Common Dreams · Recent Developments in Ecuador: Rights of Nature

By Mari Margil
Published on Friday, July 17, 2020 by Common Dreams

When we think of Ecuador, the first thing that may come to mind are the Galapagos Islands—a place out of history, where Charles Darwin thought big thoughts amidst giant tortoises, iguanas, and finches.

For others, Ecuador may conjure images of the Amazon or the Andes, mangroves or rainforest. All of these ecosystems and species are wonderous, and yet they remain under threat. 

It may not seem surprising that Ecuador, with these extraordinary ecosystems and biodiversity, would be a world leader in protecting them.

In 2008, Ecuador took the extraordinary step of enshrining the legal rights of nature—or Pachamama—in its national constitution. It was the first country to do so. And in so doing, it established the highest legal protections for nature that exist in Western law.

As a person privileged to have participated in that process, I continue to marvel that the nation took that step. It’s never easy to go first.