Video Pill #6: Vito Comar on the Rights of Nature, Indigenous Worldviews, and Ecological Resilience

The sixth LUMEN video pill is dedicated to Vito Comar, Professor Emeritus of Ecology at the Federal University of Grande Dourados. The interview, conducted by Silvia Bagni in 2025 in Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, explores the relationship between the rights of Nature and the ancestral knowledge of Indigenous peoples, highlighting how integrated human–environment perspectives can guide sustainable and resilient governance practices.

During the conversation, Comar explains how Indigenous populations perceive Nature not as a separate entity but as an integral part of their existence, assuming direct responsibility for ecosystem care. According to Comar, the Eurocentric perspective differs sharply from these worldviews, which consider communication with Nature as a real and continuous process, where humans, plants, animals, mountains, and rivers share a vital balance.

The interview highlights traditional tools and ancestral practices that allow communities to “consult Nature,” such as rituals and symbolic instruments, and examines the role of this knowledge in protecting territories and resisting the impacts of deforestation, agricultural extractivism, and large-scale infrastructure projects. Comar also emphasizes the link between these knowledges and the principles of energy and resilience in ecological systems, showing how Indigenous perspectives can contribute to a broader understanding of environmental justice and human responsibility.

Video Pill #6 serves as an educational and awareness-raising tool for scholars, activists, and citizens, illustrating concrete examples of participatory ecological governance and the value of consultation protocols with Indigenous communities as tools to recognize the Rights of Nature.

Visit the LUMEN project’s video pill section.