The initiative is part of a global movement – particularly active in New Zealand, the United States and Ecuador – to recognize the rights of Nature.

The Magpie River (Muteshekau-shipu in the Innu language) is an internationally renowned river nearly 300 km long. The river is recognized worldwide for its rapids and for whitewater expeditions, most notably by the prestigious National Geographic magazine, which ranked it among the top ten rivers in the world for whitewater rafting. The river's protection has received regional consensus, but the plan to declare the river a protected area has been thwarted for years by state-owned Hydro-Québec, due to the waterway's hydroelectric potential.