A group of authors organized through the Society of Wetland Scientists have developed a proposal for a Universal Declaration of the Rights of Wetlands. CELDF is excited to endorse the efforts as a step toward recognizing and enforcing the rights of wetlands.
“The ongoing destabilization of the global climate and rapid loss of biodiversity impress upon us the urgency for shifting the human–Nature relationship to one of greater reciprocity and respect for Nature,” the authors write.
Lawyers and scientists with the Society of Wetland Scientists’ Rights of Wetlands and Climate Change and Wetlands initiatives organized the proposal and in a paper recognized the failure of existing frameworks of law and policy. The group is planning to share the Declaration with the 171 signatory countries of the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar Convention), and inviting them to work with others to move toward a framework that ensures the rights of wetlands are understood, respected and upheld, including through contributing knowledge and guidance on designated Ramsar Wetlands of International Importance.
Importantly, the authors see that, “Incorporating a greater emphasis on the rights of wetlands could provide the impetus and means for combining Indigenous and other knowledge.”
“CELDF’s endorsement of the proposed Universal Declaration of the Rights of Wetlands lends important support to the idea that wetlands have inherent rights,” the authors say. “Effectively responding to the challenges of a destabilizing climate, biodiversity loss, and degradation and loss of wetlands calls upon us to reframe our relationship with the world by recognizing the beingness of Nature and the rights that this entails. Creative collaborations between nonprofits, Indigenous peoples and local communities, scientists, attorneys and governance organizations can support this paradigm shift.” We agree.
See CELDF’s blog post HERE.
Photo credit: “The Wetlands in HDR” by …-Wink-… is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 .