ABSTRACT
Interests are at the heart of human rights. According to legal theory, human rights are bestowed only on people the law considers capable of bearing legal personalities and executing responsibilities. Thus, the rights of nature, in conjunction with environmental ethics, remain in a minority position in Africa. Commentators have also asserted that traditional African communities cannot allege a breach of or enjoy their rights. Rather than individual rights, the overarching notion of collective rights has ensued, competing with, and restricting individual environmental rights entitlements in traditional African contexts. While it can be argued that the present notion of human rights is a product of modern Western history, no civilisation can claim its historical greatness. Some Africanists believe that traditional African values express human rights more effectively than those of modern neocolonial nations. How correct is this assertion in light of extending rights to other beings in the environment?
This chapter investigates the “rights theory” within the African moral framework and shows that in a typical African culture, individual and collective rights are inextricably linked. Furthermore, the chapter argues that within the African moral framework, human rights are duty based. At the same time, there is also some level of duty not to harm other beings in the environment. This shows that the African ecological rights perspective contains some concepts of rights, which can be modernised to formulate viable environmental law that enhances the pursuit of environmental sustainability in Africa.
