Op piece Romford Recorder and Barking and Dagenham Post May/June 2025
‘Spiritual’ is a vague, hard to define word I avoid using. But I guess it could describe my sense of connection with nature, stirred afresh by recent news stories.
The appointment of a ‘Voice’ to speak for our local rivers is a fantastic development inspired by the global Rights of Nature movement. It’s possibly the first example in the UK. The spokesperson will be part of the Roding, Beam and Ingrebourne Catchment Partnership.
The remit is laid out in a ‘Declaration of Rights of the River Roding.’ This acknowledges ‘that rivers are essential to all life and perform essential ecological functions.’ It declares the Roding ‘to be an indivisible and living whole.’ As a living entity it ‘should possess legal standing in a court of law and have all the rights, powers, duties, and liabilities of a legal person.’ The Declaration fosters a model ‘based on living in harmony with nature and respecting both the rights of nature and human rights.’
Giving our rivers their own voice is a powerful expression of the desire to restore our natural environment after years of pollution, reckless extraction and biodiversity devastation.
The mindset this movement is up against was personified by the Sycamore Gap news story and the cutting down of that iconic tree. One of the two convicted defendants said it was ‘just a tree’ and couldn’t understand why its destruction hit the headlines as much as it did. Some comfort can be taken from the outrage expressed worldwide towards this senseless act of vandalism. But the uncomfortable truth is that the blind spot it showed towards nature pervades society. It’s epitomised by the delight with which Trump spouts the mantra ‘Drill baby drill.’
I don’t believe humans were created separately and given dominion over the rest of nature. We are part of nature, and share much of our DNA with the rest of the natural world from which we have evolved. Our survival depends on recognising our fragile interdependence. To quote the great Humanist, David Attenborough, who’s just turned 99: “It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living.”
Paul Kaufman
Chairperson East London Humanists
