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Saving Nature for Nature’s Sake
As an environmental policy graduate student one of the questions that came up continuously is whether we can protect ‘nature for nature’s sake.’ This idea, that nature has intrinsic value and rights that have nothing to do with human rights or needs, can be controversial. Many people believe that the planet is here for our taking. We remove the tops of mountains to get at the coal inside, dump toxic waste into our waterways and have ever expanding development with large box stores and homes rolling over what was once pristine wilderness.
We have been careless in our treatment of the planet, but is it valid to make the argument that we can protect nature without any benefits to people? In 2011 Bolivia, an impoverished country high in the Andes amended their constitution to say that nature does, in fact, have equal rights to humans. They have established 11 rights including: the right to life and to exist; the right to continue vital cycles and processes free from human alteration; the right to pure water and clean air; the right to balance; the right not to be polluted; and the right to not have cellular structure modified or genetically altered.
Here in the US we have not taken steps like Bolivia, but we do have programs such as Wild and Scenic river designation and our National Park systems, which promotes the restoration and preservation of our natural areas. Outside of these protected areas, though, nature is approached in an entirely different way.
For those of us who love getting outside and enjoying all that the outdoors has to offer, it may seem like an obvious answer. Yes, nature should be preserved for the sake of nature. For me, it is impossible to walk through an old growth forest or listen to the whistling of a marmot and not know that nature does have value and should be protected.
We want to hear from you, does nature have rights and should it be preserved ‘for nature’s sake’ or should conservation also serve a human purpose (such as providing economic incentives like salmon in fisheries)?
To discover more about the area and find ways that nature can inspire you check out the Be Out There campaign with the National Wildlife Federation!