Give Nature Legal Rights
Photo: UBC
The Forest Fights Back
Jessica Den Outer
Pluto Books: London, 2026. 151 pages. 14.99 GBP
This short book – more of a manifesto – is a major call to action for local authorities to give rights to nature through their legislative systems. Legalise and institutionalise the rights of all forms of nature in local municipal legislation, national constitutions, and supra-national international entities. The Forest Fights Back is nothing short of a global movement in-the-making that is pushing from the bottom-up for the rapid transition to recognising nature and its myriad forms as a living organism.
For indeed, we know that nature is there, it is truly everywhere around us, but we have become disconnected, digitised, destructive, and disrespectful in our innate relation to that which sustains us. Many of us may see this and feel frustrated at not knowing what to do (recycling helps a little, maybe), or how to reconnect (walking in the forest or a visit to a river is nice, but hard for many of us to do frequently), or where to look for solutions (investing in renewables, planting flowers for bees, or making changes to our diet?).
The solution Jessica Den Outer proposes is so simple for everyone to participate in bringing nature back: ‘legalise nature’ is essentially her message. Make it a fundamental right for all people and creatures to have the right to access nature on one side of the coin, and on the other side: give rights to rivers, forests, lakes, mountains. Legal rights to be protected and conserved and restored. Everywhere and anywhere you can, introduce the rights of nature into your local communities.
Of course, this is easier said than done. How can you get involved? Jessica Den Outer is very clear in initial steps to take (Chapter 11: Join the Movement, pp. 123-127):
- Educate yourself and others: find out if your municipality, region, or country have introduced ‘rights to nature’ in their legislation
- Get involved in local and global networks: for example, you can join the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature and Eco Jurisprudence Monitor
- Sign petitions and join campaigns: for example, you can support the movement for the UN to adopt a Declaration of Rights of Mother Earth
These are three steps in the direction of bringing systemic change for everyone to start reconnecting with nature. And of course, the immediate challenge is institutional complacence, legal red-tape, and lobbying dynamics that are politically charged.
Jessica Den Outer argues that these are not insurmountable. The case of Sierra Club vs Morton (1972) is exemplary: Disney wanted to build a massive road through the Sequoia National Park in California to build a new ski-resort and people mobilised to counter this move. Disney eventually dropped the multi-million dollar project and these Sequoia forests continue thriving today.
Other cases were lost and entire swaths of forests were destroyed and continue to be deforested for cattle and agriculture. Many people have even lost their lives fighting for the rights of nature (Condor Mirador Project, Ecuador, pp.85-87), particularly when big corporations like mining are involved or local political dynamics are at play. It does not need to be so drastic: politics are everywhere and legal processes are largely in place now to protect against such dire situations.
The power of Jessica Den Outer’s short book is that she showcases examples where local action has led to real change. Beyond what is possible, each chapter highlights another case where the rights of nature have gone into practice:
History proves that a society can change by recognising rights. Consider the Los Cedros in Ecuador: using the Rights of Nature as a weapon, local communities managed to stop mining in a fragile forest. Devastating activities like mining, the judge said, threaten the rights of the forest. (p.118)
Los Cedros cloud forest is also mentioned by Robert Macfarlane in his Is A River Alive? as a ground-breaking example of civic engagement. Macfarlane and Den Outer also refer (amongst many others) to the first-movers in New Zealand that protected and gave rights to the Whanganui River:
On 9 June 2026, the little town of Terrasse-Vaudreuil, a municipality just 40 miles west of Montreal, declared that trees have “the right to life, to natural growth, to integrity and regeneration”. This town has 2,000 inhabitants and they have introduced rights to nature and the rights of nature equation. Your town, municipality, and country can do the same!
Mar Menor in the Autonomous Region of Murcia of south-east Spain also legally institutionalised in 2022 the rights of nature for the protection and restoration of its lagoon that had been severely polluted by toxic fertilizer discharge that was decimating the marine ecosystem. Imagine if all Mediterranean towns and cities were to introduce the rights of nature (trees, rivers, lagoons, coasts) into their local legislative systems. Imagine how plentiful the Mediterranean would be!
Like all initiatives, first-time implementation always comes with unforeseen challenges. Mar Menor implementation is overall positive:
As for the biological health of the Mar Menor’s ecosystem, studies reveal that about 85% of the seagrass meadows lost during the series of anoxia crisis have been restored, reducing the muddy seabed area (the “green soup”) from 7,004 hectares to 1,040 hectares. The restored vegetation, primarily a mix of native and invasive sea grasses, now covers 92% of the lagoon’s seabed.
But implementation is not without its legal and local dynamics. The restoration process is ongoing, the political fight continues, everything is political, the movement is spreading, the tide rising, it’s time to participate and engage for more implementation to replicate the Rights of Nature.
If you have examples of Rights of Nature in your communities, regions, or countries, let us know: editors@revolve.media.
