Ownership of the Natural World

Halacha recognizes the ability of human beings to own the natural world. In Bereishit 1:26, Hashem tells Adam

וַיֹּאמֶר לָהֶם אֱלֹהִים פְּרוּ וּרְבוּ וּמִלְאוּ אֶת הָאָרֶץ וְכִבְשֻׁהָ וּרְדוּ בִּדְגַת הַיָּם וּבְעוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם וּבְכָל חַיָּה הָרֹמֶשֶׂת עַל הָאָרֶץ:

"And Hashem said to them you shall reproduce and grow and fill the Earth and conquer it, and rule upon the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky and in all the beasts that crawl upon the Earth."

This instruction is understood by some commentators as giving man the property rights over the Earth and all of its creatures.