In this conversation, Earth Charter International Executive Director Mirian Vilela speaks with author, and Rights of Nature advocate Jessica den Outer about the movement’s evolution and its connection to the Earth Charter. Den Outer explains how recognizing rivers, forests, oceans, and other ecosystems as subjects of rights can help legal systems move beyond treating nature merely as property. Drawing on cases from New Zealand, Ecuador, Spain, India, and the Netherlands, she presents Rights of Nature not as a “silver bullet,” but as a pragmatic legal bridge toward a worldview grounded in care, reciprocity, responsibility, and respect for the community of life. The conversation also explores the influence of Indigenous worldviews, the role of guardians who speak on behalf of ecosystems, and the many ways citizens, educators, businesses, lawyers, artists, and communities can help translate ethical principles into action. 

1. How did you become interested and involved in the Rights of Nature and the Earth Charter movement?  
2. How has your understanding of the relationship between ethics, law, and Nature evolved through this journey?  
3. What are the Rights of Nature? Where does this idea come from?  
4. Could we see the Rights of Nature and the Earth Charter movements as complementary? How can these two movements reinforce each other? 
5. What are the main ideas and arguments you develop in your book The Forest Fights Back: A Global Movement? 
6. Do you think law can become an instrument of cultural transformation? How?  
7. How do you see the Rights of Nature movement evolving in the near future? 
8. What can the Rights of Nature movement learn from Indigenous ways of relating with the Earth?  
9. If we want to move from ethical principles to action, what are the most important things that citizens, educators, lawyers, young people, and communities can do to help create a society that truly respects the Rights of Nature?