For someone accustomed to Western legal culture, the acknowledgment of right of nature may seem bizarre, or at least strange, at first. However, such rights have been part of customary law in many Indigenous communities around the world for centuries.

These communities believe that if something exists, its legal recognition comes as a natural consequence. This perspective has also started to emerge in Europe and, driven by environmental movements, challenges the traditional anthropocentric legislation, particularly in former colonizer states. A textbook example of this phenomenon is the Mar Menor case, which carries significant implications.

Mar Menor, Europe’s largest saltwater lagoon, lies on Spain’s south-eastern coast in the region of Murcia. A sandbar separates its 135-square-kilometre area from the Mediterranean Sea, making its waters warm and shallow, and its beaches attractive to tourists. Its unique location also provides a habitat for numerous fishes, seahorses, and the endangered European eel.

However, its special wildlife was suffering from regular fertilizer runoff from nearby farms. This runoff caused the water to become turbid due to algal blooms, dead fish to wash up in large numbers, and a local population of a shellfish species to disappear. The stench of decay caused property prices to collapse, tourists to stay away, and residents to become angry. In 2019, over 50,000 people marched in nearby Cartagena to protest the destruction.

In the wake of the protests, the Spanish government approved 20 million euros in funding to improve water management in cities near the Mar Menor as part of a lagoon restoration plan. This was followed by a citizen initiative that gathered roughly 640,000 signatures and targeted a 1,600-square-kilometre area covering the lagoon and its surrounding coasts. The resulting Mar Menor Law was promulgated by King Felipe VI on 30 September 2022, and came into force on the same day.

The Preamble of the Law

The preamble of the law provides a detailed description of the geographical unit and its environmental values, and notes that ‘[T]ogether with its environmental values, the Mar Menor is one of the main constituent elements of the cultural identity of the Region of Murcia and arouses a strong emotional attachment in all the inhabitants from the Murcia Region.’ The law aims ‘to grant legal personality to the ecosystem of the Mar Menor lagoon in order to provide it, as a subject of law, with its own rights, on the basis of its intrinsic ecological value and intergenerational solidarity, thus guaranteeing its preservation for future generations.’

The legislator further states: ‘The recognition of the rights of the ecosystem of the Mar Menor lagoon and its basin means complying with our international commitments, such as the Paris Agreement of 2015 on Climate Change, and fulfilling the demands of the new geological period that our planet has entered, the Anthropocene. In the 21st century, the serious ecological damage caused by the human development model forces us to expand our responsibility to look after the environment. Granting rights to the natural entity of the Mar Menor, at the same time, strengthens and extends the rights of the people living in the lagoon area, which are threatened by ecological degradation: the so-called biocultural rights.’

‘In the 21st century, the serious ecological damage caused by the human development model forces us to expand our responsibility to look after the environment’

It also refers to a judgement of the Second Chamber of the Spanish Supreme Court, 30 November, 1990, No 3851/1990, in which ‘the connection between the natural environment and the fundamental rights to life and health of persons was made clear, and expressly refers to the human being as an integral part of nature and not as a being intended to dominate it in order to use it exclusively for their service.’

The Provisions of the Law

Article 1 declares the legal personality of the Mar Menor lagoon and its basin and specifies the exact geographical areas to which this applies.

Article 2 establishes that ‘[t]he Mar Menor and its basin shall be recognised as a legal entity with rights that require the ecosystem be protected, preserved, maintained or, where relevant, restored by regional and central governments and residents of the Mar Menor’s surroundings. The Mar Menor shall also have the right to exist as an ecosystem and to evolve naturally, which shall include all the natural characteristics of the water, the communities of organisms, the soil and the terrestrial and aquatic subsystems that form part of the Mar Menor lagoon and its basin.’

Article 3 elaborates on the content of the four rights set out in paragraph 2.

Article 4 concerns the representation and management of the Mar Menor lagoon and its basin, entrusting these responsibilities to three bodies.

Articles 4 and 5 state that violations of the rights granted by the law incur sanctions. Specifically, Article 4 addresses offensive conduct in general, while Article 5 concerns actions or measures by administrative bodies that violate these provisions. Article 6 establishes actio popularis, meaning that anyone may bring a claim to defend the rights of the Mar Menor. Article 7 outlines the obligations of the administration, including developing public policies, supporting public awareness campaigns, preparing studies and risk maps, restricting activities, and prohibiting or limiting the introduction of organic and inorganic substances.

On 31 August 2023, in a ruling concerning two landfills near the Mar Menor, a judge in Cartagena applied Articles 3 and 6 of the law by including the Committee of Representatives, several environmental organizations, and seven municipal councils in the proceedings.

Criticisms

Although the ways in which the rights of nature interact with Western legal systems are still underexplored in literature, the issue remains controversial. Key criticisms include the following:

1. Granting rights to nature can create inconsistencies within legal systems. For example, assigning personality to rivers or forests sits uneasily within Western legal frameworks, which do not always align with ecological realities and ensure effective protection.

2. Granting rights to nature can inadvertently hinder development. Expanded rights can restrict the use of resources on which local economies depend.

3. Granting rights to nature can generate legal and financial complexity. New standing rules, representation mechanisms, and remedies may increase litigation and administrative costs.

The recognition of the rights of nature is not novel—it is rooted in longstanding Indigenous legal traditions, and it has directly challenged anthropocentric legal frameworks inherited from colonial systems. Incorporating such rights into Western legal traditions by applying them to ecosystems like the Mar Menor raises complex and as yet unresolved legal, political, and social questions.

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