A New Legal Vision for River Protection

08/03/2026 – What if a river had legal rights? Despite Brazil’s strong environmental laws, weak enforcement continues to leave rivers like the Tapajós vulnerable to destructive development. Over the past 18 months, our friends at International Rivers worked with Indigenous communities to develop new legal protections for the Arapiuns River, advancing a proposal that would recognize the river as a subject of rights. By combining community leadership with innovative legal reform, the initiative aims to create stronger tools to challenge mining, dredging, and other harmful infrastructure projects while protecting biodiversity, traditional livelihoods, and the river itself.