For a long time, environmental laws focused on regulating the use of natural resources and protecting the environment because of its importance to human beings.

But a new paradigm began to transform that relationship and raise awareness that Nature is not only something we must protect, it is also a subject with its own rights.

In 2008, Ecuador became the first country in the world to recognize the Rights of Nature in its Constitution. Bolivia advanced with the Law of Mother Earth in 2010, and in 2017, New Zealand granted legal personhood to the Whanganui River.

In Latin America, Colombia has recognized ecosystem rights through judicial decisions, while Panama passed Law 287 in 2022 which recognizes nature as a subject of rights. These are advances that reflect a change in our understanding of the planet and our place on it.

A law needs people to defend it.

Natalia Greene, global director of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature (GARN), in Leaders for Nature, the program of The Oxygen Project.

«What we are fundamentally working on is changing this paradigm of separation and understanding that we are indeed nature.»

Legal recognition represents progress, but it does not in itself guarantee the protection of ecosystems.

Callie Veelenturf, a marine biologist, founder of The Leatherback Project and one of the driving forces behind Panama’s Law 287, sums it up with a reflection

«A law is a law, but it is nothing if there are no people to defend it, if there are no people to implement it.»

From Ecuador, Natalia Greene points out that change doesn’t happen overnight; constitutionally recognizing the Rights of Nature was a historic step, but putting them into practice remains a challenge.

“A law is truly made when you are empowered.”

Both reflections point to the same idea, which is that…The Rights of Nature need a citizenry that knows them, exercises them and demands their fulfillment.

Leaders for Nature: Educating to Transform

With that conviction was born Leaders for Nature, a program of The Oxygen Project to which more than 200 young Panamanians applied and from which 50 participants were selected.

Through virtual sessions with international experts and face-to-face experiences in the field, the program provides tools to understand the Rights of Nature and transform them into environmental advocacy actions.

From the global movement to the ecosystems of Panama, young people learn that defending nature requires knowledge, organization, and participation.

Camila Aybar summarizes the purpose of this formation.

«What we need now is a generation ready to defend those rights of nature.»

A generation that not only knows the laws, but also knows how to use them to protect ecosystems and strengthen citizen participation.

The future of the Rights of Nature begins now

Today, Panama seeks to bring the Rights of Nature to the international stage through a proposed Universal Declaration before the United Nations.

For Callie Veelenturf, this leadership also represents a responsibility.

“I know there is a very long road ahead and Panama now has the responsibility to set an example.”

This path requires new voices, new tools, and people willing to act. Because recognizing the Rights of Nature was a historic step.The next transformation is to ensure that those rights are respected.

As Natalia Greene states, «The time for the Rights of Nature is now.»

#LeadersForNature #TOPCoop #TheOxygenProject #NatureRights