WWF contributes to innovative research into nature legal personhood

Prof Dr Tineke Lambooy, LLM, Corporate Law Professor at Nyenrode, is awarded 10,000 Euros from the Dutch Inno-fund of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). This contribution will be used to carry out innovative research into ‘nature legal personhood’, as part of the professor’s research into ‘Rights of Nature’ in the Netherlands. Establishing nature legal personhood may contribute to improving biodiversity and ecosystems in the Netherlands. But what are the parameters, how do we shape a ‘nature legal personhood’ and how should the governance be designed?

Several reports prepared by independent researchers show that nature is not sufficiently protected in the Netherlands. In public or private decisions regarding land conversion or objects of nature, the nature itself is currently not represented as a stakeholder in the discussion. Granting legal rights or legal personhood to ecosystems may offer a solution. Since a few years, we see this trend emerging: many ecosystems in different countries on all continents have been granted rights.

In her research, Tineke Lambooy focuses on the possibilities of granting rights to the Dutch part of the Wadden Sea, which has been designated as UNESCO World Heritage Area. Results of the research might also be useful for other ecosystems such as the Biesbosch.

Financial support

The Inno-fund of the World Wide Fund for Nature offers financial support to innovative initiatives for nature conservation in the Netherlands.

From its fundraising role for Nyenrode Business University, Nyenrode Fund (Stichting Nyenrode Fonds or SNF) supports Professor Lambooy in this research project. Nyenrode Business University is a private university and does therefore not receive any structural contributions from the central government for scientific education and research. This makes contributions from donors for research and for PhD students at Nyenrode indispensable. Donations are an incentive to our innovative and relevant research.

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