Creating anECOCENTRIC alliance to protect the waterways
of the North Country, Haudenosaunee Territory
Rights of a Watershed
By giving legally enforceable rights to Rivers, their Watersheds and the ecosystems they sustain, we recognize that these natural communities have the Right (and Rites) to exist, regenerate, flourish, evolve, adapt, and thrive.
By standing up for the Rivers we love, we acknowledge our Responsibility to honor, celebrate and respect them. That is why we believe it is time to join together and create an ecocentric and community driven governance system. The Rivers have the Right to be listened to and protected, and who better to do that than the community members that are part of their ecosystem.
Rivers are beloved members of our community
Our welfare depends on the welfare of Rivers, and we – the people – have the responsibility to stand up for the waterways that bring life to our communities.
Rights to Exist, Flourish
and Regenerate
Around the world, human and natural communities are suffering, and in many cases dying, because state and federal governments PERMIT environmental exploitation. These anthropocentric laws only protect up to a certain point, and are essentially PERMITS TO POLLUTE. That is why the Rivers need an option that will protect them, and all the environments they nurture, from being poisoned. The Rivers deserve more than a PERMIT that permits them to be somewhat poisoned.
That is where RIGHTS OF NATURE comes in. Around the world, law is often used to commodify nature, turning natural entities into private property. The Rights of Nature turns this paradigm on its head, acknowledging the more-than-human beings as right-bearing-entities. In addition, it augments and strengthens existing environmental laws by heightening the types of protections afforded to nature. Benefits include expanded “standing” for enforcement, new and elevated standards of protection for ecosystems, and restoration required as a remedy.
A Global COMMUNITY Centered Movement
Since Time Immemorial
Original people from around the world recognize the Rights (Rites) of Nature
The Rights of Nature is recognized in at least 12 countries, including Aotearoa / New Zealand, Bangladesh, Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, India, Mexico, and the United States (where more then three dozen Tribal Nations and local communities have recognized Nature’s inherent rights)
The Present
The North Country, Haudenosaunee Territory
Listening to the
North Country
Community members are coming together from the Adirondacks to Akwesasne, to discuss how to protect the rivers and watersheds, and honor our environmentalROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES.
The bureaucrats who "manage" our ecosystems aren’t our neighbors. They don’t live in our communities. They don’t know our friends, the North Country Rivers. If they have to choose between political and corporate interest and protecting the environments WE call home, who do you think they will side with? That is why we have the need and the right to make our own HOMEGROWN LAWS!
Local RIGHTS, local LAWS
How are we creating locally grown and developed environmental legislation?
Applying the community created Blueprint to different municipalities
Bill of Rights for the
Northern Watersheds
We created a sample Ordinance and Declaration for Upper St. Lawrence River / Kaniatarowanénhne Watershed and their tributaries, which can be applied bio-regionally and serve as an example for all Adirondack Watersheds.
Now community members are uniting from across the Adirondack Watersheds to become Watershed Guardians. Together they are advocating to protect the Rights of Waterways that sustain life and create community.
Together, they are creating a Bio-Regional movement, fighting for a just and sustainable North Country.
Join communities across the
North Country's Watersheds
to protect the Watersheds' inherent Rights and fulfill our ecological responsibilities
