Rob Macfarlane: Rivers are alive and should have rights

Is a river alive?  What a question….it throws up so many if, buts, maybes, but most importantly, why not? Rivers helped save me, and I truly believe they are our lifeblood, our circulation, our healing waters.   But they also need saving now in these troubled times of extraction, industrialisation and pollution. To kick off Season 2, we’re taking the big picture view when it comes to rivers, and we’re asking shouldn’t the rights of nature be respected in our laws and constitutions?  If a limited company can have legal rights why then can’t our rivers?   Without our rivers, without due care, without oversight…..well, we all know what can and is happening in terms of water quality and how that is affecting us all, not least of all the wild salmon. So to help with some of these existential questions, celebrated nature writer, Rob Macfarlane joins me to discuss how he set out on journeys around the globe, from Ecuador to India and Canada, and finally to his own home waters in Cambridge, to ask is a river alive?The Last Salmon Season 2 is supported by The Missing Salmon Alliance.Image: Richard Davies via https://www.instagram.com/racdavies_photos/ The Last Salmon, presented by actor and salmon activist, Jim Murray MBE, offers hope and solutions to the tragic story that is unfolding for an iconic species in crisis - the wild salmon.   For regular updates, follow the show at Instagram.com/TheLastSalmon.