Biodiversity Loss vs the Rights of Nature (RoN): The Legal Challenges to Biodiversity Protection
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The convention on biodiversity recognised “biodiversity as a global and common heritage” of humankind. In recent times, biodiversity is under threat, leading to unprecedented loss. The UN estimates that one million plant and animal species are at risk of extinction. The “Rights of Nature” (RoN) movement is fundamentally rethinking humanity’s relationship with nature, striving for a paradigm shift in which nature is placed at the center and humans are connected to it in an interdependent way to prevent or reduce loss of biodiversity. The essence of conferring rights to nature is to secure the highest level of environmental protection under which an ecosystem can thrive, and whose rights are not violated. Biodiversity conservation and management are inextricably linked to the legal systems enacting the laws and regulations. Such regulations are key elements in implementing many conservation strategies and thus foist on law the insignia of an instrument for transformation towards an ecocentric and biocentric society. The paper finds that RoN is not incorporated into most legislation, either at the national or global levels. The omission results in an increasing decline in the variety of living beings on the planet due to an anthropocentric attitude to biodiversity and difficulty in establishing compensation/restoration mechanisms for biodiversity loss. Adopting a doctrinal methodology, the paper therefore examines the legal challenges to establishing a regulatory body that incorporates ecocentric and biocentric values for biodiversity conservation. The paper also explores how to establish appropriate compensation mechanisms for biodiversity loss. In conclusion, drawing from best practices, the vignette proffers some salient recommendations.
Institutions: National Open University of Nigeria, Taraba State University
Language: English
Topic: Environmental law and policy
Subfield: Law
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W7160705777