The emerging movement of Rights of Nature (RoN) in Italy

The accelerating degradation of ecosystems and the limitations of conventional environmental law have contributed to the emergence of the Rights of Nature (RoN) as an alternative approach to environmental protection. By challenging anthropocentric legal frameworks and recognizing ecosystems as subjects of rights, RoN seeks to reshape the relationship between humans, Nature, and law. While much of the literature has focused on pioneering examples outside Europe, its development within European civil-law systems remains underexplored.

This research investigates the emerging RoN movement in Italy through a comparative qualitative analysis of three aquatic ecosystems in Northern Italy: Lake Garda, the Venice Lagoon, and the Tagliamento River. It examines the motivations behind these initiatives, the obstacles they encounter, and the potential implications of granting ecosystems legal rights. The study draws on 11 semi-structured interviews with local actors, activists, and politicians, complemented by scientific, legal, and environmental literature.

The findings reveal a common concern across the three cases regarding the inability of existing environmental governance to adequately address anthropogenic ecological pressures. However, the specific drivers of mobilization differ: the Lake Garda initiative is primarily associated with tourism, construction, and the artificialisation of the lakeshore; the Venice Lagoon case responds to decades of industrial, infrastructural, and navigational intervention; while the Tagliamento initiative is largely preventative, seeking to protect one of Europe's remaining free-flowing rivers from further alteration. Across all three cases, environmental concerns are closely tied to place attachment and community identity. The study identifies political, juridical, cultural, and economic obstacles to implementing RoN, while highlighting multi-level strategy, ecological literacy, and local community participation as potential enabling factors. Although legal personhood alone cannot guarantee effective environmental protection, the findings suggest that RoN could help reconfigure environmental governance by strengthening ecosystem representation, community participation, and long-term ecological considerations. The cases also expose tensions between ecological limits and development models based on infinite economic growth.

Overall, the research argues that the Italian RoN movement should not be understood only as an attempt to introduce a new legal status for Nature. Rather, it represents a broader challenge to existing approaches to environmental protection, governance, and human–Nature relationships.