Earth Law Center Blog
Verte Volar: An Homage to Ancient Pollinators
"Verte Volar" is a new composition that honors the sacred relationship between humanity and stingless bees through an interdisciplinary partnership bridging science, law, ecology, poetry, and Indigenous ancestral knowledge. This spoken word and musical piece emerges from an unprecedented collaboration between Indigenous wisdom keepers, scientists, legal advocates, artists, and educators, weaving together diverse ways of knowing into a unified homage to Amazonian stingless bees. It was created by Carine Gibert, founder of Grounded In Motion, composed with Jacinta Clusellas, and produced by Benjamin Furman.
Lake Titicaca in Danger: Community Action and the Rights of Nature
Lake Titicaca, a large mountain lake on the border of Perú and Bolivia, is sacred to the Aymara and Quechua peoples. Known as “Qota Mama” in the Aymara language, signifying the goddess of water in Andean cultures, the lake faces a serious environmental crisis that threatens its balance and the culture that has nurtured it for generations. In response, Earth Law Center's Latin America Legal Program is collaborating with Indigenous communities to defend the lake's rights, strengthen leadership—especially among women and youth—and support legal actions aimed at protecting the lake. Their work shows that recognizing the lake as a subject of rights is crucial for healing its waters and safeguarding the life, culture, and future of the Altiplano.
Rights of Rivers Champion Marí Luz Canaquiri Receives 2025 Goldman Prize
Marí Luz Canaquiri Murayari, a Kukama leader from Perú’s Loreto region, has won the 2025 Goldman Environmental Prize, often referred to as the “Nobel Prize of environmentalism.” As president of the Federation of Kukama Indigenous Women — Huaynakana Kamatahuara Kana (HKK) — Canaquiri has spent decades defending her people, their culture, and the sacred Marañón River that sustains them. “It's incredible to receive this news—and even more so for the value accorded to us as women,” said Canaquiri in an interview with Earth Law Center (ELC).
Peru's Marañón River Wins Recognition of Rights and Indigenous Guardianship in Court
Earth Law Center (ELC) celebrates an important victory obtained for the Marañón River on March 18, 2024. The Kukama Indigenous women of Santa Rita de Castilla, and legal nonprofit Instituto de Defensa Legal (IDL), obtained a historic ruling recognizing the river as a holder of inherent rights—the first such ruling in Peru. With ELC’s Latin America Legal Program having supported the case since its inception, we are thrilled to see this development.
Earth Law Center Advocates for the Rights of Peru's Marañón River
A major court ruling on a case against Peruvian state oil company Petroperu, as well as the Regional Government of Loreto and other state entities, is expected in the coming weeks. It has the potential to establish the river as a rights-bearing entity, which would make it the next in a growing list of rivers in South America to have been recognized as having rights.