Experts called for rights of nature and pleaded people not to treat earth as a property.

During a seminar organised by non-government organisation Tarumitra Ashram on Tuesday, Patricia Siemen from Barry University, US, and the coordinator of Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature was the main speaker.

Patricia said: "Rights of nature acknowledges that it is in all life forms has the right to exist, persist, maintain and regenerate. Nature should not be treated as property under the law. The ecosystem itself can be named as a rights bearing subject. When we disrespect and harm nature we diminish ourselves and impoverish our children. A human right to life and dignity is meaningless without water and wilderness."

She added: "By recognisingthe rights of nature in its constitution, Ecuadorand a growing number of communities in the US are recognising that nature has inalienable rights, just as humans do. Laws and contracts are written to protect the property rights of individuals, corporations and other legal entities."?

US artist Bernadette Bostwick, who was also present, said: "It is not that we have enacted a set of laws, rather we have begun a good movement to protect our mother, the earth. While there are many religious teachings to respect the earth, there are no existing punishable laws for someone violating the rights of rivers, mountains and trees."

R.K. Sinha, the dolphin man of Bihar, and Ratnakar Mishra from IIM-Mumbai were also present.

"I agree with the speakers and under the current system of law in almost every country, nature is considered to be property, a treatment that confers upon its owner the right to destroy ecosystems on his property. When we talk about the rights of nature, it means recognising that ecosystems and natural communities are not merely property that can be owned, but are entities that have an independent right to exist and flourish," Sinha said.

He added: "We are not only destroying the nature, but also the species. Most of the species have been extinct. We must become the guardian of our ecosystem and species."

Students and teachers from Patna Women's College, St Xavier's College, Atmadarshan Institute of Counselling, Xavier's College of Education and lawyers attended the seminar.

Robert Athickal, the director of Tarumitra, was also present in the seminar.