Good News for the River Wye

 The River Wye has become the first river in Wales to receive a charter of rights to protect it.

There was a ceremony at the Warren and the charter has been endorsed by councils, campaigners and environmental groups along the length of the river.  Councillor Elissa Swinglehurst of Herefordshire Council helped to create the charter, and other signatories are the Forest of Dean Council, Bannau Brycheiniog National Park and the Wye Valley National Landscape.  Powys County Council and Monmouthshire Council were also represented at the ceremony.

The charter gives the river the following rights:

The right to flow and perform natural functions

The right to biodiversity

the right to be free from pollution

the right to be supported by a healthy catchment area

the right to regenerate

the right to representation

Ecologist Dr Louise Bodnor was appointed as the official Voice of the Wye in April 2025, and sits in meetings of Herefordshire County Council's Wye Catchment Nutrient Management Board, where she has the right to vote on behalf of the river.

The charter comes at a time when the river's health has been officially downgraded to "unfavourable - declining" by Natural England, and the court case brought by Leigh Day is in the High Court, seeking to hold Avara Foods and Welsh Water responsible for the increase in pollution in the river.