Protect the Salish Sea

The Rights of the Salish Sea is a campaign to recognize the right of the Salish Sea to survive and thrive, and the right of those who live in and by the Salish Sea to a healthy climate, and clean air, water, and soil.

Community Rights San Juan Islands is a non-profit group working to bring Community Rights and Rights of Nature to San Juan County.

Community Rights: The right to say “no” to harmful industries and their impacts, and the right to say “yes” to a healthy ecosystem, and to work on behalf of that ecosystem.

Rights of Nature: Recognizing the right of the Salish Sea watershed and natural communities to survive, thrive, and regenerate its vital life cycles.

Why? Because as residents of the Salish Sea region, we share a responsibility to protect the relationships we have with the life-giving water and land that surrounds us.

How? By bringing Rights of Nature thinking to San Juan County, we hope to raise awareness of the problems created by viewing nature purely as property, and offer an alternative—to recognize in our personal and community lives our place as humans in the web of life, and the importance of a thriving, flourishing Salish Sea bioregion to our lives and our future.

Our efforts are multi-faceted and include:

• we hold events to highlight the importance of a healthy Salish Sea regularly, including the Salish Sea Dance, and in-person and online discussion events;
• we work with organizations in the region to educate about Rights of Nature and to encourage Rights of Nature thinking and language in advocacy and vision work;
• we conduct research in San Juan County on community perspectives on values, rights, and rights of nature;
• we are developing a Rights of the Salish Sea initiative to amend the county charter to legally recognize the Rights of the Salish Sea in San Juan County.