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In proposing Rights for Nature as a way to protect the Natural Commons, we are in the good company of brave, clear thinking philosophers, lawyers and activists. To see how we view the concept, read the Tapestry of the Commons Perspective.
Legal Commons by Jan Edwards introduces the topic of Legal Rights for Nature from Justice Rising.
Thomas Berry has written many Books and articles on the subject of Earth Jurisprudence and the correct relationship between humans and the natural world. This short article summarizes Berry's ideas on Rights and how we should think of them in regards to the natural world. Thomas Berry on Rights for Nature by Jan Edwards
In a 1972 essay in the Southern California Law Review, legal
scholar Christopher D. Stone argued that non-human natural entities
be granted legal rights as a way of operationalizing in law the
holistic ethics of many environmentalists. At the bottom of the
article are pertinent law cases and William O' Douglas' famous
dissent, where he agrees that "Trees should have Standing."
Should
Trees have Standing? Stone's proposal, Douglas' dissent
The Guardian in the UK ran this article in 2006 asking, "Could Wild Laws protecting all the Earth's community - including animals, plants, rivers, and ecosystems - save our natural world?" The piece discusses the book Wild Law, and the Pennsylvania legislation giving Rights to Nature (See link below).
"On
Thin Ice", Guardian article on Wild Law concept.
To buy
a copy of the book Wild Law by Cormac Cullinan at 100
Fires Books, the only place in U.S. that carries it so far!
In September, 2006, a community of about 7,000 people in Pennsylvania, in the US, adopted what is called Tamaqua Borough Sewage Sludge Ordinance, the first law in U.S. to recognize Rights for Nature.
To better understand Legal Rights for Nature, it helps to understand
how legal rights are applied to humans and to corporations. We
have done much writing on this topic, and put it together on one
site. Corporate
Personhood articles, pamphlets and Personhood Timeline.