The Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network, serving on the Executive Committee for the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature, recently had the opportunity to co-organize and participate in the International Rights of Nature Symposium in Quito, Ecuador – and to attend several
days of a vital gathering of Indigenous women leaders of the Ecuadorian Amazon, who are growing their efforts to organize together for the protection of the rainforest and their communities.
Learn more about these two important initiatives below!
International Rights Of Nature
Symposium In Quito, Ecuador
Indigenous women leaders from across Ecuador and around the world were critical voices
at the forefront of the International Symposium for the Rights of Nature
WECAN International was thrilled to take part in the historic, two-day International Rights of Nature Symposium in Quito, Ecuador, organized by the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature!
The public Symposium commemorated the ten year anniversary of Rights of Nature being adopted into the Constitution of Ecuador – and brought together global policymakers, Indigenous community members, civil society, and grassroots leaders to share experiences; evaluate successes and failures of laws, cases, and judgements; and build solidarity and strategies to strengthen and grow the Rights of Nature movement worldwide, including in the many countries represented such as Ecuador, Mexico, the U.S., South Africa, Peru, Bolivia, India, Australia, Nigeria, Brazil, New Zealand, Sweden, Canada, Colombia, France, Argentina, and others.
The Rights of Nature movement calls to action a legal framework for humans to live in balance with the natural laws of Mother Earth, and honors the Indigenous origins of many of the core concepts central to this work.
At this critical time of increasing climate chaos and social and ecological degradation, Rights of Nature provides an urgently needed framework for systemic change that ensures protection and defense of vital living ecosystems, as well as the frontline defenders who live in relationship with and defend them.
View more photos of Rights of Nature work in Ecuador
from WECAN International – and from the
Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature
Watch the full livestream of the
International Rights of Nature Symposium
Members of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature and international allies
engage in a Roundtable strategy session
WECAN International serves ongoingly as an Executive Committee member of the Global Alliance For The Rights Of Nature – the organizing and convening body for the Symposium, and a main hub for international advocates for Rights of Nature.
WECAN International was thrilled to have this time in Ecuador to collaborate with allies and to formulate an in-depth strategic plan for the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature – both through the formal Symposium, and through the countless hours of strategy and planning meetings held with Rights of Nature colleagues over the week, and many recent years!
Learn more about Rights of Nature:
- Rights of Nature and Mother Earth: Rights Based Law for Systemic Change – Report via WECAN International, Movement Rights, and the Indigenous Environmental Network
Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director of WECAN International,
sharing a statement during the Rights of Nature Symposium