9.9 The Rights of Nature Movement and the Origins of Regenerative Design

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The United States passed the world’s first Rights of Nature law in 2006, when Tamaqua, Pennsylvania, banned the dumping of sewage sludge, declaring it a violation of the rights of nature. Two years later Ecuador became the first country to adopt the Rights of Nature into its constitution, setting a precedent for legalizing a worldview that centers non-humans as having inalienable rights. This shift in mindset draws attention to the harms humans have inflicted on nature. The harmful treatment of nature stems, in large part, from the Western perception of nature as a resource from which monetary value can be extracted. The use of nature as a resource for economic gain that has prevailed since the 16^th century has led to the extinction of “at least 680 vertebrates and almost 600 plant species” (Grantham Research Institute, 2022). The loss of biodiversity has spiked in the past 200 years as industrialization has polluted entire ecosystems. A decades-long study by the World Wildlife Fund shows that between 1970 and 2018 wildlife populations decreased by 69%.

In response to this environmental crisis, the 21st century has seen a rising number of legal battles fought and won for the Rights of Nature alongside a growing push toward sustainability within the tourism industry. In 2012, the United Nations declared “the need to support sustainable tourism activities and relevant capacity-building that promote environmental awareness, conserve and protect the environment, respect wildlife, flora, biodiversity, ecosystems and cultural diversity, and improve the welfare and livelihoods of local communities” (United Nations, 2012, para. 130). To help achieve this goal, in 2015 the UN released “The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” which includes the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) [See Figure 2].

In 2024, the UN released a report showing that only 17% of its goals are on track to be met by 2030. Almost half of the set goals, or 48%, have no chance of being fulfilled. Because of the systemic failure to meet the majority of the goals set by the United Nations, tourism professionals have begun to urge a shift in mindset that embraces the tenets of responsible tourism but pushes them even further to call for a paradigm shift aimed at transforming our understanding of tourism as an industry focused on expansion and growth into one that sees tourism as made up of a nested set of interdependent systems working toward regeneration and renewal. This regenerative model, known as Buen Vivir in South America, aligns philosophically with the Rights of Nature movement. This push toward a shift in worldview has gained enough traction that the term has become a buzzword, often misused as a form of greenwashing—a term that denotes the use of false claims about being sustainable or environmentally friendly in order to lure clients or users for profit.

As the Constitution of Ecuador expresses, however, practicing a regenerative approach toward our natural environment requires far more than words, certifications (many of which fail to achieve significant impacts), and carbon offsets, in which companies invest in carbon-reducing ventures in order to offset, or balance out, their own carbon emissions. Carbon offsets may include investing in certificates that support the restoration of nature (such as reforestation projects), or clean or renewable energy (such as wind or solar), or carbon-reducing technologies (such as Direct Air Capture, which soaks up and stores carbon emissions). Nature, as defined by the Ecuadorian Constitution, “has the right to exist, persist, maintain and regenerate its vital cycles, structure, functions and its processes in evolution” (Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights [CDER], 2025, Article 71). When actions have been taken that cause “severe or permanent environmental impact, including those caused by the exploitation of nonrenewable natural resources, the State shall establish the most effective mechanisms to achieve the restoration” (CDER, 2025, Article 72).

[Requested Illustration of Rights of Nature Timeline]

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Key Takeaway
The Rights of Nature has emerged as a revolutionary legal and ethical movement that recognizes nature as possessing inherent rights, challenging centuries of viewing nature purely as a resource for human use.
Significance to Regenerative Tourism
This movement aligns with regenerative tourism’s vision of treating ecosystems as living entities, prioritizing systemic restoration and the intrinsic rights of natural systems to thrive.
Significance to Tourism
For tourism, the Rights of Nature compels a transformation from a growth-driven, extractive model to one that acknowledges destinations as dynamic living systems, urging businesses and governments to design tourism practices that protect biodiversity and uphold local communities’ rights.
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