WHEN PROFESSOR CHRISTOPHER Stone wrote his provocative essay 'Should Trees Have Standing?' in 1972, quite a number of eyebrows were immediately raised. The very idea that non-human beings could participate in the legal affairs of the human community appeared, to most, to be utterly non-sensical. Notwithstanding the perplexed response by the majority of his audience, Stone's argument managed to influence the dissenting opinion of Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas in the famous case of Sierra Club v Morton where Justice Douglas wrote that 'contemporary public concern for protecting nature's ecological equilibrium should lead to the conferral of standing upon environmental objects to sue for their own preservation'.
Less than forty years later, the idea suggested by Professor Stone and supported by Justice Douglas is now gaining momentum. The new Ecuadorian Constitution of 2008 recognises and codifies the rights of nature, opening the door to the conceptualisation of nature as a subject with rights to be upheld in a court of law. Following a court action demanding the observance of the rights of nature protected in Article 71 of the Ecuadorian Constitution, the Provincial Court of Justice of Loja has recently granted a Constitutional injunction in favour of nature, specifically the Vilcabamba river. This momentous case represents the first successful instance on the planet in which human claimants have acted on behalf of nature to protect nature's rights against external damages even though the claimants themselves were not directly affected by such damages.
Paralleling the Ecuadorian legal development, Bolivian President Evo Morales summoned, in 2010, the World Conference of Peoples on Climate Change and Mother Earth's Rights in Cochabamba, Bolivia. The gathering produced one of the most intriguing international documents of recent times, the Universal Declaration on the Rights of Mother Earth, a document that, in the words of Nnimmo Bassey, 'demands a paradigm shift and a conscious effort on the part of man to own up to our errors and settle on amending our patterns of production and consumption.' The Declaration expressly stepped away from a Eurocentric representation of 'nature', choosing instead to adopt the language of the Andean peoples who hosted the conference and translating the Andean concept of Pachamama with the English words 'Mother Earth'.
The 2010 report on sustainable development of the UN Secretary-General to the 65th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, under the evocative title 'Harmony with nature', addressed 'how sustainable development approaches and initiatives have allowed communities gradually to reconnect with the Earth.' One year later, the Bolivian government has officially submitted the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth to the United Nations for consideration, while at the same time drafting a new municipal Law of Mother Earth. In the United States activist groups are working together with a number of municipalities drafting local ordnances that protect the local ecosystems as integral parts of their communities, while in South Africa a not-for-profit organisation works with local communities 'to develop their legal capacity to demand social and environmental justice'. Turkey, Iceland and the UK have begun to investigate the possibility of legislating rights for nature, whereas across the planet activists, scholars, scientists and politicians are discussing Stone's suggestion without raising their eyebrows anymore. Indeed, it appears that a wildfire is truly sweeping across legal consciences.
But what does recognising rights to nature mean? Professor Stone himself writes that nature 'makes for a shifty client'. Although at times it is relatively easy to identify the natural beings that are the proposed subjects of these newly recognised rights, more often nature is subtly elusive, representing 'more a set of parameters than a thing.' Whereas it is relatively easy to establish where a tree begins and ends, the boundaries become more blurred when we look at a river, a cloud or at complex phenomena like the climate. Moreover, if at times the identification of the 'wrongdoer' is relatively straightforward – be it a polluting company or a group of loggers in the Amazonian rainforests – the identification of a precise offender is often much more problematic. Furthermore, even assuming that a court was capable of such identification, it would be faced with the often equally problematic question of remedy. Finally, natural beings and systems care little for human constructs such as laws and regulations and the determination of who should best represent the rights of such beings and systems within the legal arena is another contentious issue to be thoroughly investigated.
The larger the proportion of the Earth's biomass occupied by mankind and the animals and crops required to nourish us, the more involved we become in the transfer of solar and other energy throughout the entire system. As a transfer of power to our species proceeds, our responsibility for maintaining planetary homeostasis increases, whether we are conscious of the fact or not. Each time we significantly alter part of some natural process of regulation or introduce some new source of energy or information, we are increasing the probability that one of these changes will weaken the stability of the entire system … [I]f … man had encroached upon Gaia's functional powers to such an extent that he disabled her … [h]e would then wake up one day to find that he had the permanent lifelong job of planetary maintenance. Gaia would have retreated into the muds, and the ceaseless intricate task of keeping all the global cycles in balance would be ours. Then at last we should be riding that strange contraption, 'the spaceship Earth', and whatever tamed and domesticated biosphere remained would indeed be our 'life support system'.
Our capability of driving 'spaceship Earth' seems to be, at present, very limited, whereas the system itself seems to be entirely capable of managing itself without our intervention. Environmental laws that have developed over the last few decades appear incapable of restraining the environmental impact we, as a single species, are currently having and the effects of which are now beginning to negatively affect us. It might well be that climate science is providing us with a bleak and mistaken picture, but even the most hardened climate sceptics do not have the luxury of running the risk of being wrong. Actions must be taken, and they must be taken now. Whether because we ethically recognise the intrinsic value of all life, as Albert Schweitzer suggested at the beginning of the twentieth century, or whether because we are now tasked with the responsibility of restraining our excessive impact on the whole system if we are to avoid the environmental and cultural collapse described by Gwynne Dyer, it is clear that the inclusion of 'nature' in the consortium of legal subjects is necessary to reproduce, within the realm of legal structures and political governance systems, a more balanced debate on the rights of all entities to exist.
What does this suggest for Australia, and particularly for the Kimberley? Paraphrasing Cormac Cullinan's challenging question, what if the Kimberley had rights? Could the Kimberly become the first place in Australia where nature is conceptualised as a subject of rights? Could Australia show international leadership in leading this paradigmatic shift of ethical and legal consciousness? In a time where the scientists, activists and politicians behind the 'Beyond Zero Emissions' initiative have shown that existing technology is capable of satisfying the entire energetic demand of the nation by using entirely renewable resources, and that the transition to such technology would require nothing more than a decade, the need to drill for fossil fuels and gas appears to be, at the very least, questionable, if not outright idiotic. Economic considerations notwithstanding, maybe Australia could show even more visionary leadership, and recognise the intrinsic right of the Kimberley to exist free from unnecessary human intervention. Maybe Australia can take action in recognising that nature possesses rights well before it is at risk of being 'endangered', moving beyond a correctional and reactive intervention to a more systemic and homeostatic legal sensibility. Maybe we can relinquish the intrinsically patronising belief that we – humans – can 'protect' hapless and 'endangered' nature and begin to acknowledge, within our legal and regulatory discourses, that the system of which we form part does not need 'protection' but rather 'respect'.
I know a lot of stories that connect me to Country. It is virtually impossible for me to leave the circle of Country and go and live [somewhere else]. I would become homesick, because my affiliation, my strength is this Country here. It is because of my knowledge of this Country, the stories I was told as a child. You can't lose that, if that's your nature. When I say, "that's my nature" I'm talking about the natural environment out there, because that is my nature, the ocean, and the bush. People don't look at it in the context; they look at it as my personality. But I say, "yes, my nature is my personality" but you must understand that my nature is also the natural environment right beside you. When I'm on Country I walk slowly, I want to see everything that surrounds me. The colours of the flowers, the wind in the trees, the smell of the plants, the sound of the water running, a goanna I can spot from a hundred yards off, observing his movements while he's observing mine. Indigenous people who are connected to Country, we look at all of that because they are the spirits of our people. The very trees, the very rocks, the mountains that we walk on, we are walking on our spirits.
Report of the Secretary General, Sustainable Development: Harmony with Nature, GA Res 64/196, 65th sess, Agenda Item 20, UN Doc A/65/100 (18 August 2010).


The stent market will have a distinctly different look after Johnson & Johnson completes its acquisition of Conor Medsystems, a $1.4 transaction that is expected to close in the first quarter of 2007, J&J reports. The companies announced their definitive agreement late last week.
J&J's acquisition of Conor will provide Cordis Corp. — also owned by J&J — with a unique controlled drug delivery technology that is currently employed on the CoStar Stent System, a paclitaxel-eluting cobalt chromium stent with a bioabsorbable polymer. CoStar is currently sold outside the U.S., but enrollment in its U.S. pivotal clinical trial has been completed. Conor Medsystems will operate as part of the Cordis franchise.
Under the terms of the agreement, an all cash merger transaction, Conor Medsystems' stockholders will receive at closing $33.50 for each outstanding Conor Medsystems share. The $1.3 billion estimated net value of the transaction is based on Conor Medsystem's 42.7 million fully diluted shares outstanding, net of estimated cash on hand at time of closing.
The boards of directors of both companies have approved the transaction, which is subject to clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act, Conor Medsystems stockholder approval and other customary closing conditions.


With his eyes hollowed, the thick flesh and blood, and his face covered all over with blood, he looked tragic and terrifying.
Coupled with his extremely anguished wailing, it was simply as though an evil spirit had descended to earth.
Chu Xun was a well-known handsome youngster in the capital city, he was equally famed for his appearance as the Song family's jade tree, Song Tinyun, the warm jade Gongzi, Song Tao, as well as the celestial being of the Moon, Zhang Chuzhi, and the naturally handsome third son of Defense General Cheng Youda, Chen Bi. But unexpectedly today, his eyes were gouged out and directly crushed. He was not given with any possibility of restoring his eyes, and had become a pitiful and extremely ugly blind man.
This was simply more difficult for Chu Xun to accept than severing his head with a sword.
The scene that took place was too sudden and swift, too sinister and bizarre, that everyone present were utterly horrified by the sight.
Given Lu Xingkong's status, as well as his power and cultivation realm, if he wanted to attack a younger junior, even if the junior had the title of 'genius', there was most likely no chance for the junior to resist at all.
Besides, ever since Li Muyang's appearance, it had been discovered that the 'geniuses' that people often mentioned had become fish that cannot be shown on stage.
You say you're a genius then are you going to defeat a West Wind Sword God, too? Are you going to kill an Old immortal of Still water?
By the time Chu Xun could respond, it finally came to him that he wanted to take revenge.
He swung his hands to grab Lu Xingkong who was just standing in front of him, but grabbed empty air instead. Lu Xingkong had already returned to his original position.
Chu Xun had lost his eyes, and before he could adapt to the change, he already wanted to kill and to retaliate. He constantly lurched forward, until he bumped into his father Prince Fu.
Chu Xun refused to listen, desperately struggled, and pushed his father away to find Lu Xingkong for revenge.
Unfortunately, he had no idea where Lu Xingkong was.
"Lu Xingkong, you deserve to die——" Prince Fu grunted, gnashing his teeth. Looking at the miserable condition of his son's eyes, Prince Fu came to his senses right away.
He knew that his son Chu Xun had repeated provoked and angered that old dog Lu Xingkong. Therefore, Lu Xingkong, no matter what, wanted to gouge out Chu Xun's eyes in front of the Emperor and the many civil and military ministers.
He not only wanted to retaliate against Chu Xun, he wanted to kill the chicken to warn the monkey, let the people who had bad intentions towards the Lu family know that——that he, Lu Xingkong, could do anything.
Ever since the Still water sword school had repeatedly attacked Li Muyang, and the Old immortal of Still water Mu Dingyi had personally delivered a letter of challenge to Li Muyang, the Lu family had been pushed to the forefront where the wind and the waves are the fiercest. Every time there was a danger of the family being destroyed, every time there was a risk of the clan being wiped out.
Chu Xun's attack could only be said to be untimely. When Li Muyang had achieved victory against Mu Dingyi of Still water sword school, the might and power of the Lu clan had reached the peak. Chu Xun had not only untimely jumped out to say that Li Muyang was a dragon, but also persuaded people to perform tests on Li Muyang. Therefore, Lu Xingkong, who had been on the edge of erupting finally flipped out and dug out Chu Xun's eyeballs.
It was in this way that he proved to all the people of the Kingdom that he, Lu Xingkong, was not easy to push around and that he dared to do anything.
At the thought that his son had become the chicken to 'warn the monkey', Prince Fu was trembling uncontrollably from pain.
"Hahaha——" The blinded Chu Xun laughed wildly.
Prince Fu held Chu Xun back from doing anything disobedient because of his emotional agitation.
Prince Fu was extremely regretful.
"Chenxi——" Song Tao said helplessly. He knew that his Little sister and Li Muyang had a really good relationship, and that boy had used some unknown method to make his little sister speak for him all the time despite only meeting once. There was not a single person in the entire Song family that liked Li Muyang. So, her abnormal stance——made the two brothers feel awkward.
In the sky, there was a long line of countless pink plum blossom petals coming in this direction.
Fluttering, dancing and spinning, the petals swathed the sky above the entire Sword God Square sky.
A cool breeze passed by, the beautiful fragrance hit the nose, and everyone felt intoxicated.
A huge figure had emerged in the sky.
"Who says that there are no dragons in the world?" An old voice resounded across the sky and landed deep in everyone's eardrum, as if it was blowing up in the head. Nobody felt any piercing pain but it was incomparably clear, like an unforgettable voice.


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