Ecological-justice
Rights of Nature: the case of Mar Menor (Spain)
Ramón del Buey Cañas – UAM 24/06/2024 Mar Menor is the largest saline Mediterranean lagoon in Europe, with a surface area of 135 square kilometers and a maximum depth of 7 meters. It is located in the region of Murcia (Spain) and has a high ecological importance due to the habitats and species it hosts, some of them in danger of extinction. As a wetland for aquatic birds, it has an environmental value recognized by the different legal protection figures (since 1994, Mar Menor was included in the list of wetlands registered in the Ramsar Convention). However, in recent years Mar Menor has experienced a drastic deterioration, triggering a reaction that constitutes the first case of rights of nature in Europe: Law 19/2022, of September 30, for the recognition of legal personality to Mar Menor (hereinafter, Mar Menor Law). Mar Menor, España. Ph. Ramón del Buey Cañas The history of this ecosystemic collapse must go back at least to 1979, after the hydraulic project of the Tajo-Segura water transfer, when the waters of the first river reached those of the second. Campo de Cartagena, the enormous hydraulic slope of Mar Menor, began to be irrigated and agricultural uses changed completely: from rainfed agriculture to intensive irrigation, and Campo de Cartagena (previously a semi-desert area) became the “orchard of Europe”. In addition, since the last century Mar Menor has also been experiencing the pressure of metal mining and the impact of urban activity and its tourist infrastructures (housing developments, artificial beaches and marinas). All these factors began to alter the lagoon, but its basic functioning did not change substantially until 2016. From this year onwards, the ecosystem was unable to absorb more nutrients, especially those coming from the brines after the desalination of groundwater (300.000 tons of nitrates stored in the Cuaternario aquifer, under Campo de Cartagena, mainly as a consequence of intensive irrigation, with more than 8.500 hectares that have been recognized as illegal). This surplus of nutrients became available to plankton, and since the warmer than normal winter of 2015, a series of eutrophication processes or massive explosions of…
Ecological-justice
Demands for ecological and environmental justice in the conflict of the Paraná Delta
Marianela Laura Galanzino – UNL-CONICET 24/06/2024 For some decades now, the perspective of Rights of Nature has been gaining ground in Latin America. While this approach has seen significant development in these territories as well as in other countries of the Global South, it has also had a great impact worldwide. Currently, we can speak of Rights of Nature as a global movement. The recognition of Rights of Nature encompasses a series of discussions regarding granting rights to animals (either individually or by species), to certain ecosystems in particular, to nature in general, or even to newer categories of subjects, such as future generations. In these debates, the Latin American territory has contributed a large number of experiences that have been conducted through different means: jurisprudence, constitutional texts, or national laws. On some occasions, demands for the recognition of rights for non-human entities arise within socio-environmental conflicts. This is the case of the conflict in the Paraná Delta sparked by a large number of fires in Argentine wetland areas. The demands of the different social actors are directed against an absent government management that led to the large-scale destruction of life in the Paraná Delta, causing immeasurable damage to biodiversity, fundamental rights to life, and the health of those who live there. Wetlands are essential ecosystems for the sustainability of life, as they provide multiple ecosystem services. The Paraná Delta, which covers 22,587 km2 of wetland territory and extends over three Argentine provinces (Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, and Entre Ríos), has been degraded for almost two decades by different exploitation activities (intensive livestock farming, soybean monoculture, river traffic, changes in land use for real estate interests). These territories are of utmost importance for regulating temperatures, river levels, and floods, in addition to their rich biodiversity. In short, wetlands are essential for life due to their role in supplying freshwater and food, fishing or aquaculture, providing supply services such as wood, oil, medicinal plants, and fodder for animals; their role in climate mitigation is key due to their capacity to function as carbon reservoirs, and they also play a fundamental role…
Ecological-justice
How to legally react to a time of cosmological change? The case of the Mar Menor
Speak4Nature Seminar Series related to Ramón del Buey Cañas (UAM) secondment in UNL “How to legally react to a time of cosmological change? The case of the Mar Menor” was a seminar developed at the research stay of Ramón del Buey Cañas at UNL, attended by people from the UNL Speak4Nature team as well as the general public. In the seminar, the case of the Mar Menor in Murcia (Spain) was presented as the first case of recognition of rights of nature in Europe
Ecological-justice
III Conference on Rights and Nature. Debates around the ecological problem
Annual conferences on nature and rights organized since 2021 by the Meulen research project of the Faculty of Legal and Social Sciences (UNL) The event brings together researchers from the field of law and other disciplines devoted to the study and analysis of environmental problems. In the month of May 2023, the Faculty of Legal and Social Sciences of the Universidad Nacional del Litoral hosted the Third Conference “Rights and Nature: Debates on ecological issues, organized by the Research Project “Meulen II. Deepening of legal contributions on the ecological problem in Latin America” in execution at the Research Center of the FCJS. The activity was carried out in two days in which conferences related to the theme of the call were given and debated and reflected on works presented by researchers and undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Ecological-justice
Workshop on Human Rights and Ecological Justice
The Workshop “Human Rights and Ecological Justice” that took place in the same week as the “First NetworkSchool: Introduction to Ecological Justice”, in Florianópolis, Brazil. The Workshop “Human Rights and Ecological Justice” that took place in the same week as the “First NetworkSchool: Introduction to Ecological Justice”, in Florianópolis. It was related to the project’s task 2.3, aiming to analyze how human rights theory applies to Ecological Justice, exploring the relationship between human rights and nature. The activity analyzed how the notion of Ecological Justice concerns environmental human rights. It happened on April 8th, 2024, 2:00 pm (Brasilia time), in the Auditorium of the Center Social Economic (CSE), Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), in Florianópolis, Brazil. The event was intended for members of partner institutions only.
Ecological-justice
EXTENSION, TERRITORIES AND RIGHTS. DIALOGUE BETWEEN EXPERIENCES OF COMMUNITY ADVOCACY IN THE REGION.
Meeting about community practice of law Dialogue meeting between the university extension project “Acampe por una justicia ecológica” (Camp for ecological justice), different non-governmental organisations and legal professionals to discuss the community practice of law.
Ecological-justice
Workshop on Rights of Nature
To bring together students and academics currently working on the rights of nature, as well as those who are interested in learning more about the expanding legal discourse and practice in different geographies. The workshop will further the discussion regarding the possibilities of the rights of nature, the obstacles, and critiques through literature and experiences from different countries. This workshop aims to continue the dialogue initiated at the Rachel Carson Center in 2017 by Anna Leah Tabios Hillebrecht and María Valeria Berros and it asks how the debate over rights of nature has evolved since the publication of the RCC on the topic. Specifically, the following perspectives and questions will be addressed: Theoretical, logistical, social, and legal challenges for granting nature rights and the corresponding implementation. The challenges regarding the expansion of the rights of nature framework into different jurisdictions. Engagement with different critical points of view regarding the rights of nature.
Ecological-justice
Socioenvironmental conflicts
Interview for the program El Paraninfo of the UNL public television channel (Litus TV) in which three members of Speak4Nature participated Interview for the program El Paraninfo of the UNL public television channel (Litus TV) in which three members of Speak4Nature participated: Valeria Berros (UNL), Marianela Galanzino (UNL) and Ramón del Buey Cañas (UAM) talking about socio-environmental conflicts legal innovations taking into account cases of Argentina (Delta del Paraná) and Spain (Mar Menor) https://youtu.be/IU0R7W765As?si=Mrq-gMIJ9bfjROTy
Ecological-justice
Camp for ecological justice
University extension project that tries to quantify data on socio-environmental problems and access to justice in small towns in the province of Santa Fe (in this case Arroyo Leyes) Proyecto de extensión universitaria que trata de cuantificar datos sobre problemas socioambientales y acceso a la justicia en pequeñas localidades de la provincia de Santa Fe (en este caso Arroyo Leyes)
