NATURE’S LAW

The Canadian Constitution’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms does not include nature, something that would have strengthened the Mutehekau Shipu’s personhood declaration. How does Canada stack up against other jurisdictions when it comes to enshrining the rights of nature? We asked David Boyd, the UN special rapporteur on human rights and the environment, for the three strongest examples globally.

NEW ZEALAND

New Zealand has passed two laws in favour of nature: the rights of a river and the rights of an ecosystem. The legal personhood of the Whanganui River was formalized in 2017, three years after the Te Urewera ecosystem was granted the same rights. But what’s most exciting to Boyd is that “things are effectively changing on the ground in New Zealand — they’re moving forward with implementation.” The legal personhood granted to Te Urewera and the Whanganui River, as well as to Mt. Taranaki in the Whanganui watershed, are a reality thanks to a government commitment to reconciliation through adopting Maori traditional knowledge and worldviews.

ECUADOR

In 2009, Ecuador became the first nation in the world to protect nature in its constitution. While the country is still mining and drilling for oil and gas, Boyd says this dramatic recognition signals hope. Because of its constitutional status, “it’s the highest and strongest rights-of-nature law in any country,” he says. A 2014 amendment to the criminal code included crimes against Pachamama (Mother Earth), and 2016 saw a further legislative strengthening of the rights of animals and nature. In 2021, Ecuador’s constitutional court upheld the rights of nature by banning mining in a protected forest area.

COLOMBIA

To reverse the heavy pollution and damage inflicted on Colombia’s Atrato River by illegal mining, the country’s constitutional court in 2016 declared the river a legal person with rights to, among other things, protection, conservation and restoration. And in 2018, the Supreme Court of Colombia recognized the Amazon ecosystem as a legal person. “Colombia is exciting — it’s a place where there have been at least 10 different court cases that have recognized the rights of nature,” says Boyd. “Now, they’re in the process of working out what that means and how it’s going to change people’s relationship with nature.”