Petition for cleaner Maas delivered to the House of Representatives | 1Limburg

Maas Cleanup wants the Meuse to become a legal entity, so that people can legally defend the interests of a clean river in the name of the Meuse.

lots of plastic
Maas Cleanup regularly carries out cleaning campaigns along the banks of the Meuse, but claims that this is no longer enough. “Each time, there is waste and above all a lot of plastic,” explains Noi Boesten of IVN Nature Education. “As volunteers, we can no longer compete with this. We want Maas to become a real legal entity so that we can also assert this in court.”

Future
The organization, a collection of nature organizations, businesses and volunteers, has no intention of looking back and taking legal action against existing polluters. “No, it’s about the future, to prevent new activities from taking place on the Meuse which are not good for the river.”

Read also : Petition “Rights for the Meuse” to the House of Representatives

Out of Europe
In Europe, the Meuse would be the first legally legal entity. But it is already happening in other parts of the world. Like in Bangladesh, Ecuador or New Zealand. “Yes, representatives of tribes living on a river have custody of the river together with people from the government,” says Nina Rijstenborgh of Boels Zanders lawyers. “We have studied this construction and now hope to achieve such protection for the Meuse.”

interesting idea
It is now the turn of the House of Representatives to receive the petition. “The Meuse must become cleaner, for this we must also work together at international level,” says Tjeerd de Groot, chairman of the permanent parliamentary committee for infrastructure and water management. “It’s an interesting idea that we have to study now.”