The United States

The Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights has partnered with and assisted community and state level groups across the U.S., as well as Tribal Nations and Indigenous organizations, to advance democratic rights and the rights of nature.

This includes in Florida, where CDER worked with activists in Orange County to advance a rights of nature measure - to recognize rights of waterways - which passed overwhelmingly in 2020. Orange County - with 1.5 million people - is the largest jurisdiction in the U.S. with a rights of nature law in place. CDER also assisted grassroots groups in the state to form the Florida Rights of Nature Network.

In North Carolina, CDER assisted the Native American Caucus of the North Carolina Democratic Party to draft and introduce legislation to recognize rights of the Haw River - the first state-level legislation in the U.S. which would recognize legal rights of an ecosystem.

In Wisconsin, CDER is supporting the work of group Rights of Nature Wisconsin on county-level rights of nature resolutions, the first of which was adopted in Milwaukee County in 2023. As well, CDER is assisting organizations and local governments in Washington State, California, and elsewhere to advance the rights of nature in law.

Our work with Tribal Nations and Indigenous organizations includes working on tribal laws and policies, and constitutional frameworks, which secure the rights of nature and strengthen tribal rights. As well, we have assisted the first tribes in the U.S. to bring cases into tribal courts to enforce the rights of salmon and wild rice. Learn more here.