WHAT ARE RIGHTS OF NATURE AND WHY ARE THEY IMPORTANT
The Rights of Nature ethics is the recognition and respect of the fact that Nature has inherent and inalienable Rights.
It is a recognition that ecosystems and all living beings – including trees, oceans, animals, mountains – have Rights just as human beings have our own Rights to exist and thrive.
Just like us humans have our own human rights so other living beings have their own rights – trees have tree rights, fish have fish rights and so on.
Currently, in the existing legal systems in almost every country, Nature is considered property – an object, a treatment that gives the owner of the property the right to destroy ecosystems and Nature on that property if it suits him.
Nature is not seen as a living entity with a right to existence, worth protecting in and of herself.
When we talk about the “Rights of Nature,” we recognize and acknowledge that Nature, ecosystems and natural communities are not just objects – property that can be owned, but subjects that have an independent right to a healthy and peaceful life, existence and progress.
Laws that recognize the Rights of Nature will thus change the status of natural communities and ecosystems to be recognized and recognized as the Rights of gendered persons – that is, subjects in the law, with Rights that can be enforced by people, governments and communities.
Therefore, instead of treating Nature as legal objects – property under the current law, the Rights of Nature recognize that Nature in all its forms of life has the right to exist, survive, maintain and regenerate its vital cycles and as such be represented and represented in the law and in all other decision making that affect Nature and all her living beings, including us humans as an integral part of Nature.
We also have a duty to live in harmony with Nature and to heal what we have already destroyed and enable Nature to heal herself to full health.
One of the best methods to do so is through environmental restorative justice and holistic approaches to life in harmony with Nature like permaculture and biodinamics.
The rights of Nature movement is one of the fastest growing legal movements in the world and several countries have the provisions or Nature rights in their legislative systems, ranging from the Constitution, in Ecuador, to granting rights to various ecosystems like rivers, mountains etc.
The argument of the Rights of Nature has been successfully used in cases against ecocidal mining projects like the Ecuador’s Intag Valley copper mine project which was stopped on the basis of 2 small frogs having the right to life and habitat which would’ve been destroyed if the mine was to go ahead!
Recognising the intrinsic rights of Nature and granting them in law is the biggest real solution we could employ to stop this mindless loss of life on Earth and an inevitable progression of not just law but entire human relationship with the rest of the living beings on our beautiful planet
Prava Prirode etika je priznanje i postovanje činjenice da Priroda ima prava.
To je priznanje da ekosistemi – uključujući drveće, okeane, životinje, planine –
imaju prava bas kao sto ljudska bića imaju prava da postoje i prosperiraju.
Prava Prirode je balansiranje onoga što je dobro za ljudska bića sa onim što je dobro i za druge vrste kao i za celu Zemlju.
Mi takodje imamo i duznost da zivimo u skladu sa Prirodom i da izlecimo ono sto smo vec unistili i povratimo Prirodu u njeno puno zdravlje.
Trenutno, u postojećim sistemima prava u skoro svakoj zemlji, priroda se smatra imovinom – objektom, tretman koji daje vlasniku imovine pravo da uništi ekosisteme i Prirodu na toj imovini ukoliko mu to tako odgovara.
Kada govorimo o “pravima Prirode,” mi prepoznajemo i priznajemo da Priroda, ekosistemi i prirodne zajednice nisu samo objekti – imovina koja može da bude posedovana, nego su subjekti koji imaju nezavisno pravo na zdrav i miran zivot, postojanje i napredovanje.
Zakoni koji priznaju prava Prirode ce na taj nacin promeniti status prirodnih zajednica i ekosistema da budu prepoznata i priznata kao prava rodnih lica – odnosno subjekti u zakonu, sa pravima koja mogu da se sprovode od strane ljudi, vlada i zajednica.
Prema tome, umesto da tretiramo Prirodu kao pravne objekte – imovinu pod sadasnjim zakonom, prava prirode prepoznaju da priroda u svim njenim oblicima života ima pravo da postoji, opstaje, održava i regeneriše svoje vitalne cikluse i kao takva bude zastupljena i predstavljena u zakonu.
Postovati prava prirode na zdrav miran zivot i na nesmetano postojanje takodje podrazumeva nasu duznost da ‘izlecimo’ ono sto smo vec unistili i povratimo prirodu u njeno originalno zdravo stanje i potpuno funkcionisanje sastavnih ekosistema.