Bees native to the Peruvian part of the Amazon rainforest, who have no sting unlike their European counterparts, have become the first insects in the world to be granted legal rights, The Guardian has reported.
The insects now have the right to exist and flourish, the British daily reported.
The campaign to secure the rights for the insects has been spearheaded by Rosa Vásquez Espinoza, founder of Amazon Research Internacional, who has spent the past few years travelling into the Amazon to work with Indigenous people to document the bees, according to The Guardian.
The Earth Law Center, a team of legal professionals working together to advance the Rights of Nature and other Earth-centered legal movements worldwide, has been part of the campaign.
“Amazonian stingless bees have been integral to ecological, social, and cultural practices among Peruvian Amazon communities for centuries. An essential part of this project is to promote the preservation of the traditional knowledge of Amazonian communities on biodiversity management,” the Center noted in a post on its website.
“Recently, in a groundbreaking effort to preserve Perú’s biocultural heritage, the provincial municipality of Satipo adopted this Declaration through a formal municipal ordinance, integrating it into local law and establishing a powerful precedent for other regions to follow,” the Center added.
The ‘Declaration’ is the Declaration of Rights for Native Stingless Bees, a landmark document which recognises the inherent rights of these pollinators, including their right to exist, to maintain healthy populations, to restore their habitats, and to live in a pollution-free environment, among others.
Stingless bees are key rainforest pollinators, sustaining biodiversity and ecosystem health. They are the oldest bee species on the planet and are responsible for pollinating over 80 per cent of Amazonian flora, including globally cherished crops like coffee, chocolate, avocados, and blueberries.
According to The Guardian, they face a deadly confluence of climate change, deforestation and pesticides, as well as competition from European bees.
The ordinance recognizes inherent rights of the bees and their ecosystems, including:
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the right to exist and thrive
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the right to maintain healthy populations
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the right to a healthy habitat free from pollution
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the right to ecologically stable climatic conditions
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the right to regenerate their natural cycles
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the right to be legally represented in cases of threat or harm
“This ordinance marks a turning point in how we understand and legislate our relationship with Nature,” Constanza Prieto, Earth Law Center, was quoted as saying.
“It shows how modern science and ancestral wisdom can come together to create real conservation solutions,” said Rosa Vásquez Espinoza, Amazon Research Internacional.
