Tag Archives: rights of nature

CELDF Online Democracy School 2022

On October 15, 16 and 22, 23 at 10 am-12:30 pm, Snohomish County Community Rights (SCCR) will host the 4-day Online Democracy School by Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF).

Democracy School is a stimulating and illuminating virtual course that teaches residents and activists an empowering new approach about how to reframe exhausting and often discouraging single-issue work – such as banning pesticides, halting overdevelopment, protecting water and watersheds, and addressing climate change – in a way that we can confront corporate control and government interference on a powerful front: the people’s right of local self-governance and Nature’s rights.

Educating yourself and your community is one of the most powerful steps toward change you can make. Your active support and engagement are critical and greatly appreciated. A brighter, healthier future for yourself, your children, community and the Earth depend on your active efforts.

Rights-of-Nature (RON) Movie Viewing and Discussion in Edmonds

On September 16 at 7 pm, please join Edmonds Community Rights (ECR) for the RON-Movie Viewing and Discussion.

We will focus on a concept of Rights of Nature, where it came from, current status, highlights, future developments and a close connection between Rights of Nature (RON) and Community Rights (CR).

Your voice is important to us. Please bring your questions and concerns.

Rights of Nature Webinar by CELDF on Ecuador

“This past November, Ecuador’s Constitutional Court ruled in favor of the Los Cedros Cloud Forest ecosystem and local communities’ rights over the rights of a foreign mining corporation. Truly a seminal case for legal rights of nature, the court addressed the regulatory permitting process, the precautionary principle, biodiversity, community input into the decision-making process, and how human rights to clean water and a healthy environment are completely tied to the rights of the ecosystem and nature.”

Legal Rights for Ecosystems Workshop and Video

Rights of Nature (RON) is a simple concept and dates at least half a century back. Including in local and national legislations the legal right to exist, flourish and regenerate is a foundation for protection of ecosystems – such as the Salish Sea and its watershed – from abuse, unlimited extraction, destruction, toxic contamination and extinction.

Human communities are parts of ecosystems. Healthier ecosystems mean healthier communities.

Rights of Nature (RON) Workshop by CELDF

Please share: On June 9 at 6 pm, Snohomish County Community Rights (SCCR) will host an online Rights of Nature (RON) workshop by the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) “Emancipating Nature: Securing legal rights for ecosystems”.

The workshop will cover the following:
> What is rights of nature?
> Where did it come from?
> Current status and highlight moments.
> The good, the bad, and the ugly – the need to protect rights of nature principles.
> The horizon for rights of nature laws.

Rights of Nature Law and Policy

Work on including Rights of Nature in constitutions, national statutes, and local laws has been done internationally for decades. “Rights of Nature Law and Policy” page at the Harmony and Nature United Nations has a comprehensive list of events.

http://www.harmonywithnatureun.org/rightsOfNature

“The law has seen the beginning of an evolution toward recognition of the inherent rights of Nature to exist, thrive and evolve. This evolving legal approach acknowledges that the traditional environmental regulatory systems generally described herein regard nature as property to be used for human benefit, rather than a rights-bearing partner with which humanity has co-evolved.

Rights of Nature is grounded in the recognition that humankind and Nature share a fundamental, non-anthropocentric relationship given our shared existence on this planet, and it creates guidance for actions that respect this relationship.”

Plans to mine Ecuador forest violate rights of nature, court rules

Ecuador’s highest court has ruled that plans to mine for copper and gold in a protected cloud forest are unconstitutional and violate the rights of nature.

In a landmark ruling, the constitutional court of Ecuador decided that mining permits issued in Los Cedros, a protected area in the north-west of the country, would harm the biodiversity of the forest, which is home to spectacled bears, endangered frogs, dozens of rare orchid species and the brown-headed spider monkey, one of the world’s rarest primates.

Environmental Grief, Ecocide and the Rights of Nature

On November 12, 6 pm at the SCCR quarterly meeting, Dr. Kriss Kevorkian will have a presentation “Environmental Grief, Ecocide and the Rights of Nature”.

Dr. Kevorkian will discuss how her research in environmental grief led her to discover the healing that comes with taking action to save our Mother. This unique form of grief is as much a paradigm shift in mental health as the rights of Nature are in the law.

September 9 at 6:30 pm, Preemption Workshop by CELDF

On Thursday, September 9 at 6:30 pm, please join us for a workshop by the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) “Preemption as a Lethal Weapon: How Corporations and Government are Deliberately Destroying Communities and Nature”. We will record and broadcast this event on Facebook Live.

August 13, 6 pm SCCR Quarterly Zoom Meeting and Presentation

We are inviting you to join us for the SCCR quarterly Zoom meeting and learn more about watersheds of the Snohomish County, their protection, rehabilitation, and importance for drinking water, ecosystems and climate.

Should Nature Have Rights?

Please share: This is an excellent podcast by the Climate One “Should nature have rights?”. Speakers at this event: Rebecca Tsosie, Regents professor of law, University of Arizona; Lindsey Schromen-Wawrin, attorney; Carol Van Strum, writer and activist. We welcome your feedback and thoughts. https://www.climateone.org/audio/should-nature-have-rights