Rights of Nature represents a paradigm-shifting civic innovation domain that fundamentally reconceptualizes the legal relationship between humans and the natural world. Rather than treating nature as property to be owned and exploited, Rights of Nature recognizes that ecosystems — including rivers, forests, mountains, and other natural entities—possess inherent rights similar to human rights, including the rights to exist, flourish, regenerate, and evolve. This approach marks a profound departure from traditional environmental law, which typically regulates how much harm can be legally inflicted upon nature, toward a framework where nature itself holds legal standing and can be defended in courts of law.
The movement's historical development traces back to Christopher Stone's seminal 1972 article "Should Trees Have Standing? — Toward Legal Rights for Natural Objects," enriched by Thomas Berry's concept of "Earth Jurisprudence" and Cormac Cullinan's "Wild Law." The breakthrough came in 2006 when Tamaqua Borough, Pennsylvania became the first municipality worldwide to recognize Rights of Nature in law, followed by Ecuador's groundbreaking constitutional recognition in 2008. As of early 2025, the Eco Jurisprudence Monitor lists over 540 Rights of Nature initiatives globally across 39+ countries, making this the fastest-growing environmental legal movement of the 21st century.
This civic innovation matters profoundly in an era of accelerating ecological collapse and climate crisis. Rights of Nature offers an alternative to the anthropocentric worldview that has driven environmental degradation, embracing instead an ecocentric perspective that acknowledges humanity's interdependence with all life. For Indigenous cultures worldwide — from the Andean concept of Pachamama to Māori understandings of rivers as ancestors — this legal framework aligns with millennia-old traditions of living in harmony with nature. By granting ecosystems legal personhood and enforceable rights, this approach empowers communities, Indigenous peoples, and individual citizens to act as guardians of nature, taking legal action to prevent ecological harm before it occurs rather than merely seeking compensation afterward.