The Rights of Nature—Building A New Model

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“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” ― R. Buckminster Fuller

Over the past few decades, western scientists have learned a great deal about how other-than-human beings sense the world; how they relate to one another within and among species and interact with their environments with intelligence and feeling rather than simple instinct. What they have learned, rebuts the mistaken belief that, apart from humans, living beings lack consciousness. This is not news to Indigenous people, of course.

What we are learning extends beyond the animal kingdom. Consider Suzanne Simard’s studies of the relationship between mycorrhiza and trees. Her research has shown that trees are interdependent, communicating and cooperating across species. Plants, too, have capabilities which we have long failed to see; they are active participants in their ecosystems.

We live amid a world lit with intelligent awareness—as Indigenous people have always understood—and the other-than-human beings we live amongst and depend upon, have their own intrinsic value apart from their value as resources for human use.

The rights of nature movement is an attempt to align our legal system with this way of understanding the natural world, to codify the idea that all conscious (broadly defined) beings have the right to freedom and flourishing. In the words of geologian Thomas Berry, “Rights originate where existence originates. That which determines existence determines rights. Rights is defined as giving every being its due.”

The path to human rights for all is, of course, pitted and pot-holed. That justice work remains incomplete. But that needn’t stop us from extending rights to the natural world. It is already happening in New Zealand where the Whanganui River has been granted legal personhood under the co-guardianship of the Maori people and the New Zealand government. Ecuador has adopted a constitutional amendment recognizing the inalienable rights of ecosystems to exist and flourish which grants people the authority to petition on the behalf of nature and requires the government to remedy violations of these rights.

In the U. S., over 80 rights of nature laws have been passed, most at the local level. Acknowledging that the natural element is not property to be used by a human owner, these laws grant the inherent rights to exist, to flourish, to be regenerated when disturbed, and to naturally evolve to a particular species, a named river or watershed, even to an entire ecosystem. Or as Thomas Berry has written “the right to be, the right to habitat, and the right to fulfill (one’s) role in the ever-renewing process of the Earth Community.”

This shift in perspective will require nothing short of ecological conversion. Think for a moment—what would it mean if you had to consider what would be best for the tree in your backyard before you took it down because it shades your flower bed? If you relinquished some portion of the control that is granted by ownership as opposed to relationship?

“There is something of a seamless web involved: there will be resistance to giving the thing ‘rights’ until it can be seen and valued for itself; yet, it is hard to see it and value it for itself until we can bring ourselves to give it ‘rights’.” Christopher Stone.

So far, none of the rights of nature laws passed in the U.S. have survived legal challenge. But the shift the way we see the world is underway. As a practical matter, the practice of granting legal personhood to nonhuman entities has been around for more than a hundred years; consider the corporation which is an entity created by the law possessing the right be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, the right of free speech, and the right to equal protection under the law, among others. In addition, our legal system is experienced with issues of balancing competing rights; my right to free speech precludes my yelling “Fire!” in a crowded theater. Broadening the circle of who has rights is well within our capacity.

The Great Lakes provide drinking water for more than 40 million people and make up the largest freshwater ecosystem on the planet. But this ecosystem is struggling. Existing environmental legislation like the Clean Water Act define impermissible levels of harm to human interests, but do not protect the lake ecosystems as such. But in 2025, NYS Assemblymember Patrick Burke introduced the Great Lakes and State Waters Bill of Rights to grant to the Great Lakes ecosystems, as well as the watersheds and ecosystems throughout NYS, the fundamental rights to exist, persist, flourish, naturally evolve, regenerate, and be restored. All natural water features, communities of organisms, soil, and terrestrial and aquatic sub-ecosystems are included within the proposed legislation. So far, the bill has not been enacted but the conversation continues. Assemblymember Burke plans to reintroduce the bill in January 2027.

From Gus Speth, “I used to think that top environmental problems were biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and climate change. I thought that thirty years of good science could address these problems. I was wrong. The top environmental problems are selfishness, greed and apathy, and to deal with these we need a cultural and spiritual transformation”

The rights of nature movement arises from such a transformation; an awakening to the deep knowledge that humans do not stand apart and above the rest of the natural world, but rather are part of a dynamic, interdependent ecosystem.

~by Holly Rockwell

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