The Rights of Nature, David R. Boyd
The Rights of Nature, David R. Boyd
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The Rights of Nature
A Legal Revolution That Could Save the World

Author: David R. Boyd

Narrator: Corey M. Snow

Unabridged: 7 hr 25 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 09/05/2017


Synopsis

Palila v Hawaii. New Zealand's Te Urewera Act. Sierra Club v Disney. These legal phrases hardly sound like the makings of a revolution, but beyond the headlines portending environmental catastrophes, a movement of immense import has been building—in courtrooms, legislatures, and communities across the globe. Cultures and laws are transforming to provide a powerful new approach to protecting the planet and the species with whom we share it.

Lawyers from California to New York are fighting to gain legal rights for chimpanzees and killer whales, and lawmakers are ending the era of keeping these intelligent animals in captivity. In Hawaii and India, judges have recognized that endangered species—from birds to lions—have the legal right to exist. Around the world, more and more laws are being passed recognizing that ecosystems—rivers, forests, mountains, and more—have legally enforceable rights. And if nature has rights, then humans have responsibilities.

In The Rights of Nature, noted environmental lawyer David Boyd tells this remarkable story, which is, at its heart, one of humans as a species finally growing up. Listen to this book and your world view will be altered forever.

About David R. Boyd

David R. Boyd is an environmental lawyer, professor, and advocate for recognition of the right to live in a healthy environment. Boyd is the award-winning author of eight books, including The Optimistic Environmentalist, and co-chaired Vancouver's Greenest City initiative with Mayor Gregor Robertson. He lives on Pender Island, British Columbia.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Clare on October 13, 2017

I heartily recommend this intriguing book about laws and consequences. If at one time enslaved peoples, women and non-landowners did not have legal status as persons with rights, but now they do, what is the logical progression? The author shows how cases have been brought to try to grant rights, le......more

Goodreads review by Tonstant on August 29, 2017

Reading David R. Boyd’s The Rights of Nature in these United States is a bit disassociative. He is writing in an alternative universe where Scott Pruitt is still suing the E.P.A., not running it and we still had a legitimate government that respected the rule of law. However, if we ignore the United......more

Goodreads review by Safi on November 25, 2024

Read for ENVR 203: Knowledge, Ethics, and Environment It had a lot of interesting case studies and important ideas. I appreciated the way Indigenous knowledge was included, but I really didn’t like the author’s voice and found it incredibly redundant. Also, why did he describe everyone in the most c......more

Goodreads review by Rhys on March 05, 2020

Overall, a solid effort to compile the world movement to give rights to the non-human world, including ecosystems - "the rights to existence, to integrity, and to regeneration." David Boyd is a good writer. This book would be a nice compendium for an introductory course in environmental policy as mos......more

Goodreads review by Tabea Alexandra on January 10, 2022

This is an incredibly important book. Definitely for me, but I believe that everyone, including non-lawyers, can learn something from this book. It is well-written and uses countless examples of what “rights of nature” mean, where they come from, what the fight for rights of nature and rights of ani......more