Zoom link: https://mcgill.zoom.us/j/87642153188 Facebook Live   2021 ELGA Webinar Series on Ecological Law & Governance

Ecological law case studies help bring ecological law principles and theory down to Earth – literally!   First, cases are analyzed  to reveal the legal and policy realms involved, and then they are reconstructed using principles of ecological law. This webinar provides an update and preliminary results on 5 studies initiated in 2020. A question and comment period will follow brief presentations of each case.  The case studies examine the application of ecological law to:

1. The history and future prospects of the St. Lawrence Seaway in relation to the Mohawks of Kahnawake reserve near Montreal, whose traditional ways of life and relationship to the river have been greatly affected by the shipping channel (McGill Prof. Kirsten Anker and McGill law students Larissa Parker and Gabriel d’Astous).

2. A proposal by the subsidiary of a Florida-based mining company for a phosphate mine in Antitápolis, a rural town in a hilly region of the Atlantic forest in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil (Prof. Cristiane Derani of the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), Brazil; UFSC students Mariana Scholz, Camila Segovia, Adrielle Betina Oliveira, Adrian Amaral, Angela Konrath and Heidi Michalski).

3. Protection of River Ethiope in the Delta State of Nigeria, on track to be Africa’s first river with rights and legal personhood yet facing persistent threats from agriculture, oil and other development (Prof. Ngozi Uguigbe, University of Benin; Irikefe Dafe, President, River Ethiope Trust Foundation; Grant Wilson, Executive Director, Earth Law Center; Ian Moore, lawyer and independent researcher; and Dr. Geoff Garver, L4E and ELGA).

4.From California to the Clarion Clipperton Zone, a deep dive on the evolution, design principles and function of networks of marine protected areas, with a focus on how ecological law can play a role in ongoing treaty negotiations for marine biodiversity on the high seas. (Vermont Law School Prof. Sarah Reiter)

5.The relationship between humans and wild animals in Vermont, taking into account the typical legal treatment of wildlife as resources for human use as opposed to rights-bearing entities or equal members of the community of life (Vermont Law School Prof. Pamela Vesilind and VLS law student Heidi Guenther).