Pilgrimage and Place: april 2017

Some weeks ago several news outlets published on a river in New Zealand getting the same legal status as humans have.
In this contribution I'll bring you up to date.
Inform you over some recent publications, get into the older ones. Have a look into some relevant organisations.
Show you a nice TED presentation, and point you to two relevant concepts like ecovillages and buen vivir.

Photo by Jim Clayton

If you want to read on, here are two pointers.

See CNN's article on the Whanganui River here.

This isn't a solo development, likewise actions are on it's way for the river Frome in the UK.

Also the Ganges and the Yamuna in India were given the status of living human entities. See The Guardian article here.

And, while preparing this entry, I read on the Facebook page of Rebecca Solnit a link to Himalayan Glaciers and forests that have been declared human rights.

Photo in India Times

See here for the article in India Times.

A nice overview article you find on Intercontinental Cry, Indigenous Philosophies Reframing Law.

Photo in Intercontinental Cry

And likewise status changes are already performed elsewhere.
But, what a contrast to discussions on legal status as human of unborn children.

In fact, several organisations 'live on it' ;-)

Here are three to get you started.

See The Rights of Nature

See Rights of nature

Or, in Dutch, Rechten voor de Natuur

Books

For some background on the history of men-environment have a look at this book:

Roderick Nash, Wilderness and the American Mind

is a great book on the history of attitudes toward wilderness and the environment in the U.S..

“The Book of Genesis for conservationists”—Dave Foreman

Roderick Nash’s classic study of changing attitudes toward wilderness during American history, as well as the origins of the environmental and conservation movements, has received wide acclaim since its initial publication in 1967. The Los Angeles Times listed it among the one hundred most influential books published in the last quarter century, Outside Magazine included it in a survey of “books that changed our world,” and it has been called the “Book of Genesis for environmentalists

Further there is this 2015 report Fighting for our shared future by Sheehan and Wilson to download.

Another classic.

" Originally published in 1972, Should Trees Have Standing? was a rallying point for the then burgeoning environmental movement, launching a worldwide debate on the basic nature of legal rights that reached the U.S. Supreme Court. Now, in the 35th anniversary edition of this remarkably influential book, Christopher D. Stone updates his original thesis and explores the impact his ideas have had on the courts, the academy, and society as a whole. At the heart of the book is an eminently sensible, legally sound, and compelling argument that the environment should be granted legal rights. For the new edition, Stone explores a variety of recent cases and current events--and related topics such as climate change and protecting the oceans--providing a thoughtful survey of the past and an insightful glimpse at the future of the environmental movement. This enduring work continues to serve as the definitive statement as to why trees, oceans, animals, and the environment as a whole should be bestowed with legal rights, so that the voiceless elements in nature are protected for future generations. "

(text through Google Books)

Here you can download the 1972 article in pdf by Christopher Stone ' Should trees have standing - toward legal rights for natural objects '.

Some background...

"Fighting for Our Shared Future: Protecting Both Human Rights and Nature’s Rights explores 100 case studies from around the world of co-violations of nature’s and people’s rights."

TED

See also the TEDx Findhorn presentation by Mumta Ito:

"by enshrining Rights of Nature in law, we protect the environment that we all need for our very existence."

2016

(14:18)

Added May 13 2017:
Have perhaps also a look at this article on Ecologist

Nature's rights: a new paradigm for environmental protection.

I would like to introduce two further concepts, ecovilages and buen vivir.

Ecovillages

"Kosha Joubert shares how community-led regeneration can become a source of solutions for today’s societal challenges. Kosha takes us on a journey around the globe to discover ecovillages, envisioning a world of empowered citizens and communities, designing and implementing their own pathways to a sustainable future, and building bridges of hope and international solidarity."

Have a look at TEDx Geneva's presentation.

2015

(15:22)

Buen Vivir

Familiar with the concept of buen vivir? Does the good living comes from South America?

This 'nature rights concept' "departs from a social philosophy, known in Spanish as “buen vivir”, in which the concept of a good life proposes a holistic approach to development that intertwines notions of unity, equality, dignity, reciprocity, social and gender equality – a rallying cry to move beyond Western ideals and practices of development and progress largely measured by profit."

(See exhibition at the University of British Columbia throughout 2017.)

See this basic article in The Guardian (2013) on the concept with addition links.

Buen vivir: the social philosophy inspiring movements in South America.