UDTR Global Rights of Nature Radar

Rights of Nature and the Rights of Wild Animals: Guiding Principles for Resolving Human–Wildlife Conflicts

Identification

Public canonical key

doi:10.1017/s2047102526100466

Authors

Joanna Miller Smallwood · Evan Killick · Alexander Antonarakis · Ana Mariscal · Fiona Mathews · Gustavo Redín · Ramiro Fernando Ávila Santamaría · Santiago Vallejo Galárraga

Reported year

2026

Reported language

en

Source type

article

First detected

2026-11-10T16:58:51.452270+00:00

Last metadata observation

2026-11-10T16:58:51.452505+00:00

Last HTTP verification

Not checked

Institutions reported by the source

Politecnica Salesiana University · Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar · University of Sussex

Documentary abstract — original language

Abstract Rights of Nature (RoN) is increasingly used to challenge conventional legal frameworks, restructure governance over ecosystems and living beings, and rethink human–nature relations; however, its role in addressing human–wildlife conflict remains undertheorized and insufficiently defined. Using the case of the Andean (spectacled) bear ( Tremarctos ornatus ) in Ecuador’s Andean Bear Corridor, and the emerging conflict between individual bears and local farmers, this article presents an innovative RoN framework for conflict governance. The research employs a socio-legal approach – doctrinal analysis, qualitative interdisciplinary fieldwork (2022–2025) across five local communities in the Ecuadorian Andes and informal expert interviews – to compile a set of rights at multiple scales (ecosystem, species, individual animal) and identifies relevant principles of human–wildlife conflicts based on jurisprudence. Practical tests for consideration by courts and regulators are proposed: (i) an interspecies capabilities assessment outlining parameters for individual animal well-being and flourishing; (ii) a precautionary and eco-proportionality framework to balance the interests of humans, animals, and ecosystems; and (iii) adherence to principles that prioritize nature in decision-making (including for individual wild animals). Applied to the Andean bear case study, the proposed RoN framework could shift practice from conflict and killing to coexistence. The article argues that the RoN framework, including rights for wild animals, is more than solely a legal instrument, but a catalyst for reshaping human–nature relationships. The RoN framework presented provides a model to implement and operationalize RoN approaches in the wider Andean Bear Corridor and transnationally for other species in other countries accounting for individual animal rights.

Identifiers

OPENALEX

W7225624874

DOI

10.1017/s2047102526100466

Documentary context

Documentary family

Scholarship

Source-reported types

article

Natural entities mentioned

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/10.1017/s2047102526100466
• OpenAlex · https://openalex.org/W7225624874

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:w4231665206 · CITES

0 incoming references within the detected corpus

Documentary status

Relevance pending

Library

This identity is not yet included in the Legal Library.