Important Updates
We hope you enjoy the articles, factoids, features, and spotlights of the…
Newsletters, Resources
The essays in Wouldn’t You Say? ask challenging questions about modern society,…
News from the Grassroots, Publications
A new system of law based on respect for Nature and the…
Issues, News, Resources, Rights of Nature
Sep 13, 2016
Highland Township, PA, residents work with CELDF to push for the recognition of the Rights of Nature in the 3rd Circuit Court.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsMar 21, 2016
What does “Rights of Nature” mean, and why do need them? Understand Rights of Nature with these FAQs.
Read More | UncategorizedFeb 29, 2016
CELDF assists the Green Party of England and Wales to draft a Rights of Nature policy platform, which was adopted by the Party on Sunday. The policy calls for the recognition of the rights of nature to exist and flourish.
Read More | Press Releases & BlogsFeb 28, 2016
On February 28th, the Green Party of England and Wales adopted a Rights of Nature policy, drafted in partnership with CELDF. Read the language here.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsAug 4, 2015
CELDF is pioneering the work for rights of ecosystems – or the “rights of nature” – working with communities and states across the U.S., and in countries around the world, to develop rights-based legal frameworks to protect the environment.
Read More |Jul 20, 2015
The Raizal people of the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia, and Santa Catalina off the coast of Colombia work with CELDF to recognize the Rights of Nature and to achieve their right to self-determination. CELDF travels to the Archipelago this month. Learn more here.
Read More | UncategorizedJul 14, 2015
CELDF receives support from the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation.
Read More | UncategorizedApr 13, 2015
Just over a year ago, the International Tribunal for the Rights of Nature and Mother Earth sat for the first time in Quito, Ecuador. Here, Michelle Maoney of the Australian Earth Laws Alliance shares the powerful, alternative narrative that emerged from the Tribunal, whereby Rights of Nature are recognized, codified, and enforced.
Read More | UncategorizedFeb 16, 2014
CELDF, a founding member of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature, joined in an international gathering hosted by the Alliance in Octavalo, Ecuador, in January. Read more here.
Read More | UncategorizedDec 6, 2013
CELDF partner, Fundacion Pachamama, was shut down this week by the Ecuadorian government. Learn more on how you can help.
Read More | UncategorizedAug 5, 2013
Community Rights and the Rights of Nature are changing our western legal paradigm, and are tools to protect Santa Barbara, CA, from fracking.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsMar 14, 2013
Santa Monica City Council introduces California’s first community rights ordinance, recognizing the right to self-governance, clean air and water, sustainable food and energy systems, and the rights of nature.
Read More | UncategorizedFeb 10, 2013
Slideshow Narrated by Thomas Linzey
Read More | UncategorizedJan 21, 2013
Presentation by Dr. Stephen Cleghorn, a sociologist and an organic farmer from Jefferson County, PA, and was recorded at the Epic No Frack Event at Ithaca College.
Read More | UncategorizedJun 19, 2012
The Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature is….calling for global recognition and acceptance of Rights of Nature. They say an essential step for achieving this is to introduce a system of jurisprudence that sees and treats Nature as a fundamental, rights bearing entity and not as mere property to be exploited at will.
Read More | UncategorizedAug 5, 2011
CELDF Projects Director Ben Prices talks with Simon Kaiwai of New Zealand, sharing knowledge of how communities have overcome such things as fracking, mining, water rights, human rights, GE, GMO, corporate personhood and unwanted state plans for their local environment.
Read More | UncategorizedMay 3, 2011
The Rights of Nature, The Case for a Universal Declaration on the Rights of Mother Earth. Co-produced by Global Exchange, the Council of Canadians, The Pachamama Alliance, and Fundación Pachamama.
Read More | UncategorizedMay 3, 2011
Rights of Nature panel at Global Alliance for Rights of Nature, San Francisco.
Read More | UncategorizedSep 28, 2008
By an overwhelming margin, the people of Ecuador today voted for a new constitution that is the first in the world to recognize legally enforceable Rights of Nature, or ecosystem rights.
Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs, Success StoryDec 23, 2024
Author, Ben Price, was interviewed on the Project Censored Show by Eleanor Goldfield about his new book, Wouldn’t You Say, A Collection of Essays on Environment and Community. In the book and in their conversation, Ben explains that what we’re seeing today is not a perversion of the promise of America, it’s actually a proof of… Read more »
Read More | Press Releases, PublicationsSep 10, 2021
A new ordinance seeks to place a Climate Bill of Rights on the 2022 ballot, which explicitly challenges North Carolina’s infamous state preemption scheme and privileges afforded private corporations.
Read More | Blogs, Community Wires, Corporate 'Rights', Extraction & Pollution, News, Rights of NatureMay 28, 2021
On May 28, 2021, CELDF’s Lindsey Schromen-Wawrin joined Rebecca Tsosie (constitutional and Indigenous law scholar of Yaqui descent and regents professor of law at the University of Arizona) and Carol Van Strum (Lincoln County Community Rights) on the nationally syndicated Climate One podcast.
Read More | News, News from the GrassrootsSep 10, 2019
An analysis of Rights of Nature laws as a path forward to protecting ecosystems in the face of continuing environmental harms.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsJul 10, 2019
Jun 26, 2019
Community Rights and Rights of Nature continue to grow in Ohio as Williams County residents submit their citizen initiative to protect themselves from corporate water withdrawals.
Read More | Community Wires, News, Press Releases, Success StoryAug 7, 2018
Toledo, OH, community members submit petitions to place a Lake Erie Bill of Rights citizen initiative on the November ballot. The measure recognizes the right of Lake Erie to exist and flourish, protecting it from major pollutors.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots, Success StoryMay 23, 2018
As the recognition of Rights of Nature grows globally, we must move beyond thinking of nature as having legal personhood rights. We must recognize rights of ecosystems to existence, regeneration and restoration.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsMay 14, 2018
Check out the stories being submitted as evidence this week at the international Permanent People’s Tribunal, where the PPT is considering fracking, climate change, and the violation of the rights of people and nature.
Read More | News from the GrassrootsJun 30, 2016
In Medina County, OH, residents gather over 6,500 signatures, qualifying for the November ballot a Community Rights County Charter banning fracking activities. They join six other Ohio cities and counties advancing similar measures.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsJun 5, 2016
Portage County, OH, residents gather signatures to place a Community Rights County Charter on the November ballot to ban fracking activities. Residents are advancing rights to protect themselves from the oil and gas industry.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsJan 16, 2014
At the Global Rights of Nature Summit in Otavalo, Ecuador, CELDF representatives and other organizations gather to call for the advancement of the Rights of Nature to protect the planet.
Read More | News from the GrassrootsApr 22, 2011
Considering the rights of ecosystems dates to 1972 with Christopher Stone, and has evolved today to local laws establishing Rights of Nature as a means to protect against destructive activities.
Read More | News from the GrassrootsJan 25, 2011
Why 1 in 3 Children is Chronically Ill, and Wild Weather and Media Silence on Climate Connections.
Read More | UncategorizedDec 5, 2010
Sep 28, 2008
Ecuador makes history with the people’s adoption of a new Constitution recognizing the Rights of Nature to exist and flourish.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsMar 20, 2025
“Great Lakes and State Waters Bill of Rights” introduced in New York State Assembly BUFFALO – What if bodies of water were guaranteed the kinds of legal rights that would criminalize their destruction? What if communities had the authority to enact laws that prevented pollution, extraction, and waste-dumping? This would be the case under a new… Read more »
Read More | Press Releases, Rights of NatureDec 11, 2024
We hope you enjoy the articles, factoids, features, and spotlights of the people who make CELDF the powerhouse that it is through our 2024 End-of-Year Newsletter.
Read More | Newsletters, ResourcesJun 18, 2024
The prospect of liability introduced by conferral of personhood status monetizes the relationship between humans and the rest of nature.
Read More | Blogs, Community Rights, Democratic Rights, Rights of NatureMay 28, 2024
On May 20, 2024, Rockland Sierra Club, Lower Hudson Group and ROAR (Religious Orders Along the River) hosted this conversation titled: SHOULD RIVERS AND TREES HAVE LEGAL RIGHTS? A new movement is growing around the rights of nature, arguing that rivers, lakes, and forests should have legal rights for themselves, not for their value to… Read more »
Read More | Events, Rights of NatureDec 4, 2023
FREE Gifts with tax-deductible year-end donations of $100 or more.
Read More | NewslettersNov 29, 2023
Your efforts to be resilient and resist a system that wants to dominate Nature are critical to the changes we need.
Read More | Rights of NatureMay 1, 2023
Feature photo by Bill Rinehart/WVXU “An advocacy group wants Cincinnati to recognize the right of the Ohio River to thrive. Members of Citizens for the Rights of the Ohio River Watershed are circulating a petition to get an amendment to Cincinnati’s charter on the ballot. Susan VonderHaar says CROW members want to give the river a seat… Read more »
Read More | Chemical Trespass, Community Rights, Community Wires, Corporate Agriculture, Democratic Rights, Extraction & Pollution, Issues, News, News from the Grassroots, Rights of NatureApr 17, 2023
“We began to understand through this process that we are not only connected to the Ohio River, but that we are part of the ecosystem,” stated Jim Schenk of CROW.
Read More | Press ReleasesApr 14, 2023
Wednesday, April 19th at 6:30 PM (Central Time) CELDF’s Tish O’Dell will be a panelist on for the upcoming discussion, The Myth of American Democracy: The Ruling Class Crusade Against Community & Nature hosted by Athens Community Rights Coalition at Ohio University.
Read More | Community Wires, Events, News, News from the GrassrootsMar 14, 2023
The posting of this piece is a reflection of CELDF’s commitment to featuring diverse perspectives and ideas in the quest to bring about a community rights and rights of nature existence into full being.
Read More | BlogsFeb 14, 2023
Using illustrator and writer Shaun Tan’s short story “Bears with Lawyers” as a touchstone, this discussion will interrogate the societal conception of rights (and rites) within our current legal system and beyond.
Read More | Events, Rights of NatureJan 19, 2023
At the risk of expediting the die-off of most life on the planet, including most humans, judges continue to turn a blind eye toward the rights of natural communities – where humans live in harmony with their environment – while giving full-throated support for legal rights vested in corporate property.
Read More | Blogs, Rights of NatureJan 5, 2023
We must think about our history- the Revolutionaries were proposing an alternative to being a colony of England, abolitionists were fighting for an alternative to slavery, the suffragists for an alternative to patriarchy and on and on.
Read More | Blogs, Democratic RightsDec 10, 2022
Mangroves, according to the Ramsar definition, are considered wetlands – an area that CELDF is also helping to evolve coming out of the Declaration of the Rights of Wetlands.
Read More | Community Rights, Extraction & Pollution, News from the Grassroots, Rights of Nature