ABSTRACT
This chapter debates about property in environmental ethics by suggesting a very different way that private ownership could help protect natural areas and the nonhuman animals that inhabit them. The key moral demands of environmentalism and animal rights can be met by extending the scope of property ownership beyond the human species to other sentient animals that have a vital interest in using natural goods. The nonhuman animal property regime is an adjunct to the prevailing instrumental view of the value of nature. If the animals concerned had a property right in the habitat concerned then every instance of destruction would constitute harm to the individuals involved. Evidence suggests that suitable habitat for nonhuman animals, and the conditions most conducive to strong territorial determinations, are likely to be found in areas of low human activity. An objection to the extension of property rights to nonhuman animals concerns the role of the mentally competent guardian.
