It’s one thing for a country to sign an accord it doesn’t really intend to adhere to, or to say that the environment is important.
It’s another thing entirely when a country’s government declares that nature’s rights will be safeguarded as carefully as human beings’ rights.
Bolivia’s government has drafted “The Law of Mother Earth,” which articulates 11 rights of nature, including:
…”the right to life and to exist; the right to continue vital cycles and processes free from human alteration; the right to pure water and clean air; the right to balance; the right not to be polluted; and the right to not have cellular structure modified or genetically altered. It will also ensure the right of nature ‘to not be affected by mega-infrastructure and development projects that affect the balance of ecosystems and the local inhabitant communities.’”
To read more about Bolivia and the backstory for “The Law of Mother Earth,” check out this article from Wired.
Julie Schwietert
Julie Schwietert Collazo is a writer, editor, researcher, and translator currently in New York, formerly of Mexico City and San Juan. She is Matador's managing editor and is the lead faculty member of MatadorU's travel writing program.
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