We champion the Rights of Nature — a legal and ethical framework that recognises ecosystems and species as entities with intrinsic value and the right to exist, regenerate, and thrive. Deeply aligned with Indigenous cosmovisions, our first initiative grants legal standing to the Amazon’s native stingless bees.
At Amazon Research Internacional we are dedicated to advancing the Rights of Nature: a framework that recognises ecosystems and species as holders of intrinsic value and the right to exist, regenerate, and thrive — not merely as resources to be used.
This approach is deeply aligned with Indigenous cosmovisions, in which people, forest, rivers, and the beings that inhabit them are bound in reciprocity. Our first major initiative puts that principle into law, beginning with the Amazon’s native stingless bees.
Recognising the Rights of Nature is not about ownership of the forest — it is about belonging to it.
Locally known as meliponas, native stingless bees are keystone pollinators of the Amazon — and they are under pressure from deforestation, climate change, pesticide use, and habitat loss.
Peru’s traditional beekeeping laws focus almost exclusively on the honeybee. We spearheaded the effort behind Peru’s Law 32235 (January, 2025), which officially recognised stingless bees as native species of national importance for the first time in the country’s history, laying the groundwork for broader Rights of Nature protections.
We are now advancing efforts to grant stingless bees legal recognition under the Rights of Nature framework, making them the flagship of a much larger vision.
We spearheaded the world’s first legal recognition of rights for an insect, the stingless bee, through landmark local laws in the Municipalities of Satipo and Nauta (October and December 2025), in partnership with Indigenous, local, and international collaborators. Featured in The Guardian, New Scientist, People Magazine, and international media.
Together with key partners and Indigenous communities we drafted the first declaration of legal rights for stingless bees and their ecosystems grounded in scientific evidence and Indigenous wisdom. We are now working on a Regulatory and Implementation Plan to ensure words are turned into concrete action.
We develop educational materials, workshops, and training programmes on bee conservation, Rights of Nature, and ecosystem restoration. Materials are co-created with Indigenous communities and translated into native languages. We also provide technical capacity-building for schools, local authorities, and conservation actors ensuring a bottom-up approach.
We are scaling the legal rights of stingless bees across Peru by supporting new municipal and regional Rights of Nature initiatives. We are also building a global network to expand legal protections for wild pollinators through local partners in Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, the UK, the Netherlands, and the United States, while providing technical and scientific support for bee sanctuaries, ecological monitoring, and habitat connectivity.
We launched a public petition supporting the legal rights of stingless bees as we scale our work nationally and globally. Approaching 500,000 signatures, the campaign reflects growing international support for pollinator protection, biodiversity restoration, and Indigenous-led Rights of Nature initiatives.
In collaboration with Avaaz and Bee:wild.
Recognising the Rights of Nature is not just about conservation — it’s about justice for all life forms that sustain our ecosystems.
— Rosa Vásquez Espinoza, Ph.D. · Founder and Executive Director
Meliponiculture is the livelihood of my community and home. The plants and bees are the ones who give us life as Ashaninkas.
— Micaela Huaman Fernandez · Ashaninka Leader, Conservation Advocate, and Artisan
Published in 2025, this policy brief explores how science, Indigenous leadership, and legal innovation can strengthen protection for stingless bees and the ecosystems they sustain.
This article builds upon Peru’s Law 32235 (2025) that recognized stingless bees as the native species of Peru granting them legal protection for the first time.
