Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of Ecuador’s Landmark Constitution
A Blog Posting by the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, from September 22, 2018.
Happy birthday, Mother Earth!
Well, that’s not exactly accurate. How about…
Feliz aniversario, Pachamama y Ecuador!
Ten Year Anniversary for First Rights of Nature Constitution
Next week marks the tenth anniversary of Ecuador’s Constitution, which recognizes legally enforceable Rights of Nature “to exist, persist, maintain and regenerate its vital cycles, structure, functions and its processes in evolution.”
As CELDF’s Mari Margil, leader of their International Center for the Rights of Nature, said at the time, “With this vote, the people of Ecuador are leading the way for countries around the world to fundamentally change how we protect Nature.”
For beyond setting a legal precedent on the existence of Nature’s rights, Ecuador’s Constitution also challenges the people of the world to speak and act on behalf of Pachamama, by stating, “Every person, people, community or nationality, will be able to demand the recognitions of rights for nature before the public bodies.” MORE…