UDTR Global Rights of Nature Radar

Rights of nature in global perspective: legal pathways and policy implications

Identification

Public canonical key

doi:10.3389/fenvs.2026.1647205

Authors

Carmen Arreaga-Vicuña · Mara José Blum-Moarry · David Hoyos-Valarezo · José Díaz-Montenegro · Ana Elizabeth Miranda Romero · Javier Chiliquinga-Amaya · Marco Faytong-Haro · Patricio Álvarez-Muñoz

Reported year

2026

Reported language

en

Source type

article

First detected

2026-11-09T19:04:47.521796+00:00

Last metadata observation

2026-11-10T16:58:51.314098+00:00

Last HTTP verification

Not checked

Institutions reported by the source

Dirección de Investigación, Universidad Agraria del Ecuador, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador · Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Educación, Comercial y Derecho, Universidad Estatal de Milagro, Milagro, Guayas, Ecuador · Facultad de Derecho, Política y Desarrollo, Universidad Espiritu Santo, Samborondon, Guayas, Ecuador · Facultad de Investigación, Universidad Estatal de Milagro, Milagro, Guayas, Ecuador · Universidad Agraria del Ecuador · Universidad Agraria del Ecuador, Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador · Universidad Espíritu Santo · Universidad Estatal de Milagro

Reported affiliation countries

EC

Documentary abstract — original language

This Policy and Practice Review maps the global evolution of Rights of Nature (RoN) frameworks, legal approaches that treat ecosystems as rights-bearing subjects rather than objects of regulation for human benefit. Using a structured scoping review of primary legal instruments (constitutional texts, statutes, and apex/high-court decisions) and corroborated secondary sources (2005–2025; English and Spanish), we comparatively analyze six landmark jurisdictions (Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia, India, New Zealand, and Spain) and situate them within broader regional trajectories. We identify three recurring pathways to RoN recognition: (1) constitutional entrenchment, (2) legislative/statutory enactment (often ecosystem-specific), and (3) court-driven recognition through public trust, parens patriae, and related doctrines. Across pathways, effective implementation depends less on the declaration of personhood alone than on institutional design, especially guardianship arrangements, procedural standing, and enforceable remedies. Comparative evidence shows persistent enforcement gaps where RoN norms collide with extractive political economies, fragmented sectoral laws, limited institutional capacity, and doctrinal ambiguity about the content of nature’s rights. We synthesize practice-oriented strategies that have emerged across cases, including integrating RoN into environmental impact assessment and licensing systems, establishing independent ecological ombuds/defender offices, funding and protecting guardians, and creating compliance and monitoring mechanisms for restoration orders. The review concludes that RoN can strengthen biodiversity and climate governance when embedded within existing environmental institutions and aligned with Indigenous relational worldviews and community participation.

Identifiers

DOI

10.3389/fenvs.2026.1647205

OPENALEX

W7138869568

ISSN

2296-665X

OPENAIRE

doi_________::55ed887628b224f55e5dddbf99de261a

Documentary context

Documentary family

Scholarship

Source-reported types

Article · article

Jurisdictions studied — explicit sources

BO · CO · EC · ES · IN · NZ

Natural entities mentioned

Ecosystem

Entity mentions are not evidence of legal recognition. Jurisdiction studied is separate from author affiliation country.

Sources

DOAJ · Record 1 · Record 2

OpenAIRE · Record 1

OpenAlex · Record 1 · Record 2

• DOI · https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2026.1647205
• Document · https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2026.1647205/full
• OpenAlex · https://openalex.org/W7138869568

Documented bibliographic relations

Source-declared references and links; they do not establish legal support or UGLC qualification. Up to 20 outgoing references are displayed.

• openalex:w2035350919 · CITES
• openalex:w2172844538 · CITES
• openalex:w2889061648 · CITES
• Constructing Rights of Nature Norms in the US, Ecuador, and New Zealand · CITES
• River Goddesses, Personhood and Rights of Nature: Implications for Spiritual Ecology · CITES
• openalex:w3091056572 · CITES
• Should Trees have Standing?— Toward Legal Rights for Natural Objects · CITES
• Los dos caminos del reconocimiento de los derechos de la naturaleza en América Latina · CITES
• Science and the legal rights of nature · CITES
• The rights of nature and the human right to nature: an overview of the European legal system and challenges for the ecological transition · CITES
• Creating Synergies between International Law and Rights of Nature · CITES
• Rights of nature and rivers in Ecuador’s Constitutional Court · CITES

3 incoming references within the detected corpus

Documentary status

Included in the Legal Library

Library