Talking Rivers and Lee Willbanks

About this episode

Lee Willbanks discusses the mission of Talking Rivers and the importance of legal recognition for water bodies to protect ecosystems.

Lee Willbanks is the President and co-founder of the new water-rights NGO called Talking Rivers. Their mission is to find ways to extend legal status to water bodies with the goal of giving stakeholders legal standing upon which to defend their lakes and rivers. Lee and host Lawrence Gunther discuss the Magpie River recognition in Quebec, the Rice Lake recognition in Ontario, efforts underway in the U.S. and their collective work to protect American Eel and their habitat. Listen to this episode of The Blue Fish Radio Show and discover why it’s important to give voice to these largely silent ecosystems, and to provide a platform for water body stakeholders to protect their lakes and rivers from others who believe they have the right to destroy nature as part of their economic agenda.

People in this episode

Host: Lawrence Gunther

Guest: Lee Willbanks

Topics covered

• water rights
• environmental protection
• ecosystem advocacy
• legal status of water bodies
• stakeholder rights
• river recognition

Keywords

• water rights
• Talking Rivers
• Magpie River
• Rice Lake
• environmental advocacy
• American Eel
• ecosystem protection

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Talking Rivers, American Eel

Places: Magpie River, Quebec, Rice Lake, Ontario, U.S.

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