UDTR Global Rights of Nature Radar

The conceptual challenges of invasive alien species to non-human rights

Identification

Public canonical key

doi:10.4337/jhre.2020.02.04

Authors

Guillaume Futhazar

Reported year

2020

Reported language

en

Source type

article

First detected

2026-11-09T19:04:47.563258+00:00

Last metadata observation

2026-11-09T19:05:53.961058+00:00

Last HTTP verification

Not checked

Institutions reported by the source

Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law

Reported affiliation countries

DE

Documentary abstract — original language

This article aims to explore potential friction points that may arise with the emergence of new natural non-human rights holders (for instance, individual animals, rivers, Pacha Mama and so on). Specifically, the article relies on the case of invasive alien species (IAS) to highlight that animal rights can collide with rights of the environment. Indeed, IAS represent a serious environmental threat and are, as such, at the centre of numerous global, regional and national regulations that favour early eradication as the best course of action. However, in a rights paradigm, this collision amounts to a conflict between the right to life of individuals from IAS and the right to integrity of the threatened ecosystems. This article addresses how such conflicts might be solved by relying on an analogy with the lawful restrictions of human rights. It highlights how, even in a rights paradigm, eradicating individuals from IAS could remain legal, albeit more strictly controlled. It also points to the inevitable questions of representation that such situations entail. As the rights of natural non-humans clash, the issue becomes, in turn, a discussion among humans. This discussion requires legal frameworks and principles to be legitimate and accountable. This article seeks to describe some of these principles by relying on an analysis of current practices in different fields. In sum, the article argues that it is not inherently problematic to solve conflicts between natural non-human rights. However, the human discussion to solve this conflict has to be based on epistemic plurality to gain in legitimacy.

Identifiers

DOI

10.4337/jhre.2020.02.04

OPENALEX

W3091280731

Documentary context

Documentary family

Scholarship

Source-reported types

article

Natural entities mentioned

River · Ecosystem · Species

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

Sources

OpenAlex · Record 1 · Record 2

• DOI · https://doi.org/10.4337/jhre.2020.02.04
• OpenAlex · https://openalex.org/W3091280731

Documented bibliographic relations

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

4 incoming references within the detected corpus

Documentary status

Documentary validated

Library