The Council of Witnesses, composed of twelve citizens from the Nantes region and accompanied by writer and thinker Camille de Toledo, an associate member of the Nantes Institute for Advanced Study, spent a year conducting in-depth work, including hearings with researchers in earth sciences, historians, legal experts, philosophers, and activists engaged in the recognition of the rights of nature. At the conclusion of this process, they presented three citizen bill proposals to Members of Parliament Charles Fournier and Lisa Belluco on April 30, 2025, thus opening a new chapter in the reflection on the legal status of natural elements.
The full versions, enriched with annotations and references, will also be provided. They will soon be available online for public consultation.
These citizen proposals are part of a broader framework of research and creation led by Camille de Toledo since 2019, focusing on the recognition of the rights of nature. They extend work initiated at the European level as part of the project Towards an International of Rivers and Other Elements of Nature, which aims to imagine a transformation of the law through the creation of constitutive narratives. Through this approach, the goal is to amplify the voices of the living—both human and non-human—to renew existing legal frameworks by integrating ecological interdependencies at the very core of the law. This approach seeks to invent new narratives to broaden our concept of justice and to make space for shared responsibility toward natural environments. Here are the key points…
© Anne-Marie Filaire (Photo on the right)
A Law for the Recognition of Natural Entities as Legal Subjects
This proposal establishes the legal foundations for recognizing natural elements—animal, plant, mineral species, or ecosystems—as legal subjects. The goal is to enable these entities to assert their needs, values, and perspectives within French law. It represents a foundational step in transforming how we approach ecological justice.
A Law for the Recognition of the Loire as a Non-Human Entity with Rights
Inspired by similar initiatives in India, New Zealand, and Colombia, this proposal seeks to recognize the Loire River, along with its entire watershed, as a living entity with rights. It aims to make the Loire a full legal actor, protected for what it is, not just for the use humans make of it.
A Law for the Recognition of the Rights of the Loire Estuary
This proposal focuses on a often-overlooked area: the estuarine space, a meeting point between freshwater and saltwater, rich in biodiversity and cultural connections. Following international examples of legal recognition of wetlands, the estuary is here considered as an "attachment environment" with its own rights, to be protected as such.
