Scaling Ecoforensic - Practical Implementation of ‘Rights of Nature’ for Fair & Sustainable Futures

Professor Mika Peck and colleagues from the Schools of Law, Politics and Sociology and Education and Social Work have received Round 9 funding to scale up their sustainability research by developing bids for bigger platform grants.

Project description

Context: The ‘Rights of Nature’ (RoN) movement redefines humanity’s relationship with nature, recognising nature as a legal entity. RoN originates from indigenous worldviews with Ecuador the global leader, enshrining RoN in its constitution in 2008. Today >40 countries now recognise nature within their laws. Despite growing recognition, practical implementation of RoN is challenging, requiring the development of a new body of transdisciplinary academic knowledge incorporating Indigenous and Traditional Knowledge (ITK), Ecological and Social Sciences to integrate RoN with current, human-centred, legal frameworks. The University of Sussex is a global leader in exploring implementation of RoN, supporting the establishment of ‘Ecoforensic CIC’, an organisation dedicated to strengthening the capability of indigenous and local communities to build RoN cases and protect their ecosystems through the ‘paraecologist approach’ – a methodology developed during 20 years of action-research (Peck).

Methodology: This scaling project leverages our experience, research network, and ongoing Ecoforensic community pilot projects to co-develop effective funding bids. These bids aim to refine 'ecological forensic' data to represent Nature, explore the integration of Indigenous Traditional Knowledge (ITK) within legal frameworks, and develop new educational paradigms incorporating Rights of Nature (RoN) concepts. This comprehensive approach addresses critical questions and promotes sustainable development through robust, informed, and community-driven strategies.

Anticipated Outputs & Impact: Development of six funding bids (up to £12.7M) will explore complexities and support a blueprint for the international rollout of Rights of Nature (RoN), fostering a harmonious relationship between humans and nature, addressing the biodiversity and climate crises.

Social and cultural outcomes and impact

The research proposals generated will support stewards of biodiverse ecosystems in urban, traditional and indigenous communities to protect ecosystems that are integral and vital for their livelihoods, culture, and spiritual practices. We raise community and (inter)national awareness of RoN as an indigenous philosophy and impactful tool in supporting sustainable development, guide practical application of the RoN, empowering legal systems and marginalised communities to enhance their capacity to protect cultural, biodiversity and ecosystem services whilst addressing environmental justice.

Economic outcomes and impact

Recent cost-benefit analyses show mining costs in Ecuador outweigh financial benefits through environmental degradation. For our partners in the Intag valley, economic evaluation of current ecosystem services generate $447 million per year, sufficient to build a robust local economy that can provide for sustainable, equitable and prosperous development in the region and nation, reducing multidimensional poverty and inequality. This project generates direct livelihoods for paraecologists, educational opportunities for marginalised communities and lays the foundations for sustainable development activities. The project directly tackles the challenges at extractive frontiers causing economic, social, and ecological injustice directly supporting emergence of sustainable degrowth models.

Academic outcomes and impact

This project directly strengthens and builds new academic networks linking national and international academics to communities through ethical partnership building. We co-create funding proposals supporting i) community- based action research (i.e. Darwin Initiative, NERC), ii) the formulation of legal guidelines for implementation of the RoN (ESRC), iii) exploration of narrative based approaches in scaling RoN concepts (AHRC).

The research builds a transdisciplinary action-research network between actors in the Global North and Global South exploring and scaling the practical implementation of RoN within an ‘Ecosystems, Rights and Justice’ framework.

  • Sustainable Development Goals

    This project examines the following SDGs:

    SDG 3 - Good Health and Wellbeing

    SDG 6 - Clean Water and Sanitation

    SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy

    SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities 

    SDG 11 - Sustainable Communities and Cities 

    SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production

    SDG 13 - Climate Action

    SDG 14 - Life Below Water

    SDG 15 - Life on Land 

    SDG 17 - Partnerships for the Goals 

    Find out more about the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

  • The team

    Principal Investigator

    Co-investigators

    Project partners

    • Carlos Larrea, University Andina Simon Bolivar
    • Edwin Zarate, University of Azuay 
    • Natalia Green, Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature
    • Gustavo Redin, CEDENMA
    • Inde Hunal, Ecoforensic CIC

    • Denise Moreno, Santa Lucia Cloud Forest Reserve

    • Jesus Pasquel, Community of Cahuasqui
    • Ambrocio Wamputshar, Pueblo Shuar Arutam PSHA (Shuar Maikuant Community)
    • Carlos Zorilla, DECOIN (Junin Community)
    • Paola Moscoso, Fundacion Naturaleza y Arte 
    • Nathasa Padbury, Love our Ouse Sussex

Timeline 

Start date: August 2024

End date: March 2025