Premiered March 31, 2020, "The Rights of Nature" explores a legal strategy emerging as conventional laws fail to address environmental degradation. While Western views often treat nature as property, indigenous communities have long seen themselves as part of it.

The film delves into the origins and global application of the Rights of Nature. It showcases constitutional reforms in Ecuador, partnerships between the Māori and New Zealand government granting personhood to natural entities, and its function in urban Santa Monica, California.

It examines the successes and challenges of creating these new legal structures, aiming to restore ecosystems and achieve a vital balance between humanity and nature.

Supporting CELDF allows us to empower communities. We're excited to share highlights from our 2024 achievements.

Your invaluable support makes our work possible. Thank you for helping CELDF advance its mission.

Our purpose is to give voice to Nature.

We advocate for the natural world, ensuring its vital perspectives are heard and respected.

Published January 2, 2015, this presentation addresses global obstacles to Mother Earth's rights, compiling insights from Indigenous Peoples worldwide on defending the Earth from human misuse. Dr. Dan Wildcat, Director of the Haskell Environmental Research Studies (HERS) Center and Dean of the College of Natural and Social Sciences at Haskell Indian Nations University, delivered this report.

His speech was originally given at the 2012 Indigenous Forum, co-produced with the Cultural Conservatory, during the Bioneers National Conference. Dr. Wildcat has taught at Haskell for 25 years.

The Declaration, proclaimed in 2010 at the World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth (Cochabamba, Bolivia), was publicly read.

This significant document outlined key principles regarding climate change and the rights of Mother Earth.

On May 19, 2016, Amazonian women from Ecuador addressed the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Featured on the IENearth YouTube channel, the delegation included Gloria Ushigua (President, Sapara Women Association), Pya Malayo (Secretary General, Indigenous Group Katribu), and Alicia Cahuiya (Vice President, Waorani Nation).

Their unified message was to "Keep the oil in the ground," a position further emphasized by a letter sent to the China Mission to the United Nations.

International law currently recognizes four major crimes: war crimes, genocide, torture, and crimes against humanity. However, Spanish magistrate Baltasar Garzón and Scottish lawyer Polly Higgins advocate for expanding this list to include a fifth: ecocide.

They aim to establish ecocide as an international crime, thereby placing the large-scale destruction of ecosystems high on the global political agenda. This initiative was highlighted by VPRO Backlight on November 30, 2015.

Stand with the San Carlos Apache Nation to protect Oak Flat campground, a sacred Apache site in central Arizona's Tonto National Forest. Mining giant Rio Tinto's plans for a massive copper mine threaten to devastate this vital area.

The proposed mine would create a depression the size of the Winslow meteor crater, drain the aquifer, and destroy essential streams, springs, and wildlife habitat. Despite being formally withdrawn from mining by presidential order 50 years ago, a recent congressional land swap grants Rio Tinto private control, allowing them to bypass environmental protections.

Communities in Ecuador's Amazon rainforest have sent a heartfelt video message to Chevron CEO John Watson: "We don't want to continue dying of cancer."

This urgent appeal calls on Chevron to clean up its massive contamination of the Ecuadorian Amazon. The pollution has devastated the environment and continues to cause widespread cancer, birth defects, and other severe health problems.

The message was originally published in January 2010.

Weak property rights and insecure tenure arrangements in developing countries lead to rural communities losing land and natural resources, profoundly impacting livelihoods, wellbeing, environments, and ecosystem services.

This video highlights the story of a Sub-Saharan African farmer losing his land rights, underscoring the critical need for governments to balance individual citizen rights with national public interest.

Published by the World Resources Institute on April 10, 2013. Download the full report here.

The Rights of Nature, also known as the Rights of Mother Earth, is a global movement dedicated to creating communities that respect and defend nature's rights. Didier Lacaze was interviewed by Barry Heidt of Sustainability Action Media (SAM) for an online campaign promoting Indigenous Voices of Sustainability. This initiative was co-sponsored by EarthSayers.tv and the Pachamama Alliance, focusing on wisdom keepers from Ecuador.

Didier and his wife, Rosa Canalos (Kichwa), founded the Sacha Warmi Center. Located on the outskirts of the Amazonian Rainforest in Ecuador's Pastaza region, this educational resource is part of PROMETRA (Promoción de la Medicina Tradicional Amazónica), a local initiative they established in 2005.

Canadian Indigenous Actress and Activist Michelle Thrush delivered a declaration on behalf of indigenous nationalities. This declaration protests the Ecuadorian government's plan to auction their ancestral lands to oil companies, highlighting the severe impact on these communities.

To learn more and support the cause, visit Amazon Watch and sign their petition. (Published Apr 17, 2013)

Didier Lacaze and Rosa Canalos (Kichwa) founded the Sacha Warmi Center, an educational hub in Ecuador's Amazonian Pastaza region. It is part of PROMETRA (Promoción de la Medicina Tradicional Amazónica), an initiative they co-founded in 2005. Rosa, Didier's wife, is from Canelos.

Didier was interviewed by Barry Heidt of Sustainability Action Media (SAM) for an "Indigenous Voices of Sustainability" video campaign. This EarthSayers.tv co-sponsored series highlights Ecuadorian wisdom keepers, with editing by Norman Austin.

This interview with Patricia Gualinga is excerpted from the documentary, *Screams of the Amazon, the XI round in Ecuador*. It is available on the Pachamama YouTube Channel and on EarthSayers.tv's Special Collection, Rights of Mother Earth.

Ms. Gualinga states, "The World has not done an analysis whether oil is more valuable than what is lost by destroying the Amazon."

For more information, visit the Global Alliance of the Rights of Nature and the Pachamama Alliance.

David Tucker, Director of Pachamama Journeys, lives in Ecuador, supporting indigenous peoples. He oversees Pachamama Journeys, a transformational program designed to reconnect participants with the Earth, themselves, and others.

Through direct experience with wild nature, indigenous cultures, and shared group activities, the program offers a powerful, experiential journey.

Tucker was interviewed in Ecuador by Barry Heidt of Sustainability Action Media (SAM). This interview was part of a SAM campaign with EarthSayers.tv, titled *Ecuadorian Wisdom Keepers Speaking on Behalf of Mother Earth*.

This video, uploaded May 1, 2011, draws inspiration from the Universal Declaration of Mother Rights. Proclaimed in 2010 at the World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth in Cochabamba, Bolivia, the declaration's Preamble and Articles 1 and 2 are read in the video.

Access the full text of the [Universal Declaration of Mother Rights](http://therightsofnature.org/universal-declaration/).

Amy Goodman interviewed Maude Barlow on Earth Day 2011, discussing the progress of the Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth within the United Nations. The interview also covered a resolution addressing harmony with nature.

Barlow referenced the book, The Rights of Nature: The Case for the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Nature.

Mari Margil, Associate Director of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF), discusses the founding of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature in Fall 2010.

CELDF's mission is "Building sustainable communities by assisting people to assert their right to local self-government and the rights of nature." Margil was interviewed by Barry Heidt of SustainableTV at the Bioneers 2010 Conference in San Rafael, California. This content was edited and curated by Ruth Ann Barrett in January 2013.