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Ecosystems

Ecuador’s Coastal Ecosystems Have Rights, Constitutional Court Rules

January 20, 2025 Paige Bennett, EcoWatch. , , , , ,
The Constitutional Court of Ecuador has determined that coastal marine ecosystems have rights of nature, including the right to “integral respect for its existence and for the maintenance and regeneration of its life cycles, structure, functions and evolutionary processes,” per Chapter 7, Articles 71 to 74 in the country’s constitution. This is not the first time that Ecuador has established legal rights for nature. In fact, Ecuador was the first country in the world to establish that nature held legal rights, Earth.org reported. In 2008, Ecuador added rights for Pacha Mama, an ancient goddess similar to the Mother Earth entity, in its constitution.

Removing Hydropower Dams Can Restore Ecosystems

November 11, 2024 Katie Schmidt, Resilience. , , , , , , , , ,
A free-flowing river supports abundant fish and wildlife, provides drinking water, and other intangible recreational benefits. But humans have sought to block rivers with dams for millennia. While dams have provided benefits like hydroelectricity and water storage, they have also been ecologically disastrous. Besides blocking fish migrations, these human-made structures can destroy seasonal pulses of water that keep ecosystems in balance. Some dams—especially those used for power—can deplete water in streams, leaving entire stretches of river bone dry.

Global People’s Health Movement Calls For A New International Economic, Political, And Social Order

June 9, 2024 Wim De Ceukelaire and Ana Vračar, People's Dispatch. , , , , ,
Hundreds of health activists gathered in Mar del Plata, Argentina, in April to reinvigorate the struggle for health rights. This fifth global assembly since 2000 underscored the enduring vibrancy of the People’s Health Movement (PHM), a prime advocate for health as a human right for all. Established after the first People’s Health Assembly in 2000, PHM is a global network of activists, social movements, and organizations advocating for health as a fundamental human right, promoting comprehensive primary health care, and striving for equitable health systems. The fifth People’s Health Assembly featured plenary sessions, sub-plenaries, and interactive workshops focused on five key themes: resistance to war, occupation, and forced migration; traditional ancestral and popular knowledge; gender justice in health; transformation of health systems; and ecosystem health.

Biospheric Cognition

May 23, 2024 James R. Martin, Resilience. , , ,
Biospheric Cognition is a radical innovation in human cognition which is emerging now, and could only have emerged and evolved in our time in history. It could not have emerged or evolved in the ancient world, or before modernity, because the sciences which enable biospheric cognition to fully realize itself didn’t exist then. “The term “biosphere” was coined in 1875 by geologist Eduard Suess, who defined it as the place on Earth’s surface where life dwells.” – Wikipedia, Biosphere That we live within ecosystems has been well known by traditional people for a very, very long time,  since a time even more ancient than ancient civilizations.

Cities, Roads, And The Sixth Extinction Event

April 4, 2024 Nick King, Resilience. , , ,
Earth’s biosphere entered the stage of large, complex, multicellular life (following an extended – approximately three billion year – period of dominance by unicellular life) starting approximately 650 million years ago.  This ‘metazoan’ stage saw the tree of life proliferate and complexify, and has expanded into a huge variety of niches across the planet through to the present day.  A key phenomenon over this period has been extinction events; this describes periods of rapidly changing environmental conditions which have resulted in species die-offs and restructuring of ecosystems at different scales. 

Abrupt Ecosystem Collapse

April 17, 2020 Robert Hunziker, Counterpunch. , , ,
A new study in Nature (April 2020) casts a disturbing light on the prospects of abrupt ecosystem collapse. The report analyzes the probabilities of collapsing ecosystems en masse, and not simply the loss of individual species. (Source: Trisos, C.H. et al, The Projected Timing of Abrupt Ecological Disruption From Climate Change, Nature, April 8, 2020) The paper states that a high percentage of species will be exposed to harmful climate conditions at about the same time, potentially leading to sudden and catastrophic die-offs of biodiversity. If high greenhouse gas emissions remain in place, abrupt events are forecast to begin before 2030 in tropical oceans and spread to tropical forests and temperate regions over time. Without doubt, no nation is prepared for the consequences of collapsing ecosystems nor are they doing anything to avert it.

Another Tourism Is Possible

March 30, 2020 Ranjan Solomon, Popular Resistance. , , , , ,
The members of the Tourism Alert and Action Forum come from organizations around the world that have joined in solidarity to oppose exploitative forms of tourism and to act in solidarity with communities against such practices. We are watching the pandemic crisis with great concern, grounded in the knowledge that such crises: impact the most vulnerable communities disproportionately; that such crises are used to enact authoritarian policies and surveillance that long outlasts the crisis; and that corporate sectors and elites stand set to take advantage of this crisis. The corporate tourism, hospitality and events sectors have been brought to their knees by efforts to curtail and control the pandemic. Borders have been shut, travel has been banned, social activities have been curtailed and people told to stay in their homes.