ABSTRACT

In the context of water management, designing and implementing bottom-up governance regimes that are more sensitive to local knowledge and provide for the direct participation of local actors is of growing interest. Mechanisms that facilitate the successful devolution of authority to local actors remain a challenge, however. This article seeks to understand whether the ‘Rights of Nature’ approach could be a used as a mechanism for transferring decision-making responsibility to local actors. A case study of the Whanganui River, Aotearoa New Zealand, suggests that granting legal rights to nature does help foster more bottom-up governance by using the social norms, customs, traditions, beliefs, and values of individuals within the community to shape the decision-making framework. The analysis highlights the role that local beliefs and customs play in enabling the transfer of decision-making responsibility to lower levels of an institutional arrangement when implementing the ‘Rights of Nature’ approach.

摘要

在水资源管理的背景下，设计和实施自下而上的治理制度，对当地知识更为敏感，并为当地行为者提供直接参与，人们越来越感兴趣。然而，促进将权力成功下放给地方行为者的机制仍然是一个挑战。本文旨在了解“自然权利”方法是否可以用作将决策责任转移给当地行为者的机制。一项针对新西兰奥特阿罗瓦旺格努伊河的案例研究表明，通过利用社区内个人的社会规范、习俗、传统、信仰和价值观来制定决策，赋予自然合法权利确实有助于促进更多自下而上的治理-制作框架。