User:Danlicarlson/sandbox

Biocentrism in Law
The paradigm of biocentrism and the values that it promotes are beginning to be used in law.

In recent years cities in Maine, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Virgina have adopted laws that protect the rights of nature. The purpose of these laws is to prevent the degradation of nature; especially by corporations who may want to exploit natural resources and land space, and to also use the environment as a dumping ground for toxic waste. The first country to include rights of nature in its constitution is Ecuador (See 2008 Constitution of Ecuador).Article 71 states that nature "has the right to integral respect for its existence and for the maintenance and regeneration of its life cycles, structure, functions and evolutionary processes" This statement demonstrates biocentric views by acknowledging that nature has intrinsic value by simply existing.