CDER's Hugo Echeverría Presents at Ecuador's National Assembly’s Biodiversity Commission

CDER’s Hugo Echeverría at Ecuador’s National Assembly, Biodiversity Commission.

On Earth Day, April 22nd, Hugo Echeverría, Ecuador-based external attorney for the Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights (CDER) presented at the Biodiversity Commission of Ecuador's congress, the National Assembly.

He spoke about draft legislation regarding páramo ecosystems. Páramo are alpine tundra ecosystems in the Andes Mountains, and are greatly under threat from climate change, mining, and other human-caused factors.

CDER has provided written input to the Biodiversity Commission on the legislation. Our focus has been on integrating the rights of nature within the legislation’s scope and purpose.

CDER's founders consulted with Ecuador's Constituent Assembly in 2008 on integrating the rights of nature in Ecuador's national constitution. The constitution is the first in the world to enshrine the rights of nature - or Pacha Mama - in a national constitutional framework. We continue to work to ensure proper implementation and enforcement of the constitutional rights of nature in Ecuador.

The National Assembly issued a press release on the session, which may be found here.