The Right to Bee—Stingless Bees in Peru Achieve Legal Rights

In a monumental recent development, Peru’s stingless bees were granted rights, representing an important milestone in the Rights of Nature movement. Under ordinances implementing the Declaration of the Rights of Stingless Bees, the bees now have the legal right to exist and flourish, maintain healthy populations, and live in a pollution-free environment with ecologically stable climatic conditions. Along with this, lawsuits may be brought on the bees’ behalf if they face threats or harm. Thus far, the protective ordinances have been enacted in two Peruvian municipalities—first, in Satipo’s Avireri-Vraem Biosphere Reserve and second, in Nauta.

The stingless bees pollinate more than 80% of the Amazon forest’s flora—playing a critical role in rainforest survival, ecosystem health, and biodiversity. Stingless bee species, which total about 500, are the oldest species of bees on the planet. While the various species can be found in tropical regions across the world, about half call the Amazon home. Under the laws, the bees are protected across a large swathe of the Peruvian Amazon and Andes mountains—the Avireri-Vraem Biosphere Reserve, alone, is 16,000 square miles.

The ordinances establishing the bees rights came about through a collaboration with indigenous Peruvian communities including the Asháninka and Kukama communities in Satipo and Nauta, respectively. These communities (and others that existed in pre-Columbian times) have cultivated stingless bees for centuries. Unfortunately, the bees are becoming scarcer. Community members report searching for hours to find the bees that were once common. The bees’ decline is the result of a deadly combination of deforestation, pesticide use, climate change, and being outcompeted by introduced (stinging) European bees. Despite the bees far distance from areas of pesticide use, their honey contains traces of such substances, indicating the extent of drift and exposure.

Taken together, the shifts in our relationship with biodiversity and the environment reflected in these laws represents a shift toward the type of transformational change that the International Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) has been telling us is necessary since 2019. Historically, wildlife, biodiversity, and environmental protection laws center humans first, and the animals, plants, and environment second at best. And while these laws have worked to advance some wildlife and environmental protection, whether they are the solution to the world’s unfolding biodiversity crisis is in question.

In contrast, laws and regulations premised on a Rights of Nature approach resituate short-term human and corporate needs and short-term economics such that wildlife and ecosystems are centered as the subjects of the law. When implemented and enforced with intention, such laws shift who bears the burden of adjustment. In these laws, the question is not how much take and harm can a population of wild animals absorb but rather how do humans need to adjust behaviors and business as usual to accommodate the need of wild animals or ecosystems, or in this case, the stingless bees of the Amazon.

The Global Law Alliance for Animals and the Environment (GLA) has long advocated for the Rights of Nature approach and its recognition of the rights of wild animals to exist and thrive in their natural environments. Our scholarship was cited in Ecuador’s landmark decision to recognize that the Rights of Nature under the Ecuadorian constitution extend to wild animals, and we’ve written about how legislation in Panama that grants rights to sea turtles represents a further development in the movement.

In Peru, hope exists that other municipalities may follow Satipo and Nauta’s example. A global petition even calls on Peru to implement a national law. Already, the country recognizes stingless bees as species of national interest, granting them various protections and recognizing their economic value. The grant of legal rights for Peru’s stingless bees has also spurred interest from groups wanting to create similar protections for bees in Bolivia, the Netherlands, and the United States. We look forward to the Rights of Nature movement’s continued expansion and development to give wild animals the protections they deserve.

Courtney McCoy (JD, ’25) is the 2025-2026 Diehl Fellow for the Global Law Alliance for Animals and the Environment (GLA). She comes to GLA most excited about working on wildlife protection and looks forward to engaging with the international legal community to help stymie the current biodiversity crisis. She understands that issues affecting the environment and wildlife span the globe and that some of the most impactful solutions are those that engage cross-boundary stakeholders.

Professor Erica Lyman has over fifteen years of experience in international environmental law, with a strong focus on wildlife protection issues. She also teaches Global Wild Animal Law in the online Animal Law advanced degree program. GLA was launched in the fall of 2020 as an innovative collaboration of the Center for Animal Law Studies and the top-ranked Environmental Law Program at Lewis & Clark Law School. GLA champions wild animals and wild spaces around the world. Law students (JD and LLM) actively participate in GLA’s work for academic credit.

The Center for Animal Law Studies (CALS) was founded in 2008 with a mission to educate the next generation of animal law advocates and advance animal protection through the law. With vision and bold risk-taking, CALS has since developed into a world-renowned animal law epicenter. CALS’ Alumni-in-Action from 30 countries are making a difference for animals around the world. CALS is a self-funded Center within the law school operating under the Lewis & Clark College 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, and is able to provide these educational opportunities through donations and grants.