There are two complimentary approaches that activists around the world are working on.
One is the local, legal approach, where communities are passing local ordinances and laws to use the Rights of Nature to protect ecosystems from destructive corporate practices.
The other is the global movement to get countries and the United Nations to affirm the Rights of Nature. The first country to do this was Ecuador when, in 2006, they rewrote their national constitution and included an entire section on recognizing the rights of Nature (Mother Earth).
There are many excellent resources where you can find some very good information about this movement.
Here are a few:
The Community Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) – this is the group that is helping communities pass local ordinances to protect their communities by giving rights to nature and taking them away from destructive corporations.
CELDF is also on the front lines of the fight against corporate personhood.
CELDF also has a very important project calle Democracy School where they work with communities under attack by corporations and use different legal strategies, such as the Rights of Nature, disallowing corporate constitutional rights, writing local Constitutions to define and protect community right. Be sure to watch the videos of the Democracy School – 8 videos about 1/2 hour each. You will have a very different understanding of our society and legal system and how they are set up by the time you finish.
Who Speaks for the Trees? Driving Nature’s Rights Into Law- an excellent speech about how our environmental laws "work" and how the Rights of Nature is an effective strategy to defending the rights of ecosystems.
The Glogal Alliance for the Rights of Nature – a worldwide movement creating human communities that respect and defend the rights of Nature. Its time has come!
The Global Exchange Community Rights program is also working on this issue and they have worked in a number of California communities, including Mt. Shasta and Santa Monica.
Here is a report on the Mount Shasta community’s struggle against a water bottling company and governemnt cloud seeding.
Help – I’ve been colonized and can’t get up … a very engaging article on the trap of accepting the regulatory system and the way it defines what is what we are allowed to argue and what we are not allowed to argue.
Two Transcripts from interviews with lawyers from CELDF that provide and very good background for understanding the Rights of Nature and how to use this concept to protect our communities.