08 August 2024
Are Rights of Nature Working?
Legal initiatives recognizing the rights of nature have transformed from a trickle to a cascade. But are they really effective? A systematic study on the implementation of the Ecuadorian Los Cedros ruling, one of the most prominent decisions of this sort, shows that it has been notably effective in protecting the forest from mining threats. However, its impact on local community involvement has been limited, and the fate of Los Cedros and the case remain vulnerable. Continue reading >>
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29 May 2023
Ecuador’s Mutual Death Clause
On May 17, Ecuadorian President, Guillermo Lasso, dissolved the National Assembly by activating a unique constitutional clause known as ‘mutual death’ [muerte cruzada]. Under this provision, added to Ecuador’s Constitution in 2008 but never before used, the President can dissolve the Legislative, call general elections, and rule by decree until a new Legislative and President are elected. This post details the significance of these recent events and the decision of the Constitutional Court to render the clause non-reviewable. Continue reading >>
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22 February 2022
Monkeys in Their Own Right
A few months after the landmark Los Cedros decision, Ecuador’s Constitutional Court has ruled on another important case for the Rights of Nature. For the first time, the Constitutional Court has explicitly recognized that individual animals are protected by the Rights of Nature which also include the right to free development of animal behavior. Continue reading >>
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10 December 2021
The Los Cedros Forest has Rights
Last week, the Ecuadorian Constitutional Court published its judgment in the case of the Los Cedros forest, a protected cloud forest of great biodiversity in the Andean mountains of Ecuador. This judgment revokes environmental permits previously granted to two mining concessions in the Bosque Protector Los Cedros reserve. The Court ruled that the mining permits in question had not only violated several constitutional rights of communities in the area but also – most remarkably – the rights of mother nature (Pacha Mama). It specifically granted these rights to the Los Cedros Reserve. But there is still some uncertainty regarding future applications of this unusual, non-anthropocentric legal standard set by the Court to protect the rights of mother nature. Continue reading >>
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