These foreign governments decided it was time to give rights to bees

Two Peruvian municipalities reportedly granted legal rights to stingless bees, marking what multiple reports call the first “recognition of rights for an insect in history.”

The ordinance, now recognized by the municipalities of Satipo and Nauta, grants “native stingless bee” species several rights, including “the right to exist and thrive … the right to ecologically stable climatic conditions [and] … the right to be legally represented in cases of threat or harm,” according to the Earth Law Center. Satipo became the first to pass the ordinance in October, and Nauta greenlit a matching ordinance on Dec. 22, according to the Guardian.

Environmentalists and scientists have campaigned to protect the native bees by getting them on international conservation lists, according to the Guardian and the Earth Law Center.

“This ordinance marks a turning point in our relationship with nature: it makes stingless bees visible, recognizes them as rights-bearing subjects, and affirms their essential role in preserving ecosystems,” Latin American director at the Earth Law Center Constanza Prieto, who was part of the campaign, told the Guardian.

The Earth Law Center stated that the move was the “first formal recognition of rights for an insect in history,” and argued that the ordinance recognitions are “a revolutionary step in protecting Peru’s biodiversity and biocultural heritage.”

Other rights extended by the ordinance include “the right to maintain healthy populations … the right to ecologically stable climatic conditions [and] the right to regenerate their natural cycles,” according to the Earth Law Center.

Some natives told the Guardian that Peruvian stingless bees were displaced by another invasive species.

Rosa Vásquez Espinoza, founder of Amazon Research Internacional and leader of the campaign effort, recalled one interaction with a witness to the Guardian.

“I felt so scared, to be honest,” Espinoza told the publication. “Because I have heard of that before, but not to that extent. She had horror in her eyes and she kept looking at me straight and asking: ‘how do I get rid of them? I hate them. I want them gone’.”

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