Rights of Nature

Although it not does not expressly acknowledge and protect rights of nature, Title II of Bolivia’s Constitution ³ – entitled Environment, Natural Resources, Land and Territory – contains several provisions relating to the environment and its various components such as water, biodiversity, and forests.  Article 342 states that it is the duty of the State and the population to “conserve, protect and use natural resources and the biodiversity in a sustainable manner, as well as to maintain the equilibrium of the environment”.  There are also several provisions specific to protection of the Bolivian Amazon basin (Art. 390 to 392).  The Bolivian Constitution also provides a right to a “healthy, protected, and balanced environment” and a right to “take legal action in defense of environmental rights” (Art. 33 and 34).

It is in legislation that Bolivia expressly acknowledges and protects the rights of nature:  The Law of the Rights of Mother Earth, Law No. 071/2010 ⁴ and the Framework Law of Mother Earth and Integral Development for Living Well, Law No. 300/2012 ⁵.  Law No. 071/2010 characterizes Mother Earth as a “collective public interest… entitled to inherent rights” as set out in the law.  Under this law, Mother Earth has rights to:

• life;
• diversity of life;
• water;
• clean air;
• equilibrium (maintenance or restoration of the interrelationship, interdependence, complementarity and functionality of the components of Mother Earth in a balanced way for the continuation of their cycles and reproduction of their vital processes);
• restoration of living systems affected by human activities; and
• pollution free living.

More detail regarding the rights of nature are provided in Law No. 300 which sets out several requirements, including:

• Undertaking precaution to prevent or avoid damage to the components of Mother Earth including the environment, biodiversity, human health and intangible cultural values.
• A guarantee of restoration of Mother Earth by any person that causes damage to the components, zones and life system of Mother Earth.
• A guarantee of regeneration of Mother Earth in which any person with rights to own, use or exploit a component of Mother Earth must respect the regeneration capacities of the components, zones and life systems of Mother Earth.

In the United States several municipalities have passed ordinances (in Canada, we call these municipal bylaws) recognizing the rights of nature ⁶.  For example, the municipality of Tamaqua Borough, Pennsylvania passed a rights based ordinance making it unlawful for corporations to interfere with or cause damage to natural communities and  ecosystems ) ⁷. This ordinance states that “natural communities, and ecosystems shall be considered “persons” for purposes of the enforcement of … civil rights”.

In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, an ordinance was passed to prevent fracking ⁸.  Section 618.03 of Pittsburgh’s Code of Ordinances states that “natural communities and ecosystems, including, but not limited to, wetlands, streams, rivers, aquifers, and other water systems, possess inalienable and fundamental rights to exist and flourish” ⁹.  Further, the Code states that residents of the City possess legal standing to enforce those rights on behalf of the natural communities and ecosystems ¹⁰.

There are also ordinances in Mora County, New Mexico; Spokane, Washington; Barnstead, New Hampshire; Blaine, Washington County; Shapleigh, Maine; Santa Monica, California; and others ¹¹.