Living in harmony with nature
Across the world, rapid urban growth is wreaking havoc on the natural environment.
The massive expansion of towns and cities in many countries is reflected in the sharp rise in resource extraction, greenhouse gas emissions, and land conversion. These changes disrupt the climate system, accelerate biodiversity loss, and alter the ecological and evolutionary processes that sustain life.
The United Nations has already warned that we are heading toward a “major planetary catastrophe.”
Fundamental shift
Amid this warning, there has been a growing recognition that we must fundamentally change the relationship between humankind and natural world.
Making this fundamental shift means recognizing our dependence on nature and respecting our need to live in harmony with the natural world. It also means securing the highest legal protection for ecological health. This has given rise to the “Rights of Nature” movement, which is growing world-wide.
Rights of Nature is grounded in the recognition that humanity is just one member of the wider Earth community, and that all life on Earth–and life-supporting ecosystems–have evolved together during the long history of the universe and the planet.
And because human beings are just one part of this larger interconnected web of life (and are completely interdependent upon the rest of the natural world for our very existence), the non-human world has just as much right to exist as humans do. Or, using the language of advocates, the Earth community should be recognized as having the right to exist, thrive, and continue its evolutionary journey into the future.
Rights of Nature laws create guidance for actions that respect this relationship.
Legal recognition
From this view, nature deserves to be valued for its own inherent worth.
Legally recognizing the rights of nature is not about ‘conferring rights’ on nature but giving legal recognition to what is already there. Recognizing that the natural world is just as entitled to exist and evolve as we are necessarily changes the way humans act.
We can refer to Earth-centered cultures around the world for guidance as to how humans treat the natural world when they see themselves as merely part of it rather than masters of it.
Many indigenous cultures see the plants and animals as relatives, members of an interconnected community of life that is self-sustaining and deserves respect. They draw from the natural world to live, but they do not take more than the natural system can sustainably provide.
This contrasts with the culture and legal system that is dominant in industrialized nations today, including ours, which treats plants, animals and entire ecosystems as objects of human property.
Our current legal system allows humans to destroy ecosystems in the name of material ‘development’ and only grants rights to humans and human-created systems such as corporations and nation states. Under this system of laws in industrialized nations, nature is legally treated as human property, and owners are conferred the right to use them as they wish.
Right to exist and flourish
When we talk about the Rights of Nature, it means recognizing ecosystems and natural communities are not merely property that can be owned, but as entities that have an independent and inalienable right to exist and flourish.
Laws recognizing the Rights of Nature change the status of ecosystems and natural communities to being rights-bearing entities.
As such, they have the rights that can be enforced by people, communities, and governments on behalf of nature.
Yet, the Rights of Nature do not put an end to human activities and development. Rather, it places them in the context of a healthy relationship where our actions do not threaten the balance of the system upon which we depend.
The author is a fellow emeritus of the Philippine Institute of Environmental Planners (PIEP), president of the Alliance for Safe, Sustainable & Resilient Environments (ASSURE), and Principal Urban Planner of CONCEP Inc.
Structure, budget needed for intercropping strategy