Ecuador Constitutional Court Case: Mining Law 2009
The Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador lost a 2009 case claiming a mining law violated the rights of nature and of indigenous peoples.Read More →
Rights Of Nature
This page identifies initiatives that frame ecological jurisprudence in terms of rights of nature. Initiatives are included in this category when they explicitly recognize any non-human element of Nature (e.g., ecosystems, plant species, animal species) or Nature in general as a subject with rights.
Licking Township (USA) Ordinance: fracking ban, community rights, and rights of nature
Licking, Pennsylvania adopted an ordinance recognizing rights of nature and banning corporations from dumping fracking wastewater within the township in 2010.Read More →
Danby (USA) Ordinance: community water rights and rights of nature
Danby, New York adopted an ordinance recognizing rights of nature and giving the right of water to all residents, natural communities, and ecosystems in 2010.Read More →
Shasta (USA) Ordinance: community water rights and rights of nature
Shasta, California ordinance recognizing rights of nature and giving residents environmental rights was removed from the ballot in 2009.Read More →
Lehman Township (USA) Ordinance: natural gas drilling ban, community rights, and rights of nature
Residents of Lehman Township, Pennsylvania and CELDF drafted an ordinance recognizing rights of nature and environmental rights for residents in 2010.Read More →
Ecuador Constitution of 2008: rights of nature
In 2008, Ecuador adopted a new constitution recognizing rights of nature, or Pachamama, with goals of harmony with nature and the concept of good living.Read More →
USA Federal Court Case: Cetacean Community v. Bush
In 2004, the “Cetacean Community” (plaintiffs) filed and lost a lawsuit to halt actions by the U.S. Navy that cause harm to Cetaceans.Read More →
Barnstead (USA) Town Ordinance: community water rights and rights of nature
Barnstead, New Hampshire adopted an ordinance recognizing water rights and the rights of nature and limiting corporate powers within the town in 2006.Read More →