NO KINGS DAY PROTEST SATURDAY. FIND YOUR LOCAL PROTEST AT NOKINGS.ORG. Meanwhile Peruvian River Granted Personhood
Goldman Environmental Prize Winner Wins Landmark Case
Photo: Mari Luz Canaquiri Murayari, via The Goldman Environmental Prize Organization
In March 2024, Mari Luz Canaquiri Murayari and Asociación de Mujeres Huaynakana Kamatahuara Kana—a Kukama women’s association for which she serves as president—won a landmark rights of nature court decision to protect the Marañón River in Peru. For the first time in the country’s history, a river was granted legal personhood—with the right to be free-flowing and free of contamination. After finding the Peruvian government in violation of the river’s inherent rights, the court ordered the government to take immediate action to prevent future oil spills into the river, mandated the creation of a basin-wide protection plan, and recognized the Kukama as stewards of the river.