Film showing

The Center for Environmental Living and Training in collaboration with One Future Galway are delighted to announce 4 screenings of the ENJI film on the 'Rights of Nature' taking place in 4 locations across Galway during March... at 7pm in each venue below

8th March - An Gáirdín Ecology Center, Portumna

12th March - The Slieve Aughty Centre, Kylebrack, Loughrea

19th March - Galway Atlantaquaria, Galway City

26th March - Brigit's Garden in Roscahill, Oughterard

This Rights of Nature film is a short but powerful film shedding light on an emergent and transformative social movement in an area which is growing in strength locally and globally in order to address our biodiversity and climate challenges; 'Rights of Nature offers us a way of re-thinking our relationship with nature – from one of dominance to one of sharing, caring, respect and interdependency.'

We are very grateful for the support and financial assistance of both Galway City and County Biodiversity Officers and EJNI.net

There will be refreshments and a raffle also.

Everyone is Welcome. Bígí Linn

In order to halt the serious decline in biodiversity taking place across the county and nationwide, there is a growing movement for Rights of Nature exploring the ways in which this can be done through widespread local and public engagement and participation.

Essentially Rights of Nature is a way of re-thinking our relationship with nature - from one of dominance to one of sharing, caring, respect and interdependency. It can act as a catalyst to shift our thinking from an extractive economy towards a local, regenerative and circular economy. The idea of nature having rights is not new. Nature has rights. What is new is how we can intervene using a rights of nature lens to protect nature and to recognise the intrinsic rights of ecosystems and species to evolve, flourish and regenerate,  as existing environmental laws have failed to do so.

Focused and dedicated action is now urgently needed In order to mitigate the alarming decline in our native ecosystems and wildlife species, take for example the native curlew,  from 100000 pairs of curlew in 1990s to just 100 pairs today, due to habitat loss, loss of food and herbicide misuse, as reported at Biodiversity conference in Athlone Sept. 2023.

Almost 85% of our EU protected habitats in Ireland are in poor condition, with almost half of the EU protected habitats and species in Ireland in decline and over 60 per cent of Ireland's common birds are on either red or amber lists. One third of wild bee species are becoming extinct and the number of our pristine rivers has dropped from 564 to just 20 over the past 40 years, as reported by EPA, with almost 50% of our lakes and rivers deemed in poor ecological health and over 73% of our estuaries. Each year, it is estimated 1,410 people die prematurely in Ireland due to air pollution

Under a rights-based system of law, a river has the right to flow, fish and other species in a river have the right to regenerate and evolve, and the flora and fauna that depend on a river have the right to thrive. It is the natural ecological balance of that habitat that is protected. Just as the mackerel chases the sprat as part of the natural cycle of life, recognizing Rights of Nature does not put an end to fishing or other human activities. Rather, it places them in the context of a healthy relationship where our actions do not threaten the balance of the system upon which we depend, for clean air, water, healthy nutritious food and our day to day health and wellbeing.

The Citizens Assembly on Biodiversity Loss deliberated and reviewed the research and presentations from numerous professionals and agencies in the field of biodiversity loss which highlighted the urgent steps necessary to halt its decline. As a result they made 159 recommendations to the Government, which was adopted by the Oireachtas Committee on Environment and Climate Action in December, and sent to the Government for implementation.

In October 2023, Rights of Nature Advocate Peter Doran and law professor at Queen’s University Belfast, told Ireland’s Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action that "Ireland is a nation of both human citizens and the more than human—all the ecosystems, the landscapes, the rivers, trees and mountains whose daily labor make our lives possible, make our rights meaningful, our economies possible.”

Doran, who provided testimony on the Citizens Assembly proposals, questioned the effectiveness of more than 50 years of global environmental lawmaking. “With six of Earth’s nine planetary boundaries like ocean acidification and ozone levels having been breached, Earth is in the midst of its sixth mass extinction event, and climate change is accelerating,” he said.

The JOCECA report will be addressed in the Dail on April 11th and we are asking for the public's support to speak to their TDs and to request the full implementation of the Citizens Assembly recommendations. The Assembly’s recommendations have already been highly influential in the development of the new legally binding National Biodiversity Plan, and leading, for example to the development of the role of Biodiversity Officers at County Council level.

Across the world, facing similar biodiversity decline, in the United States, Ecuador, India and New Zealand and many other countries there is a growing recognition that in order to adequately respond to climate change and widespread damage to nature we must recognise the interdependency of all life on the planet including human life and to change our ways to recognise the Rights of Nature allowing for all of life to flourish.

For more information please visit - ejni.net

And recent articles from Inside Climate News and BBC 

For more information on the film nights,

please contact 087220972 or email info@celtnet.org