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The Pacific Northwest鈥檚 most iconic species鈥攖he orcas that live in the Salish Sea year-round鈥攁re on the brink of extinction with just . The Southern Resident orcas have made headlines repeatedly over the past year, including the recent 聽and last summer鈥檚 聽of a female who carried her dead calf for more than two weeks and over 1,000 miles.

And orcas aren鈥檛 the only species under threat. A 聽released in May found that human activities have placed 1 million species in danger of extinction, many within decades.

As the Southern Resident orcas and other species struggle to survive in a rapidly warming, industrialized world, some activists and governments are turning to a radical, rights-based approach to protecting nature. Over the past decade, initiatives worldwide have begun to transform Western law to respect the inherent rights of the natural world to exist and flourish.

More than 20 countries now recognize the rights of nature through laws or judicial decisions. In the U.S., more than two dozen communities have passed resolutions and ordinances recognizing nature鈥檚 rights. Most recently, voters in Toledo, Ohio, , essentially saying that the lake has . Industry and the Ohio state government have since 鈥攁 common response to this community-level rights work spearheaded by the .

Tamaqua, a Pennsylvania borough, became the 聽to pass a law recognizing the rights of nature in 2006. The practice has since spread to western states like and . And internationally, 聽have formally recognized the rights of nature in a 2008 constitutional amendment and in legislation passed in 2014 and 2017, respectively.

Though the legal movement is just over a decade old, the rights of nature framework isn鈥檛. It reflects an understanding that Indigenous peoples have embraced since time immemorial. 鈥淲e have a reciprocal relationship or spirit to our lands and waters,鈥� said Reuben George of the Tsleil Waututh First Nation, speaking at a 聽on the Coast Salish Nations鈥� 聽of a Canadian shipping terminal. 鈥淥ur culture and our spirituality is essentially our law,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e abide by those things that we have a spiritual connection to, and that鈥檚 our law.鈥�

By contrast, in Western legal systems, nature is considered property. 鈥淥ur legal systems are designed to legitimize and facilitate exploitation,鈥� South African environmental attorney Cormac Cullinan explained during a held this past October at Vermont Law School.

The rights of nature framework is about shifting this legal paradigm. Essentially the idea is that nature and other beings that have survived the evolutionary process have an inalienable right to exist and flourish.

The effort is now extending to the Pacific Northwest.

Protecting Orcas: Rights for the Salish Sea

Pollution, noise and vessel traffic, and lack of sufficient food . Industrial pollution, increased shipping traffic, dammed rivers, and warming ocean and river temperatures threaten the Chinook the whales feed on. The population of Southern Resident Killer Whales is at a 35-year low and has been listed under the Endangered Species Act since 2005.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has 聽for orca recovery. His initiatives include establishing a stakeholder process to study economic impacts of breaching four Lower Snake River dams, increasing distance required distance between vessels and orcas to 400 yards, and putting a three-year ban on whale watching in place, among other investments.

Some advocates say these efforts don鈥檛 go far enough.

鈥淎 rights-based approach would require that we get to the root cause of this problem, which we feel is still largely being ignored,鈥� said Michelle Bender, ocean rights manager at the , a nonprofit that advocates for establishing legal rights for ecosystems. Just as humans and corporations have legally recognized rights, so too should nature, Bender said.

鈥淥ur whole system, including what [Gov.] Inslee has to work from, really predicates itself on controlling nature. Even with attempts to do good, it鈥檚 still about control of the natural world,鈥� said Kai Huschke, Northwest community organizer with Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund. 鈥淥ur systems have to shift.鈥�

In January, a coalition including Indigenous peoples, community groups, scientists, and lawyers the Declaration on the Rights of the Southern Resident orcas. The recognizes that 鈥渘ature and all living beings have inherent rights to exist, flourish, evolve, and regenerate.鈥� It lists specific rights inherent to the Southern Resident orcas, such as rights to life and an adequate food supply.

鈥淲e鈥檙e looking at creating an initiative that will go on the ballot in 2020 that recognizes the rights of the Salish Sea to exist.鈥�

The decline of the resident orca population 鈥渟hows us how our current laws are not remedying the severe decline of entire ecosystems鈥� attorney Elizabeth M. Dunne . 鈥淲e must adopt a framework recognizing that ecosystems have the rights鈥攕uch as to exist, flourish, evolve, to sustain life, and to be restored to a healthy state鈥攊f we truly want to save the Orca, and ultimately ourselves, from extinction.鈥�

The declaration specifically calls for the creation of a stewardship board, which would provide guardian representation for the orcas. According to Bender, these representatives could include scientists studying the orca population and Indigenous peoples like the Lummi Nation who refer to the orca as their 鈥渞elations under water.鈥�

The 2,800 signatories of the online petition are demanding that all levels of government鈥攆rom local to national鈥斺�渇ollow the Tribal and First Nations in recognizing the inherent rights of the Southern Resident Orcas and the ecosystems upon which they depend.鈥�

In the San Juan Islands, a group called Community Rights San Juan Islands, supported by the defense fund, is working on advancing a countywide . The group is aiming to get the initiative on the ballot in 2020.

鈥淲e鈥檙e looking at creating an initiative that will go on the ballot in 2020 that recognizes the rights of the Salish Sea to exist, thrive, and regenerate its natural cycles,鈥� said Kai Sanburn, a resident of Lopez Island who helped form the group almost two years ago.

The group is small, maybe a dozen or so people who meet regularly on Lopez Island, but they are reaching out to others on the other islands.

鈥淭he orcas almost have a mystical hold on people here.鈥�

Huschke has held several workshops on the islands introducing the idea of legal rights for the Salish Sea, and said 鈥渢here鈥檚 an acceptance鈥� by the island communities to the concept of rights for nature. Still, crafting a law that all residents can get behind, regardless of political affiliations, will be challenging, he said.

Sanburn agreed that the task would not be easy or quick. 鈥淲e recognize we need to do some deeper work around how we can create a law that unites people,鈥� she said, 鈥渂ecause clearly nothing will happen to protect the Salish Sea if it doesn鈥檛 become a regional response.鈥�

鈥淲hat unifies people who may have very different political views is a deep appreciation for this place,鈥� she added. 鈥淭he orcas almost have a mystical hold on people here.鈥�

Elisabeth Robson, who is working closely with Sanburn on the ballot initiative, said they expect pushback from vested interests such as commercial fishing and oil exportation.

Commercial farmers in Ohio immediately sued when the Lake Erie Bill of Rights passed, and the state government recently 聽enforcement through a provision in the state budget bill. The state of 聽has also quashed local efforts to fight pollution鈥攊n 2016, state courts blocked a citizen ballot initiative in Tacoma opposing a fossil fuel methanol plant.

Robson said she is aware of this kind of retaliation and noted that the Salish Sea initiative may face similar challenges. But that is not deterring the group from its effort to change the law鈥攐r at the very least, change the conversation. 鈥淭his is something we need to do to help change hearts and minds,鈥� Robson said. 鈥淛ust getting the conversation started is huge.鈥�

Recognizing nature鈥檚 rights around the world

Efforts from around the world, including Ecuador and New Zealand, represent different approaches to applying the rights of nature framework to a country鈥檚 legal scaffolding.

Since 2008, 聽has recognized nature鈥檚 right to exist, regenerate, and be restored. This constitutional law has been tested in the courts. According to Ecuadorian attorney Hugo Echeverria, Ecuador has had 25 such cases in Ecuador, 17 of which have resulted in decisions .

One case found that 鈥攊ncluding some endemic species鈥攊n the 聽violate nature鈥檚 rights. The marine reserve is home to more than 34 species of sharks, many found nowhere else in the world. They are largely protected in the marine reserve but are not immune to commercial activities and illegal capture. Earth Law Center for taking it a step further to recognize the marine reserve as a legal entity, which would require the government to and ensure that activities within the reserve respect the rights of nature.

Advocates hope the rights of nature approach will stave off extinction for the Southern resident killer whales.

New Zealand has taken a different approach by recognizing the personhood of specific natural entities, rather than the general rights of nature. In 2017, for example, the country passed a law granting legal 鈥減ersonhood鈥� rights to the Whanganui River. And in 聽received legal personhood recognition and corresponding rights.

These New Zealand laws focus on the responsibilities of people as stewards and on cultural redresses. Specifically, they recognize the beliefs and rights of the Indigenous Maori to act as stewards.

There are multiple avenues to apply legal rights to natural ecosystems and the communities they support, but the philosophical underpinnings are the same. However it鈥檚 applied, either to nature in general or to a specific nonhuman entity, in a constitution or a set of laws鈥攖he framework is about transforming the legal system and rethinking humans鈥� relationship with nature.

Indigenous people鈥檚 beliefs鈥攖hat humans must have a reciprocal relationship with the land and waters鈥攂est exemplifies this thinking. 鈥淲hat we do to the web of life, we do to ourselves. If any strand of the web is broken, the whole web is affected,鈥� said the , an indigenous tribe in the Salish Sea region, in an emailed statement.

Advocates hope the rights of nature approach will stave off extinction for the Southern Resident Killer Whales. 鈥淚f we were to get rights of the Southern Residents or rights of the Salish Sea recognized, that would do a lot more towards recovery efforts and actually require us to take these necessary actions to ensure their survival,鈥澛� Bender said.

鈥淥ur belief is that not only the salmon and qwe 鈥榣hol mechen [orca], but all the air, the land, the water, the creatures, they all have inherent rights,鈥� the Lummi explained in an emailed statement. 鈥淭he orca and the salmon never needed saving before contact.鈥�