On April 25, 2016, activists, educators, students, mothers and allies joined together to explore the open online training “Rights of Nature: Protecting and Defending the Places We Live.” Presenters Shannon Biggs of Movement Rights and Osprey Orielle Lake of WECAN explained how Rights of Nature can challenge current legal frameworks which commodify Nature. Moreover, Lake explained that because the Earth is treated as property, it has no legal standing which makes the “defenseless” in the modern justice system. Biggs focused on helping people to create new laws that recognize their right to protect the Earth and determine what happens in their communities. At the end of the training, it was pointed out that Rights of Nature can be used as a powerful tool to empower communities and restore democracies by challenging corrupted governance structures which facilitate natural and social abuses. Photo credit: Emily Arasim
