Summary
On December 5, 2023, the municipality of Alto Paraguai, Brazil approved an amendment to the municipal Organic Law recognizing the Rights of Nature and Harmony with Nature. The Municipality of Alto Paraguai is located in the region of the headwaters of the Paraguai River, straddling the Pantanal, Amazon and Cerrado biomes. The Paraguai River Basin (which runs through Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina) is considered one of the most important river basins in all of South America, and the document discusses the risks to the region.
The bill to change the law was proposed by councillors Rozinei Rodrigues da Silva (Mayor), José Airton Rodrigues de Morais (Vice-Mayor), Raquel Pereira Vieira Rosa (1st Secretary), Marcia Leite de Oliveira, Juarez Vaz de Almeida, Adenor Pereira Gama, Jaydomar de Araújo Gomes, Julio Cesar Espirito Santo, and Laiane Cristina Costa de Souza. The debates and studies for the bill were initiated by lawyers and Professors Mariana Ribeiro Santiago, Éverton Neves dos Santos, and Alessandro de Almeida Santana Souza, by the “Incubadora Solidária” at the University of Marilia (UNIMAR), as well as the Fundamental Rights Research Center at the State University of Mato Grosso.