Kirjahaku

The book discusses the development of the emerging concept of biocultural rights, which are defined as a basket of group rights. These rights are aimed at protecting the stewardship role that certain indigenous peoples and local communities have towards environment. This work provides an overview of the current ethical debate on different approaches towards the conservation of environment and the problematic definitions of indigenous peoples and local communities. The reader is taken through an intense but easy-to-read journey across the development and challenges of the concept of right and the birth of human rights, necessary to understand the sui generis features of biocultural rights. The book critically assesses the foundations, content, and implications of biocultural rights, and develops new perspectives and ideas concerning their potential applicability for promoting the socio-economic interests of indigenous people and local communities. It further explores the controversial relationship of interdependence and conflict between conservation of environment and protection of human rights.

This book analyses how protecting the rights of local communities can contribute to the alleviation of ecological harms through the development of an innovative 'Rights for Ecosystem Services' framework. Ecosystem services describe the range of social, ecological, and economic benefits that people obtain from nature. Recognising the role of local communities, and criticizing the very use of the term services, this book draws on arguments for the rights of nature. Against a market approach to nature conservation it thereby transforms the current 'Payments for Ecosystem Services' framework into a unique 'Rights for Ecosystem Services' framework. With reference to a case study from Sicily, the book develops such a framework as a crucial means through which the environmental role of local communities can be recognised, protected, and fostered. Employing insights from a range of disciplines, this book will appeal to scholars working in the areas of environmental law, legal theory, political philosophy, human rights, and environmental studies, as well as others with practical concerns in the fields of conservation science and local communities' rights.