Reverse Biodiversity Loss in Latin America
Over the past decades, we’ve seen critical biodiversity loss around the world, and especially in Latin America and the Caribbean. Conserving biodiversity is critical to tackling climate change worldwide and ensuring thriving ecosystems for future generations. During the SDG Moonshot Accelerator gathering in Mexico City, Earth Law Center shared their moonshot to promote conservation rights in Latin America through an innovative emerging body of law, called Rights of Nature Governance.
Rights of Nature Governance, which switches the relationship of humanity with nature to center green and wild spaces, offers a legal framework to conserve critical ecosystems. More than 35 countries from all continents have recognized the rights of nature in some way in their regulatory systems. Earth Law Center argues that by recognizing nature as a legal entity, it is possible to recognize that all Earth's beings, ecosystems, communities, and components have fundamental rights to exist, thrive, and evolve.
We spoke with the Earth Law Center, whose moonshot proposal would contribute to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 15: life on land.
“One of the most innovative aspects of our initiative is that it will promote conservation under an eco-centric or rights of nature governance.”
~Earth Law Center
UA: What inspired your moonshot idea?
ELC: The Latin America and Caribbean regions support rich biological diversity, with around 60% of global terrestrial life found within it paired alongside diverse freshwater and marine flora and fauna. However, in the last 50 years, 94% of the region's biodiversity has been lost, with protected areas becoming highly fragmented and disconnected, much like the efforts of conservations in the region.
The Earth Law Center's moonshot is focused on the Latin America & Caribbean Rights of Nature Governance Initiative for the development of regional wildlife corridors. This project pursues the development of an international and multi-institutional platform, led by UNEP, IUCN, and the UN Harmony with Nature, with the primary mission of promoting eco-centric perspectives in conservation and implementing wildlife corridors in Latin America through the integration and participation of multiple actors to help governments substantially regress the biodiversity loss throughout the continent.
We have been driven by the alarming rates of biodiversity loss in Latin America, calling to action our devotion to act and develop this project. In the long term, this project could protect more than 40% of the world's biodiversity, safeguarding the exercise of ecosystem functions that are essential to the planet and humanity.
UNEP's report, “the state of biodiversity in Latin America and the Caribbean”(2020), recommends that wildlife corridors can enhance biodiversity. Nature does not respond to the logic of the state borders. Consequently, wildlife corridors are a powerful technique for conserving biodiversity, and investment in connections to magnify conservation benefits.
The permanent specialized platform that we propose will develop, coordinate, and harmonize intergovernmental campaigns to increase wildlife corridor numbers and regional biodiversity. The initiative's mission is to be a mechanism of collaboration and assistance for governments in the data collection, implementation, and monitoring mechanisms for the conservation of wildlife corridors, giving access to financing mechanisms.
One of the most innovative aspects of our initiative is that it will promote conservation under an eco-centric or rights of nature governance.
UA: What is the impact you hope to make?
ELC: There are three specific acts that we hope to see:
Continental treatment of biodiversity protection instead a fractioned effort.
Enhance the biodiversity index in the region.
Advance in the adoption of the Right of Nature Governance.
UA: Looking ahead to next year, what are you hopeful about?
ELC: In 2023, we are hopeful that there will be favorable conditions for the Rights of Nature Governance Initiative for developing regional wildlife corridors to be successfully implemented in the Latin American region.
We also hope that the Rights of Nature framework will be adopted at a national level and in international forums. The Biological Diversity Convention, 2023 (post -COP 15) gives us many reasons to be hopeful!
Finally, we are extremely hopeful for the creation of the IUCN commission group called the Rights of Nature Task force at the World Commission of Environmental Law, which seeks to concretize IUCN’s engagement on the topic of rights of nature initiated with IUCN Resolution 100 (2012). Protecting ecosystems and their continuity beyond borders is to recognize an ecosystemic perspective and the intrinsic value of nature.
Link to full step-by-step moonshot policy proposal coming soon.