Regarding Nature as a Legal Persons
In March 2017, the Whanganui river, known as Te Awa Tupua by the local Māori Iwi, was the first river in the world to be made a “legal persons”. Two other rivers in India followed suit within the same week.
So what does this actually mean? What significance does it have when protecting our natural world?
Illustration by Caitlin Noble.
What Does It Mean to Regard Nature as a Legal Persons?
The definition of a legal persons is “a body of persons or an entity (as a corporation) considered as having many of the rights and responsibilities of a natural person and especially the capacity to sue and be sued”. So what does this mean when applied to nature?
Elements of nature such as ecosystems and habitats are currently seen by most as objects, something for us humans to utilise and profit from. We use numerous natural resources for our own gain, such as wood, water and soil. As a result of this, we have exhausted nature and caused great damage to ecosystems, biodiversity, and more. Nature currently cannot fight back and protect itself from the harm being caused. With the inability to stand up for itself, there is nothing to stop us from continuously causing more and more damage. But this could all change if we start to regard nature as a legal persons, and give nature the rights and ability to be protected.
If an element of nature is considered as a legal persons and is mistreated, for example, a river being polluted, representatives could act on nature’s behalf in legal disputes, which could see nature receiving compensation. Recognising nature as a legal persons could also see the economic funds they create, such as the profits gained from excessively logged forests, being given back to nature in the form of hiring lawyers for legal cases when these natural elements are damaged, or for hiring people to help take care of an area of land.
Embracing Tradition and Indigenous Practises
Viewing nature as something with inherent rights is not a new way of thinking. This is something practiced by many indigenous peoples all over the world. Many environmental NGOs, as well as politicians and governments, are embracing the idea that the most reliable and sustainable way to interact with nature is by following the lead of indigenous peoples who have long been using sustainable methods whilst simultaneously protecting the ecosystem around them. In many cases where elements of nature have been granted rights and status as a legal persons, it has been the result of the efforts of local indigenous communities.
Rights of Nature in Legislation and Constitution
A non-governmental organisation based in the US called Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) has been crucial in creating legislation used in giving elements of nature rights and has influenced laws across the globe. In 2006, they worked on the first law created to give rights to nature, which was used to stop toxic waste dumping in Pennsylvania. Since then, nearly 40 nature rights bills have been created, and passed, in the US alone. But some countries have taken this further by implementing the rights of nature into their national laws and constitutions.
In 2008, Ecuador introduced a new chapter into its constitution titled “Rights of Nature”. This means that nature, or Pachamama as it is known in the Quichua and Aimara indigenous languages, is now no longer something to be exploited and damaged for human use. This new legislation opened up the need for new legal tools specifically to protect and speak up for Pachamama, as well as collaboration with other fields in order to successfully implement this new law. One year later, Sweden became the first country in Europe to introduce a Rights of Nature amendment into its constitution. This was developed in collaboration with CELDF and allows nature the right to “exist, flourish, regenerate, and evolve”. It also provides the Swedish government and citizens with the ability to defend and enforce these rights on nature’s behalf.
Three years after Ecuador’s amendment to its constitution, Bolivia introduced the “Law of the Rights of Mother Earth”, inspired by indigenous concepts that Pachamama is sacred and in need of protection. The law specifically gives nature the legal rights to life, regeneration, biodiversity, water, clean air, balance, and restoration. It also asks that policies be influenced by an indigenous concept known as Sumaj Kawsay, meaning “living well”. The Bolivian government will have to make a lot of changes in order to uphold this new law, such as changing to renewable energy sources, assessing the ecological impact of any economic activity, carrying out ecological audits on all companies, regulating and reducing emissions, and much more.
The First Plant With Rights
December 2018 saw the formation of the world’s first law that recognises the rights of a plant species, “Rights of Manoomin”. Manoomin is a type of wild rice found in North America and is sacred to the local indigenous tribe, the Chippewa Tribe, as it provides physical, cultural, and spiritual sustenance. This law was created by Honor the Earth, an indigenous-led environmental advocacy group, along with the help of CELDF. The law aims to protect Manoomin from global warming and polluted water sources and states “Manoomin, or wild rice, within all the Chippewa ceded territories, possess inherent rights to exist, flourish, regenerate, and evolve, as well as inherent rights to restoration, recovery, and preservation”.
Rivers With Rights
Three rivers, one in New Zealand and two in India, were made into legal persons all within a single week in March 2017. Whanganui river, known as Te Awa Tupua by the local Māori Iwi, was the first of the three and is also believed to be the first river in the world to be granted legal persons status. The river is the third longest in New Zealand and the fight for its protection has been the longest-running legal dispute in the country with the Māori Iwi fighting for these rights since the 1870s. The Iwi received NZ$80m settlement along with a further NZ$30m provided to improve the health of the river. The Whanganui river is now represented by two lawyers, one of which will be from the government and the other appointed by the Iwi.
In India, the two rivers granted legal persons status were the Ganga and Yamuna rivers. The Uttarakhand high court ruled that both rivers will now have status as legal persons and new organisations had to be created in order to enforce this new legislation. The two rivers are considered sacred in the Hindu religion and the new legislation to protect them is the result of high levels of pollution. Three people will represent the rivers in any legal proceedings, and these representatives are the director general of Namami Gange project, the Uttarakhand chief secretary, and the advocate general. New boards were also created with the objective to oversee the maintenance and cleaning of the rivers.
A more recent example of a river being made into a legal persons happened in February 2021 in Canada. The Innu Council of Ekuanitshit recognised the Magpie river (Muteshekau Shipu in the Innu language) as a legal persons. Pietacho, chief of the Innu Council of Ekuanitshit, states that “The Innu people always believed that you had to protect the earth. It’s water – it’s life.” This action was taken in order to give the Indigenous community the ability to protect the river from potential future harm, previous damage was caused by the creation of a hydroelectric dam. This is the first river in Canada to be granted such rights, allowing the river to be considered as a legal persons.
Moving Forward
It is clear that we need to drastically change the way in which we view and interact with nature. Treating nature simply as a collection of resources has only led to extensive damage being caused. Adjusting the way we consider nature in terms of legality could help protect important elements of nature such as ecosystems and biodiversity from harm. But this concept of making nature a legal persons is still relatively new and it is not yet clear how effective these new laws and legislations have been in keeping nature safe from harm.
However, it is clear that this way of thinking, believing that nature should be allowed intrinsic rights, is nothing new. It is something that indigenous communities all over the world have been practicing for centuries. Listening to and learning from these communities is vital if we want to protect nature, and gather resources in a sustainable way without causing further damage.
Amber Wyard
Amber is a recent graduate with an MSc in Zoo Conservation Biology and a BSc in Mathematics. She currently lives, and grew up, in rural North Wales which sparked her love of wildlife and nature. Alongside conservation, she is passionate about science communication and making science more accessible which she achieves through her writing and her Instagram account, @amberconservation.