For centuries, our laws, policies and economies have treated nature as property. The common belief has been that land is to be owned, rivers are to be harnessed, forests are to be harvested and resources are to be extracted. This worldview, deeply rooted in extractivism, industrial development and infinite economic growth, assumes that humans stand apart from nature and can control it without consequence. Yet the climate crisis, biodiversity collapse and increasing environmental disasters suggest that this human-centred understanding of the natural world is failing us.

The rights of nature movement seeks to recognize ecosystems such as rivers, forests, mountains and watersheds as living entities with legal rights. It’s a perspective that reflects a profound shift in how societies understand the relationship between people and the natural systems that sustain life. After all, if we did it for corporations — which are not even real and yet have in many instances more rights than a person — we can do it for nature. 

At its core, granting rights to nature recognizes a simple truth: humans are not separate from ecosystems. We are entirely dependent on them.

Moving beyond a human-centric view of nature

For generations, environmental........

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