Count Binface Should Read Bartolus

On 24 May 2026 a ‘River Wye Charter’ was issued, proclaiming rights which the river should enjoy: these included ‘the right to flow’, ‘the right to be free from pollution’, ‘the right to be supported by a healthy catchment’, ‘the right to regenerate’, and finally, and in many ways most innovatively, ‘the right to representation’. No authority issued the charter or granted the rights; it was formulated by a group called ‘Friends of the River Wye’. The basis for the rights was not identified; they were simply declared to be. The charter was soon endorsed by a number of local authorities through whose territories the river runs, and by other interested parties. A year beforehand, Louise Bodnar, an ecologist, had been appointed ‘Voice of the River Wye’ by the Wye Catchment Nutrient Management Board, an advisory body with no formal powers, operating under the aegis of Herefordshire County Council. The river and its basin could hardly speak for themselves; her role was to do so for them. The river was, therefore, already represented before the charter proclaimed that representation to be its right.