On the face of it, it sounds logical: if you want to protect nature, you will need to enshrine it in law. After all, the law already protects people, organisations and all sorts of amenities. “But this then immediately gives rise to all kinds of questions: Which things does ‘nature’ include? And what should protection look like?” explains De Vries. As a PhD candidate, she is attempting to outline a framework for future research and policy by looking at existing legal texts and approaches in other countries.
It is partly a case of finding a new approach, because certain cultures have spent hundreds of years acknowledging the fact that human beings and nature are on equal footing. “Everyone has the right to live, and in our case, ‘everyone’ was once translated as ‘human beings’. But Native Americans, for example, take a broader view of this, and they also grant this right to animals and nature. And people such as the Maoris attribute similar spiritual qualities to rivers as they attribute to human beings.”
Developments
According to De Vries, there are currently three developments in the law that could lead to the protection of nature. These developments are not only taking place at the national level; they are also taking place at the international level. The first development is the criminalisation of ecocide, which is the large-scale destruction of nature. “Activist organisations like Stop Ecocide International are already lobbying for this. If nature is under threat, the responsible party can subsequently be punished.”
“A second approach would involve assigning rights to nature so that, for example, every forest, river and animal is entitled to a certain type of protection. This doesn’t mean that you’ll see a pine tree in court, but their interests and value will be taken into account in legal considerations. Companies also have rights and obligations, so why shouldn’t nature? This approach is already being used in Ecuador, for example, where nature’s interests are also being taken into consideration in court cases.”
“But there are those who take a more anthropocentric approach: the idea that people have a right to a clean, healthy environment is actually an extension of the right to live. These are three radically different approaches, although in theory they can all have the same consequences: protected nature, and by extension, also a more sustainable planet.”
Collaboration
De Vries claims that it is difficult to estimate where we will be in ten years’ time and which approach will be most successful. She is especially curious about developments in a field that she believes is still in its infancy. “A great deal of experimentation is being carried out, and that’s also the case in the Netherlands. For example, could we assign rights to the North Sea, now that we’re focusing on gas extraction and wind turbines in that area? There are even private foundations that are being established for the purpose of trying to give forests back to themselves for protection.”
Although De Vries will continue with her research study for several more years, she is already cautiously optimistic. “The dichotomy between human beings and nature doesn’t need to be so sharp. Look at the nitrogen debate, for example: the parties are at odds with each other, while there is theoretically scope for collaboration. If you protect nature, it doesn’t mean that you’re not allowed to grow crops anymore, and farming doesn’t mean that nature will be destroyed. The same thing applies to the protection of nature: we could integrate it into our society, rather than seeing it as a completely different way of life.”
You have a part to play
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Photo: Karsten Russ