Right now, a research project is underway that examines how life in and around Lake Vättern would change if the lake had legal rights. It is a new way of protecting natural areas that has been tested internationally, but never before in Sweden.
– The lake is exposed to so many threats, that’s why we chose it, says Martin Hultman, research leader at Chalmers.
The activities of the Swedish Defense Forces load Vättern’s water with PFAS and lead during military exercises, which is one of the threats to the ecosystems in Vättern. A possible mine establishment is another. If the lake was given legal rights, it would be protected from exploitation and pollution, that’s the idea behind the research project, which has several aims.
– On the one hand, we are investigating which aspects of nature’s rights are already in Swedish environmental legislation, such as beach protection and red listing of endangered species, and on the other hand, we are looking at how it would be possible to enter as a new type of protection for the Lake, says Martin Hultman, research leader for the the interdisciplinary project at Chalmers University of Technology.
Occurs internationally
Giving lakes, rivers or mountains legal rights already occurs internationally. In Europe, the idea has been used to try to save the ecosystems of the Mar Menor saltwater lagoon in Spain, which received legal rights in 2022. There, previously catastrophic eutrophication has now reduced. The rights of nature are also enshrined in the law in, for example, New Zealand, Colombia and Ecuador, where it is often the indigenous people who have taken the initiative for the legislation.
– The rights of nature can be seen as a very new type of legislation, but in fact it is connected to the practice of indigenous peoples and to the approach of previous generations to nature, says Martin Hultman.
The interdisciplinary project will now last for five years. The idea of the rights of nature arouses increasing interest among researchers and activists in Sweden. Jonna Bornemark, professor of philosophy, is currently working on a book in which the idea of the rights of nature is included as a new way for people to look at nature and at themselves.
– If we start to see ourselves as parts of a system that must work, it will necessarily mean a big shift that will affect our law, our economy and our politics, she says and believes that the shift is necessary to avoid a crisis in the future.
– If we don’t change the way we relate to nature, it will lead to a crisis of civilization, I guess our civilization will die out. But if we change, we can have better, more exciting lives where we are part of something bigger than ourselves, says Jonna Bornemark.