Manifesto – 'Rechten voor de natuur' (Rights for Nature) presented to the House of Representatives

On 13 December 2022, Bruno Doedens, artistic director of Bosk, and Jessica den Outer, UN Harmony with Nature expert, presented the manifesto ‘Rechten voor Natuur’ (Rights for Nature) to the Dutch House of Representatives.

According to the initiators, the voice of nature is missing from the current decision-making system. Environmental legislation also isn’t sufficient to protect nature. In many different places around the world, nature has already been granted rights or legal personhood; in our own country, this doesn’t (yet) exist. Bruno Doedens sees opportunities here: “We need new chapters in all our systems to relieve the burden on nature and give it a voice.” And Jessica den Outer explains: “In countries from Ecuador, Bangladesh, and New Zealand to Spain, it’s already happening: nature is being granted rights. We can learn from those experiences.” Through the manifesto, Dutch politics is being asked to examine ‘Rechten voor Natuur’ (Rights for Nature) in the Dutch context and lay it down in law.

Summary of the manifesto:

• We note that current environmental legislation is not sufficient to protect nature.
• We establish that the absence of nature’s voice in the current decision-making system is a serious shortcoming.
• We are convinced that through ‘Rechten voor Natuur’ (Rights for Nature) we can establish a voice for nature in our society.
• We see that nature is being granted rights or legal personhood all over the world.
• We call for more attention to Dutch initiatives in the field of ‘Rechten voor Natuur’ (Rights for Nature): for example for the Wadden Sea, the North Sea, Amelisweerd and the Meuse.
• We ask Dutch politics to examine ‘Rechten voor Natuur’ (Rights for Nature) in the Dutch context and lay it down in law.

Want to take a good look at the manifesto?

Also watch this video:

During Arcadia, one of the trees from the Bosk project took centre stage in a special (fictional) court case. It drew attention to the rights of nature.