New Zealand—Aotearoa, as it is known to the indigenous Maori people—the Whanganui River is now a legal person. Photo By Aidan

In a land where corporations are considered people, it’s a bit of a leap to imagine nature attaining the same status. But as Brendan Kennedy reports for Cultural Survival Quarterly (December 2012), in New Zealand—Aotearoa, as it is known to the indigenous Maori people—the Whanganui River is now a legal person.

“Indigenous peoples around the world often struggle with governments that do not recognize their view of the natural environment,” writes Kennedy. Where the Maori strive to conserve and enhance, non-Maori typically seek to industrialize and maximize profit. Thus, indigenous worldviews often directly conflict with non-indigenous practices of property ownership. Awarding the river personhood status, then, is a significant victory for the Maori.

According to the new agreement, the river will have two guardians—one appointed by the Whanganui Iwi tribe and one by the British Crown—that promote the physical, ecological, spiritual, and cultural rights of the river.

Such an agreement has few precedents, however. While the news brings hope, Kennedy warns of the possibility that the river’s guardians might restrict Whanganui Iwi rights to the river with no room for recourse. Still, he calls the agreement cause for “cautious optimism as Indigenous Peoples continue to fight for the recognition of their views of the natural world.”

Here is another article about this river and topic: https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/i-am-river-and-river-me-implications-river-receiving

May 24, 2013

Dolphins gain unprecedented protection in India

India has officially recognized dolphins as non-human persons, whose rights to life and liberty must be respected. Dolphin parks that were being built across the country will instead be shut down.

India’s Ministry of Environment and Forests has advised state governments to ban dolphinariums and other commercial entertainment that involves the capture and confinement of cetacean species such as orcas and bottlenose dolphins. In a statement, the government said research had clearly established cetaceans are highly intelligent and sensitive, and that dolphins “should be seen as ‘non-human persons’ and as such should have their own specific rights.”

The move comes after weeks of protest against a dolphin park in the state of Kerala and several other marine mammal entertainment facilities which were to be built this year. Animal welfare advocates welcomed the decision.

“This opens up a whole new discourse of ethics in the animal protection movement in India,” said Puja Mitra from the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organizations (FIAPO). Mitra is a leading voice in the Indian movement to end dolphin captivity.

Indian officials say it is morally unacceptable to exploit cetaceans in commercial entertainment

“The scientific evidence we provided during the campaign talked about cetacean intelligence and introduced the concept of non-human persons,” she said in an interview with DW.

Indiais the fourth country in the world to ban the capture and import of cetaceans for the purpose of commercial entertainment – along with Costa Rica, Hungary, and Chile.

Dolphins are persons, not performers

The movement to recognize whale and dolphins as individuals with self-awareness and a set of rights gained momentum three years ago in Helsinki, Finland when scientists and ethicists drafted a Declaration of Rights for Cetaceans. “We affirm that all cetaceans as persons have the right to life, liberty and well-being,” they wrote.

Dolphins are naturally playful and curious, which has made them popular with aqurium visitors

The signatories included leading marine scientist Lori Marino who produced evidence that cetaceans have large, complex brains especially in areas involved in communication and cognition. Her work has shown that dolphins have a level of self-awareness similar to that of human beings. Dolphins can recognize their own reflection, use tools and understand abstract concepts. They develop unique signature whistles allowing friends and family members to recognize them, similar to the way human beings use names.

“They share intimate, close bonds with their family groups. They have their own culture, their own hunting practices – even variations in the way they communicate,” said FIAPO’s Puja Mitra.

But it is precisely this ability to learn tricks and charm audiences that have made whales and dolphins a favorite in aquatic entertainment programs around the world.

Seaworld slaughter

Disposable personal income has increased in India and there is a growing market for entertainment. Dolphin park proposals were being considered in Delhi, Kochi and Mumbai.

India’s growing middle class is hungry for entertainment

“There’s nothing like having a few animals on display, particularly ones that are so sensitive and intelligent as these dolphins,” said Belinda Wright from the Wildlife Protection Society of India in an interview with DW. “It’s a good money making proposition.”

But audiences are usually oblivious to the documented suffering of these marine performers.

“The majority of dolphins and whales in captivity have been sourced through wild captures in Japan, in Taiji, in the Caribbean, in the Solomon Islands and parts of Russia. These captures are very violent,” Mitra explained.

“They drive groups of dolphins into shallow bay areas where young females whose bodies are unmarked and are thought to be suitable for display are removed. The rest are often slaughtered.”

Mitra argued that the experience of captivity is tantamount to torture. She explained that orcas and other dolphins navigate by using sonar signals, but in tanks, the reverberations bounce off the walls, causing them “immense distress”. She described dolphins banging their heads on the walls and orcas wearing away their teeth as they pull at bars and bite walls.

Tanks terminated

In response to the new ban, the Greater Cochin Development Authority (CGDA) told DW that it has withdrawn licenses for a dolphin park in the city of Kochi, where there have been massive animal rights demonstrations in recent months.

Will the ban on captive dolphin exploitation lead to more protection for other highly intelligent non-humans?

“It is illegal now,” said N. Venugopal, who heads the CGDA. “It is over. We will not allow it anymore.”

He said the government hadn’t lost money on the development but declined to comment on how much the dolphin park was worth.

Boost for Ganges River dolphin

It’s possible that India’s new ban on cetacean captivity will lead to renewed interest in protecting the country’s own Ganges River dolphin.

“I hope this will put some energy into India’s Action Plan for the Gangetic Dolphin, which is supposed to run until 2020,” said Belinda Wright from the Wildlife Protection Society of India. “But there’s been very little action.

She said the ban was a good first stop, but warned against excessive optimism. “I’m very proud that India has done this,” she said. “I’m not trying to be cynical but I have been a conservationist in India for four decades. One gets thrilled with the wording, but I don’t think it’s going to turn to the tables.”

“But dolphins for now are safe from dolphinariums, and that’s a good thing,” she added.

11th April, 2013 – Posted by Shannon Biggs
Reprinted from Global Exchange Media Release
First-in-California law seeks to make sustainability legal

On April 9, the City Council of Santa Monica voted 7-0 to adopt the state’s first ever Bill of Rights for Sustainability, directing the city to “recognize the rights of people, natural communities and ecosystems to exist, regenerate and flourish.” Santa Monica joins dozens of U.S. communities, the nations of Ecuador, Bolivia, and New Zealand in the fast-growing movement for Nature’s Rights.

With the passage of this ordinance, Santa Monica challenges the legal status of nature as merely property, and empowers the City or residents to bring suit on behalf of local ecosystems. While not eliminating property ownership, these new laws seek to eliminate the authority of a property owner to destroy entire ecosystems that exist and depend upon that property. The ordinance also mandates the City to follow the Sustainable City Plan as a guide for decision-making to maximize environmental benefits and reduce or eliminate negative environmental impacts.

“As a city with very little green space or fresh local water, becoming a model for sustainability and moving toward self-reliance is important for our community’s long term well-being,” says Cris Guttierez, organizer for Santa Monica Neighbors Unite!, a group that organized and mobilized residents to support the law. “We’re proud to be on the cutting edge of environmental protection.”

more https://therightsofnature.org/tag/celdf/

Because you are our valued partner in creating a just, thriving, sustainable world, I had to write to you today with some big news out of Ecuador.

This past Wednesday (July 25, 2012), the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled that the State of Ecuador is responsible for violating the rights of the indigenous Kichwa people of Sarayaku, by not having executed free, prior, and informed consultation before starting an oil development project on their land in the late 1990s.

After over a decade of struggle, the ruling is wonderful news for the Sarayaku people and their allies. It’s also good news for all of us who believe that we must draw on the best of indigenous wisdom and modern knowledge to create a just, thriving, and sustainable future.

The ruling is significant in that it establishes a new and higher standard as to how consultation with indigenous communities must be undertaken: in good faith, through culturally appropriate procedures that are aimed at reaching consent.

Consultations cannot simply consist in sharing decisions that have been already taken. States must make a real effort to establish an open and honest dialogue, based on mutual trust and respect and with the aim of reaching a consensus–this means not imposing anything upon indigenous peoples or unilaterally forging ahead with projects that will substantially affect their rights.

This ruling should dramatically affect Ecuadorian plans for development of the whole southern Amazon region of Ecuador.

Among those plans are the oil concessions currently scheduled to open for bidding this October in the ancestral territories of the Achuar and six other indigenous nations. So you can see why this is big news!

Visit our website for history of the case, a statement from the People of Sarayaku, analysis from Fundación Pachamama. pachamama.org/sarayaku

There’s still much work to be done to ensure that the standards established in this ruling support other indigenous peoples whose lands are under threat.

Even so, I wanted to take this moment to express our gratitude and celebrate this success for the rights of indigenous people everywhere. I hope you will, too.

In solidarity for our shared future,

Bill Twist

The Pachamama Alliance

PO Box 29191, Presidio Bldg 1009
San Francisco, CA 94129
(415) 561-4522
www.pachamama.org
info@pachamama.org

Phone (786) 271-3113

t.traci@ymail.com

Barry University Publishes Inaugural Issue of Earth Jurisprudence & Environmental Justice Journal

Student-edited journal is first of its kind with a commitment to an Earth-based approach as a means of protecting the environment & eliminating environmental injustices

Orlando, FL – Barry University School of Law created the Earth Jurisprudence and Environmental Justice Journal (EJEJJ) to focus on two unique areas of environmental law that have broad implications on the American legal system.

The inaugural issue is a tribute to Thomas Berry and focuses on the topic of Earth Jurisprudence, an emerging legal theory that calls on humanity to abandon its current anthropocentric (human-centered) view of the environment in favor of an ecocentric, or Earth-centered system of law and governance. Thomas Berry, widely recognized as a visionary who called for an Earth-Centered Jurisprudence, recognized that Earth functions as a self-organizing and regulating entity and emphasized the need for a more harmonious human role as a vital member of the larger Earth Community. Berry envisioned a new era, an Ecozoic era, where humans can no longer rely on the healing powers of the Earth to correct past abuses, but must accept responsibility for restoring the Earth to a truly sustainable balance.

The Journal’s other area of focus, Environmental Justice, is the meaningful involvement and fair treatment of all people, regardless of race, color, national origin, or income in regards to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. Environmental justice seeks to redress inequitable distributions of environmental burdens relating to pollution, industrial facility locations, landfills, and hazardous waste disposal sites. The Journal is helping to host an Environmental Justice Summit to be held on the Barry University School of Law campus on October 21, 2011, and anticipates showcasing materials from the Summit in Volume II of the Journal, to be released in spring 2012.

According to Dean Leticia Diaz, the Journal capitalizes on two of Barry Law School’s environmental law strengths, its partnership with the Center for Earth Jurisprudence and its Earth Advocacy Clinic, which litigates on behalf of environmentally repressed communities.

“I am proud of our Journal members and their faculty advisor, Professor Pat Tolan, for helping to bring these unique strengths to national attention,” said Dean Diaz. “Consistent with the Barry Mission, the Journal seeks to challenge law students to embrace personal, ethical, spiritual, ecological and social responsibilities in an atmosphere of academic freedom.”

Advancing the Earth Community is consistent with the Catholic Dominican tradition of reverencing life in all its forms. Center for Earth Jurisprudence Director and Dominican Sister Patricia Siemen commended the Journal for bringing greater recognition to the emerging field.

“This Journal is a significant contribution to the advancement of Earth Jurisprudence. Its publication is very timely as the Rights of Nature movement gains international momentum as evidenced by the third annual international Earth Jurisprudence Conference occurring at Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia, September 16-18, 2011, “ said Siemen. “ We are proud of Barry law students in advancing the research and publication in the critical fields of Earth Jurisprudence and Environmental Justice. “

Out of respect for the environment, the Journal is being published electronically instead of in print. The Journal can be found online at https://lawpublications.barry.edu/.

If interested in submitting an article for consideration or for questions regarding the journal, please contact the Journal’s Lead Article’s Editor, Michael Spoliansky, at Michael.Spoliansky@mymail.barry.edu<mailto:Michael.Spoliansky@mymail.barry.edu>.

About Barry School of Law

Established in 1999, the Barry University Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law in Orlando offers a quality legal education in a caring, diverse environment. A Catholic-oriented institution, Barry Law School challenges students to accept intellectual, personal, ethical, spiritual, and social responsibilities, and commits itself to assuring an atmosphere of religious freedom. Barry Law School is fully accredited by the American Bar Association and has a current enrollment of more than 700 students from around the world. More information is at www.barry.edu/law<< a=””> TARGET=”_blank” href=redir.asp?lid=0&newsite=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ebarry%2Eedu%2Flaw>https://www.barry.edu/law<> >.

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