The region of Western New York is no stranger to extractive practices. For hundreds of years, the land and watersheds where we call home have been subjected to overdevelopment, polluting industries, and decision-making that fails to account for the harmful effects on ecosystems, as well as community health and agency. Many of us are working on trying to stop or slow these practices. Sometimes we succeed, but often our actions feel inconsequential in the face of this Industrial Growth Society. What if we could redesign our systems to prioritize the environment and public health alongside economic growth?

The Great Lakes and State Waters Bill of Rights is a proposal in our NYS Assembly that aims to recognize the legal rights of all watersheds and ecosystems in NYS to "exist, persist, flourish, naturally evolve, regenerate, and be restored", as well as the rights of members of all of our state communities to clean and healthy water, air, and soil. This bill originates from the Rights of Nature movement, an international movement that has seen countries such as Ecuador, New Zealand, Panama, Bolivia, and local municipalities worldwide adopt laws granting rights to land, water, air, and non-human beings. A small group of us in WNY is mobilizing to advocate for this bill and speak about it to our networks and communities. We believe that recognizing the legal rights of nature is a holistic and long-term strategy to address the lack of concern for environmental protection and community health in decision-making.

We want to invite anyone interested in learning more about the bill and how to get involved to our open meeting at Burning Books on Thursday July 24 at 7p (register here). We will provide a brief presentation on the bill and the Rights of Nature movement, followed by a Q&A session featuring a representative from Assemblymember Burke's office, who proposed the bill, and a member of CELDF, the organization that helped draft the bill. Our goal for this meeting is to familiarize people with the concept and make them comfortable discussing it with their network. We also intend to plan for the next steps in this campaign in WNY, including hosting public meetings, a film screening, and smaller discussion groups.

If you are unable to attend but are interested in getting involved and learning more, please visit the Great Lakes Bill of Rights page on the WNYEA website here: https://www.wnyea.org/great-lakes-bill-of-rights.html.

Join us Saturday, June 4 from 10am-3pm at the WNY Welcome Center on Grand Island to learn about the importance of Native Plants and our Decade of Biodiversity Campaign. 

On Monday, April 11 friends and supporters of the Outer Harbor gathered to lament the loss of a diverse regenerative landscape. The trees we lost had taken over 70 years to grow from bare soil, and to bare soil the place has returned.  Yet we come again to give thanks for the gifts we had received, for the shelter and food provided.  Now, to the wounded and devastated site we say, “we loved you” even if it was not enough (Susanne Moses).

We offer prayers for the Outer Harbor, for its regeneration as a biological diverse habitat. We pray it will again serve as home to the waterfront coastal community of beings with whom we share the place.

On October 18, 2021, over 100 people gathered at the Outer Harbor to give thanks to the land, the trees, the flowers and grasses that were home to birds, deer and small mammals and to ask for the protection of this small woodland.  On December 22, 2021, the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation bulldozed the site, removing all vegetation and the organic soil to make way for an amphitheater.  Our prayers, songs and arguments were not heard. 

View more from Chair, John Whitney on our Facebook page. 

Join Food & Water Watch TONIGHT to learn about water resources availability, efficacy, and financing in the 50 years since the passing of the Clean Water Act in the United States. Hear from experts and community leaders about how we can pass the WATER Act, stop water privatization, and ensure clean, affordable water for all.

For more info and to register: https://www.mobilize.us/fww/event/436723/?utm_source=moam_fb_03082022_lfl-social 

The Interfaith Climate Justice Community of WNY is inviting all to attend an interfaith gathering and prayer vigil.
From the ICJC - We gather, united in a fundamental belief that all people, all living things and the Earth are sacred.  To restore that which we hold sacred, we pledge to work for climate justice legislation—the NYS Climate and Community Investment Act (CCIA). The CCIA, will make polluters pay and invest that money in our communities to address the climate crisis, address environmental injustice, and create hundreds of thousands of good, green jobs.

​Click here to RSVP. 

Thursday, March 11th, 4:00 pm
Cathedral Park, next to St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral, 139 Pearl Street, Buffalo, NY  14202

​Event co-sponsors: Greenfaith, New York Renews, Interfaith Peace Network, Western N.Y. Peace Center, Riverside-Salem UCC/DC, Sierra Club Niagara Group, WNY Environmental Alliance, Crossroads Coalition.