Katie Surma, a journalist with Inside Climate News, reports on a recent win in the Rights of Nature movement. Nederland, a small town west of Denver, Colorado, has just appointed two legal guardians to represent Boulder Creek and the Nederland watershed, a monumental step forward in legally enacting the Rights of Nature. The guardians will work to report on the ecosystem’s health and make recommendations for policy and actions to improve the water quality, ecosystem health, and natural protection of the region. Advocates believe that nature, like other non-human entities protected by law, such as corporations, should have legal standing to assert its rights and request representation. In 2021, Nederland did this by recognizing Boulder Creek and its watershed as living entities with innate rights to be restored and protected. Despite previous attempts to debase Rights of Nature in 2017, three other towns have gone on to enact nonbinding resolutions, following the leadership of Nederland.
