Stingless Bees From the Amazon Granted Legal Rights in World First (theguardian.com) 52
Stingless bees from the Amazon have become the first insects to be granted legal rights anywhere in the world, in a breakthrough supporters hope will be a catalyst for similar moves to protect bees elsewhere. From a report: It means that across a broad swathe of the Peruvian Amazon, the rainforest's long-overlooked native bees -- which, unlike their cousins the European honeybees, have no sting -- now have the right to exist and to flourish. Cultivated by Indigenous peoples since pre-Columbian times, stingless bees are thought to be key rainforest pollinators, sustaining biodiversity and ecosystem health.
But they are faced with a deadly confluence of climate change, deforestation and pesticides, as well as competition from European bees, and scientists and campaigners have been racing against time to get stingless bees on international conservation red lists. Constanza Prieto, Latin American director at the Earth Law Center, who was part of the campaign, said: "This ordinance marks a turning point in our relationship with nature: it makes stingless bees visible, recognises them as rights-bearing subjects, and affirms their essential role in preserving ecosystems."
But they are faced with a deadly confluence of climate change, deforestation and pesticides, as well as competition from European bees, and scientists and campaigners have been racing against time to get stingless bees on international conservation red lists. Constanza Prieto, Latin American director at the Earth Law Center, who was part of the campaign, said: "This ordinance marks a turning point in our relationship with nature: it makes stingless bees visible, recognises them as rights-bearing subjects, and affirms their essential role in preserving ecosystems."
have the right to exist (Score:5, Funny)
But they cannot defend that right.
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I definitely think that stingless bees have more of a right to exist than the stinger-bearing varieties. I would be happy to see the stingless ones completely displace the stinger-bearing ones.
And while we are at it, we need stingless wasps, stingless scorpions, non-blood-sucking mosquitoes, and vegetarian ticks that only eat weeds.
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Stingless wasps aren't very effectual against other insects, though. Once some bug was fucking with me on the beach, couldn't even tell what it was, and a wasp came up from behind it, stung it on the abdomen, and flew off with it. Thanks, wasp!
Can we just get rid of all the stinging wasps except for paper wasps? They are pretty mellow. It's the hornets and the ground-dwelling wasps that are the real fuckers.
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But they cannot defend that right.
Didn't you read TFA? They're issuing a bunch of tiny little weapons, and working with the bees to develop and train a standing militia.
Clearly they need help (Score:4, Funny)
Maybe we can lend them some armed bears.
Later... (Score:3)
Argentine man charged with murdering a cow.
Witnesses stated that he showed no remorse and and that he said it was delicious and that he would do it again.
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He overcooked the steaks... I hope he gets the death penalty.
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Overcooking the steaks is its own death penalty.
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Unless you want everyone to be a Jain (which would lead to everyone dying very quickly), that isn't going to work.
Re: Good start (Score:3)
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Would that include micro-animals like dust mites, and similar, that we kill every time we take a shower?
How many read this as from Amazon.com? (Score:5, Funny)
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How very pavlovian. You clearly need a break from the website since it lives rent free in your head.
What does this actually do? (Score:5, Insightful)
What does giving these bees the right to exist actually do? Is it a flag-waving virtue signal, or will it have a practical effect on anything that's happening and continues to happen to them as a species. Will this stop pollutants and pesticides that will continue to be used from affecting them? Will it stop deforestation as a policy going forward? On the surface, I don't see it as a negative move, but it seems awfully parallel to the term "empty promises." Like screaming at the bees, "We cool, man," while we continue to watch their decline.
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I Am Not A Peruvian Lawyer but if I can imagine it if something has legal protection then it can turn to the courts for remediation of harms.
Basically the bees have standing [cornell.edu] now.
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Seems just a weird way to say they have protected species status under law.
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I doubt this will be very impactful on our continued drive towards extinction
Actually - this is the exact legal premise required to recognize externalities under the law. This specific instrument was one that referred to as a "Offending Device" IIRC under the "Trans Pacific Partnership" which allowed companies to sue governments to remove laws that got in the way of making profits.
The alternative is to remove Limited Liability from corporations and expose them to the full weight of their actions/inaction/incompetence/cuntishness - which would solve all issues related to externali
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What does giving these bees the right to exist actually do?
It does a fair bit, and the rest of your questions imply you might actually already know what it does.However, like any law, some people are going to break it. You cannot stop unwanted behavior completely. That doesn't mean laws aren't effective.
Will this stop pollutants and pesticides that will continue to be used from affecting them?
Not from the ouside, but it will criminalize their use in the area.
Will it stop deforestation as a policy going forward?
Officially, for the area, yes. The article even mentions it mandates reforestation. Unofficially, only time will tell.
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Somehow the lawyers will get the majority of the settlements.
Re:What does this actually do? (Score:4, Informative)
What does giving these bees the right to exist actually do?
The premise behind it is that it gives groups who care for the bees (say farmers or preservationists) the ability to defend the rights of the bees, Therefore any entity who has industrial activities are forced to take the bees welfare into account. Considering the amount of agriculture in the area this is probably related to indirectly protecting the food supply as well.
In essence this is a legal mechanism that exposes some entity to liabilities for damages, the same way a person can be, essentially preventing the bees becoming an externalized cost of business.
This is a good thing.
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food supply? these bees make 1/50 to 1/70th the amount of honey as a honeybee and it's dilute and watery. fuck 'em, the world needs bees that make the good stuff and a lot of it.
Bees also pollinate crops.
Starry eyed virtue signaling cunt fodder is all this is.
What specifically are you referring to?
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food supply? these bees make 1/50 to 1/70th the amount of honey as a honeybee and it's dilute and watery. fuck 'em, the world needs bees that make the good stuff and a lot of it.
Bees also pollinate crops.
Starry eyed virtue signaling cunt fodder is all this is.
What specifically are you referring to?
That type of thing is typically uttered by those that will never actually see a cunt as a defense mechanism against said things they'll never see.
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No, most pollination is NOT done by bees; you believed a romantic notion that was a lie. Look it up, and make a list of major pollinators which does not include bees.
To clarify; your argument is that most pollination is not done by bees and that I should make a list to understand your argument? Most pollination is done by bees because they are more effective than birds and other insects or manual pollination. Can you show me why it is a lie?
Some niche bee species of no import doesn't matter.
It sounds like you have some specific expertise on this. Can explain why these bees don't matter to the ecosystem? In the Amazon, where these bees live, what other major pollinators are there? Wouldn't it mean the Amazon loose
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We protect the rights of Bees at the BCLU... (Score:2)
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Aregntina already granted an orangutan habeas corpus [bbc.com]
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Aregntina already granted an orangutan habeas corpus [bbc.com]
Many animals are sentient and for an orangutan being genetically closest to human beings this is a step towards humans being more human.
Whilst it doesn't apply to many animals, when you look at recent studies into bird neuronal density being 4-8 more dense than mammalian brains and experiments into animal consciousness revealing that they have an experience of life similar to ours, it challenges our presumptuous attitude towards animals being dumb or just things. They clearly are not.
To understand where
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I think anyone who has owned a dog or a cat or is just raised with a societal amount of empathy can understand compassion to animals.
Most of us have had had to watch the life fade from a beloved pet's eyes. The hunting, skinning and eating while point taken and respected, is not a requirement.
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Most of us have had had to watch the life fade from a beloved pet's eyes.
No, when my dog died there was grief, a loss with a name. It was not at all the same experience as knowing you just killed that animal.
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Good for you but I'm not gonna participate in so e sort of competitive grief/compassion Olympics which I find the suggestion of a little insulting sorry. Nobody is stopping you from hunting don't worry about it.
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Uh huh. And the moon can now sue the earth (Score:1)
for blocking out its god-given right to sunlight during a lunar eclipse.
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Re: Uh huh. And the moon can now sue the earth (Score:1)
We'll all die without plants to make our oxygen for us. Doesn't mean I should feel guilty about chopping down any particular tree or cutting my grass.
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Re: Uh huh. And the moon can now sue the earth (Score:1)
Pretty sure the world ain't gonna end, crazy man with sandwich board notwithstanding.
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Re: Uh huh. And the moon can now sue the earth (Score:1)
CO2 is a key ingredient in Brawndo, or so I'm told.
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We don't need legal novelties for this. (Score:2)