A recent declaration of a river as a legal person in Canada recognizes Indigenous laws and governance, and champions people as the guardians of nature.
Allison Hanes: Could recognizing rights for nature help save it? What s left of Montreal s historic St. Pierre River is little more than a polluted puddle these days but even that is in imminent peril.
Author of the article: Allison Hanes • Montreal Gazette
Publishing date: Apr 26, 2021 • 3 hours ago • 4 minute read • One of the rights we re asking for is the right to exist that s the very first one and then the right to flow and to flow without pollution, says Louise Legault on behalf of what s still visible of the St. Pierre River, seen behind her on the grounds of the Meadowbrook Golf Course. Photo by Allen McInnis /Montreal Gazette
Creativity is our superpower 13 stories of inventive nonviolence This collection of stories from the news showcases the incredible versatility, imagination, and super creativity of nonviolence in action.
Alaska’s Herring Protectors. (Facebook/Herring Protectors/Caitlin Blaisdell)
At Pace e Bene/Campaign Nonviolence, we strive to build a culture of active nonviolence. Invariably, we’re asked, “What is (or isn’t) nonviolence?” While we speak about everything from protests to direct action to restorative justice to self-care, it’s hard to illuminate the incredible range of what the word “nonviolence” includes. Nonviolence is a field, a toolbox, a science, a philosophy, a way of life and an art form all rolled into one. It’s also off-the-wall, zany and creative as all get-out. Nonviolence can blow your mind with its dazzling creativity. Here are 13 stories from recent Nonviolence News round-ups that may help expand your notion of nonvio
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As we witness three intersecting global crises, many of us are looking for new ways to solve our complex problems of climate change and biodiversity loss. Granting legal rights to nature provides a new way of thinking and may help us protect what we love and need. It requires a belief and understanding that we are not separate from the lands and waters that are the basis of our health and prosperity. Humans belong to a complicated and interconnected community of life on Earth.
This thinking is not new. Indigenous Peoples have known since time immemorial that humans cannot “own” the land or water. They see nature and animals as relatives, as part of a community to which people belong. This thinking underlies a refreshing new global movement to recognize the inherent Rights of Nature.
As part of a series highlighting the work of young people in addressing the climate crisis, writer Patricia Lane interviews Pier-Olivier Boudreault, conservation director for the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society Quebec.