New York U.S. court case Nonhuman Rights Project v. Breheny
In 2018, a judge ruled against a petition on behalf of Happy, an Asian elephant born in 1971, demanding recognition of Happy's legal personhood and rights.Read More →
This page identifies initiatives that explicitly recognizes any non-human element of Nature (e.g., ecosystems, plant species, animal species) as possessing legal personhood status. In doing so, these initiatives treat Nature like any other other legal person, like corporations, as opposed to recognizing unique rights of nature. Note that all initiatives included in the Personhood category are also included in the Rights of Nature category, but not all rights of nature initiatives are legal personhood initiatives.