by the entity the legislation concerns.

Argentina
Australia
Brazil
England - United Kingdom
France
India
Netherlands
Northern Ireland - United Kingdom
Peru
Spain
United States
Uganda

Rights of nature

Rosario [PDF 142KB] (2020).
Santa Fe - Aerial Toxicities Ordinance [PDF 64KB] (2020).

Rights of nature

Blue Mountain City Council Declaration (2021).
Mornington Peninsula Shire Council Resolution (2022).

Ecosystem

Pernambuco - Paudalho (2) [PDF 1,952KB] (2018).

Mountains

Minas Gerais - Santo Antonio de Itambe (2024).

Rights of nature

Ceará - Fortaleza (2018).
Goiás - Alto Paraíso (2022).
Mato Grosso - Alto Paraguai [PDF 1,954KB] (2023).
Minas Gerais - Serro [PDF 2,358KB] (2022).
Paraíba - Alagoa Nova (2023).
Paraíba - Bonito [PDF 185KB] (2017).
Pernambuco - Paudalho [PDF 230KB] (2018).
Piauí - Jose do Freitas [PDF 2,745KB] (2023).
Rondonia - Guarjá Mirim (2023).
Santa Catarina - Florianopolis [PDF 306KB] (2019).
Sao Paulo - Sao Paulo (2018).
Sao Paulo - Sao Paulo Declaration (2015).

River

Goiás - Goias (Vermelho River) (2024).
Minas Gerais - Porteirinha [DOC 74KB] (2024).
Guarjá Mirim River:
- Rondonia - Guarjá Mirim River [PDF 355KB] (2023).
- Rondonia - Guarjá Mirim River (English version) [PDF 128KB] (2023).

Waves

Espírito Santo - Linhares [PDF 376KB] (2024).

River

Lewes Town Motion (2025)

Rivers and chalk

Basingtoke and Deane Motion (2025).

River

Paris grant honorary citenship to the Seine (2023).

River

River Narmada [PDF 429KB] (2017).

Right of nature

Eijsden-Margraten Motion (2023).

Sea

Wadden Sea (2019).

Rights of nature

Derry City and Strabane Rights of Nature Motion [PDF 291KB] (2021).
Fermanagh Motion (2021).

Lake

Puno Ordinance - Titicaca Lake (2025).

Right of nature - water

Orurillo Ordenance - Water [PDF 17,948KB] (2019).

River

Melgar Ordenance - Llallimayo River [PDF 2,696KB] (2019).

River

Galicia - Serra de Outres Declaration (2024).

Creek watershed and ecosystem

Colorado - Town of Lyons Resolution (2023).

Lake watershed

Colorado - Grand Lake Resolution (Declaraction) (2022).

Natural asset

Maine - Monroe Ordinance (2012).

Natural communities

New York - Van Etten Ordinance (2009).
Pennsylvania - State College Ordinance [PDF 17KB] (2011).

Natural communities and ecosystems

California - Ordinance Santa Monica US - 2018 [PDF 209KB] (2018).
California - Ordinance Santa Monica US - 2019 [PDF 312KB] (2019).
Maryland - Mountain Lake Park Ordinance [PDF 1,480KB] (2011).
New Hampshire - Grafton Ordinance (2013).
New York - Danby Ordinance (2010).
Ohio - Athens Town Bill of Rights (2024).
Ohio - Mansfield Town Bill of Rights (2012).
Ohio - Oberlin Ordinance (2013).
Ohio - Waterville Town Bill of Rights (2016).
Pennsylvania - Baldwin Ordinance [PDF 474KB] (2011).
Pennsylvania - Blaine Charter (2009).
Pennsylvania - Blaine Ordinance (2006).
Pennsylvania - Blaine Prohibition Ordinance (2008).
Pennsylvania - Ferguson Ordinance (2012).
Pennsylvania - Nockamixon Ordinance (2008).
Pennsylvania - Rush Ordinance (2006).
Pennsylvania - Shrewsbury Ordinance (2008).
Pennsylvania - Tamaqua Ordinance (Sewage Sludge) [PDF 3,221KB] (2006).
Pennsylvania - Tamaqua Ordinance (Waste and Local Control) (2006).
Pennsylvania - West Homestead Ordinance [PDF 180KB] (2011).
Virginia - Halifax Ordinance [PDF 4,655KB] (2008).

Rights of ecosystems

New Hampshire - Alexandria Ordinance (2014).
New Hampshire - Epping Resolution (2019).
New Hampshire - Plymouth Bill of Rights (2018).

Rights of nature

California - Arcata Proclamation (2015).
California - Mendocino Bill of Rights [PDF 171KB] (2014).
California - Ordinance Santa Monica US - 2013 [PDF 175KB] (2013).
Colorado - Crestone Ordinance [PDF 108KB] (2018).
Colorado - Creston Ordinance on Lighting and Dark Skies (2018).
Colorado - Lafayette Bill of Rights [PDF 335KB] (2017).
Maine - Newfield Ordinance (2009).
Maine - Sangerville Ordinance (2013).
Maine - Shapleigh Ordinance (2009).
Massachusetts - Falmouth Resolution [PDF 428KB] (2024).
New Hampshire - Atkinson Ordinance (2007).
New Hampshire - Barrington Ordinance (2016).
New Hampshire - Easton Ordinance (2012).
New Hampshire - Exeter Ordinance (2019).
New Hampshire - Hebron Ordinance (2014).
New Hampshire - Plymouth Ordinance (2018).
New Hampshire - Sugar Hill Ordinance (2012).
New York - Town of Wales Ordinance [PDF 37KB] (2011).
Ohio - Yellow Springs Ordinance [PDF 852KB] (2012).
Pennsylvania - Licking Ordinance [PDF 443KB] (2010).
Pennsylvania - Mahanoy Ordinance [PDF 1,302KB] (2008).
Pennsylvania - Newtown Ordinance (2009).
Pennsylvania - Packer Ordinance [PDF 267KB] (2010).
Pennsylvania - Pittsburgh Ordinance [PDF 236KB] (2010).
Pennsylvania - West Chester Bill of Rights (2015).
Pennsylvania - Wilkinsburg Ordinance (2011).
Pensylvania - Forest Hills Ordinance [PDF 352KB] (2011).
Wisconsin - Milwaukee County Resolution (2023).

Rights of nature, natural communities and ecosystems

New Hampshire - Barnstead Ordinance (2006).
New Hampshire - Nottingham Water Rights Ordinance [PDF 26KB] (2008).
Ohio - Mansfield Town Bill of Rights (2012).
Ohio - Oberlin Ordinance (2013).
Ohio - Waterville Town Bill of Rights (2016).

River

Colorado - Ridgway Resolution (Declaration) (2021).
Florida - Orange County Ordinance [PDF 8,770KB] (2020).
Washington - Everett City Ordinance (2024).

River and watershed

Colorado - Nederland Ordinance [PDF 278KB] (2021).

Sensitive lands

New Mexico - San Miguel Resolution (2014).

Washington - Everett City Ordinance (2024).

Ecosystem - Indigenous Sacred Natural Sites

Access other areas of the database:

Animals

A pod of orcas (killer whales) breaking the surface of the ocean.

Machines

A drone flying by an apartment building with a small package.

Ecocide

Rainforest being cleared for palm oil plantations.