Love, Service and Flow: The New River Guardians - Live from the Listening to the Land Gathering

This is an audio recording of a live session from the Listening to the Land day 2026. Find out more at realfarming.org/programmes/listening-to-the-land/

LOVE, SERVICE AND FLOW: THE NEW RIVER GUARDIANS

Speakers: Meg Avon, Monica Feria-Tinta, Paul Powlesland

Chair: Amy-Jane Beer

In a time when our waterways face mounting pressure, a new generation of River Guardians is emerging - guided not only by ecological urgency but by love, service, and the deep intelligence of flow. Their work reveals that protecting rivers is as much an act of relationship as it is of restoration, and that in caring for water, we are inevitably shaped and changed by it in return. From creative acts of devotion, and grassroots restoration, to groundbreaking legal work that recognises rivers as living beings with rights, they illuminate the many pathways through which guardianship takes form - and invite us to listen, act, and stand fully with the waters that sustain us. A powerful panel of activists and rights of nature lawyers explore how we can all be of service to the very source of life.