Ecodemocracy in Practice: Examples of Forestry and Food Production

Some argue that instrumental anthropocentric values are not the motive enough to protect species and habitats perceived as functionally useless for human welfare. In the current democracies, there is little recognition of “intrinsic value,” “rights,” or “interests” of individual nonhumans and nature as an entity. This chapter aims to address this gap by inquiring what the practical implications of ecodemocracy using examples of forestry and food production are. This chapter addresses if existing democracies were to operationalize ecocentrism in policy-making, what would food production and forestry look like? Moreover, what are alternatives to feeding and housing billions of people without treating “land” just as crops and treating forest, not just as construction wood, decorative hedges, or recreational spaces? This chapter raises practical questions about when ecodemocracy is applied in real-life situations and discusses ways forward by addressing these questions. Some existing forms of democratic representation of nonhumans, or suggestions for possible forms, are discussed in this chapter, including the application of the precautionary principle, the grassroots organizations such as Council of All Beings or the Parliament of Things, the Parties for Animals, and still a possible one, the proxies.