The Wye is 155 miles long and starts in Wales, runs through Herefordshire and Gloucestershire in England, before crossing the border again.
“We hope what we’ve done here today will travel out into parish halls, communities, village halls, farms and schools”, said Swinglehurst, who helped to create the charter.
“We hope this raises people’s awareness that the river has a right to be respected.
“Imagine if the Severn did it, then the Avon, then the Thames. If every river did this, then surely the constitutional change to consider the rights of nature is at least possible.”
The charter was launched by hundreds of supporters who walked from the Hay Festival site to the Warren, a public open space alongside the River Wye.
