FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 2, 2021 Contacts: Constanza Prieto Figelist (cpfigelist@earthlaw.org, +1-202-621-3877) Grant Wilson (gwilson@earthlaw.org, +1-510-566-1063) QUITO, ECUADOR—This week, a coalition of forest experts, river protectors, and law professors submitted an amicus brief to Ecuador’s Constitutional Court calling for a robust application of the “Rights of Nature” to protect the Upper Nangaritza River Basin Protected Forest…
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Poet Laureate Robert Hass is joining us live on December 16 at 5pm pacific for our 2020 end of the year event “Rivers Unite Us” for a live reading. A RIVER from “The State of the Planet” The people who live in Tena, on the Napo River, Say that the black, viscous stuff that pools in…
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By: Anna Maria Cárcamo, Legal Advisor Latin America and the Brazilian National Articulation for the Rights of Nature – Mother Earth Português translation below | Tradução de português abaixo Rights of Nature is a global movement which proposes a profound change in legal frameworks and society as a whole, from an anthropocentric to an ecocentric…
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By: Ayesha DSouza, South Asia Program Coordinator & guest writer Sarah Bardeen What is a river? The dictionary defines a river as “a natural stream of water of usually considerable volume” or, quite simply, a “watercourse.” But at our “Dialogue on the Rights of Rivers,” which took place in Delhi, India from March 6-7, 2020,…
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By: Ayesha DSouza, South Asia Program Coordinator & guest writer Melanie Scaife Mayalmit Lepcha grew up listening to the sounds of the Rongyoung River, which flows past her village in Dzongu, in the Indian state of Sikkim. This tiny state lies in the heart of the Himalayas between Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet, and is a…
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Rulings loom as UNGA meets on biodiversity OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA—A new report by the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice, Earth Law Center, and International Rivers finds that a movement to grant legal rights to rivers and nature is rapidly gaining momentum globally. The report examines how the ancient notion that nature possesses basic rights…
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By: National River Protection Network (2020) On February 25 and 26 we have met at the Antonio Ruiz de Montoya University in Lima, defenders of the rivers: Nanay in Loreto, Huallaga in Ucayali, Mashcón and Jequetepeque in Cajamarca, Apurímac in Cusco, Marañón in Amazonas and Rímac in Lima to discuss the need for a policy…
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By: Sarah Bardeen, former Senior Communications Director The Puelo River needs your support! The Puelo, which originates in Argentina, is one of the largest rivers in Chilean Patagonia and a great tourist attraction. Divided up in two sub-basins, the Manso River and Puelo Lake, the Puelo is known for its outstanding beauty and untouched, pristine…
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By: Margaret Zhou, Partnerships Manager Nathan Lujan began his career studying South America’s ancient rivers. Now he’s racing against time to document the continent’s fish species before they’re lost. This is a special River Guardians feature for World Fish Migration Day 2016. A life exploring America’s rivers In 2005, fish biologist Dr. Nathan Lujan was leading…
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By: Sarah Bardeen zom·bie dam /ˈzämbē dam/ noun 1. A proposed dam project that activists successfully halt before it’s built, only to see it rise again and again – years later – in different forms. We’ve all seen classic zombie movies like “Night of the Living Dead.” If you haven’t, here’s a summary: A member of…
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By: Peter Bosshard, former Policy Director The World Bank is eager to re-engage in large dam projects around the world, and other financiers are following in its wake. The US Congress has now poured cold water on these plans. In a landmark decision it has instructed the US government to oppose the construction of large dams…
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