← Back to the libraryCivic win · Community safetyLoreto region, Peru · 2025
Indigenous Women / Rights of Nature Marañón River Wins Legal Personhood | Peru
fter a 2010 oil spill contaminated their water and killed their fish, Mariluz Canaquiri Murayari organized Kukama women from 29 communities along the Marañón River — a major Amazon tributary — into the Huaynakana Kamatahuara Kana federation. They filed a lawsuit in 2021 seeking legal personhood for the river. In March 2024 a Peruvian court ruled the Marañón River a living being with the right to flow freely, remain unpolluted, and be restored — and named Indigenous organizations as its guardians. The ruling was upheld on appeal in October 2024. Canaquiri was awarded the 2025 Goldman Environmen
The playbook- Organize the people living the harm. Canaquiri didn't wait for NGOs to lead — she built a women's federation of 29 communities who could speak as direct witnesses in court.
- File the lawsuit even when it seems impossible. Legal personhood for a river was a fringe idea in 2021. Filing anyway created the case law.
- Run court and community campaigns in parallel. Testimony + protests + press conferences kept public pressure alive between legal hearings.
- artner with legal NGOs for capacity without handing over leadership. IDL, Earth Law Center, and International Rivers supported — Kukama women led.
- Use international recognition strategically. The Goldman Prize and TIME coverage amplified their enforcement campaign after the ruling.
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