Good news for nature rights in Ecuador: Machángara River gets rights
Fantastic news from Ecuador! The Machángara River is being given rights and is thus protected from pollution. It is yet another victory for the rights of nature after a tireless fight by the local population and organizations such as 11.11.11-partners Acción Ecológica and Cedenma. “And an important precedent in the fight for the rights of nature worldwide,” cheers Ricardo Buitrón of Acción Ecológica.
The historic decision to grant rights to the Machángara River follows a lawsuit filed over serious pollution. The judge in the case ruled that the municipality is responsible for violating the rights of the riverThey also need to come up with a plan to clean up the river.
In the ruling, the judge cites the importance of cooperation and involvement of the local community to find solutions. The feasibility of water purification plants is also examined.
Although the Quito City Council has appealed the decision, it must be complied with immediately: the City Council must immediately begin implementing the necessary measures for the purification of the Machángara RiverLocal activists and environmental organizations, including our partners, have already said they “will continue to fight to ensure that this ruling is upheld.”
Rights of Nature Worldwide
“This victory is not only important for the health of the Machángara River, but also a step forward for the rights of nature in Ecuador and worldwide,” said Ricardo Buitrón of 11.11.11-partner Ecological Action.
Because when nature is given legal personality, it itself is given rights, such as the right to exist, to preserve and to restore. Rivers, forests, other ecosystems, and everything that lives in them, are so protected from pollution and destructionThese rights give nature a legal status comparable to that of human individuals, with the aim of ensuring the protection of ecosystems and biodiversity.
Ecuador himself wrote history in 2008 by the first country ever to include 'rights of nature' in its constitution. Since then, other regions and cities around the world have followed this fantastic example. Driven primarily by indigenous communities, the Rights of Nature movement is even one of the fastest growing nature movements worldwide.
Some hopeful victories for rights of nature:
- De Mar Menor Lagoon in the Spanish region of Murcia was Europe's first ecosystem to be granted legal personality
- Pittsburgh was one of the first major cities in the US to recognize the rights of nature and thus restrict harmful gas drilling
- De Whanganui River in New Zealand officially has the same rights as a human being
- In Intagvallei In Ecuador, a judge sided with rare frogs threatened by a new mining project, halting the project, much to the delight of the local community that makes a living from agriculture.
- In the Yasuni National Park and the Andean Chocó In Ecuador, indigenous communities successfully fought for a ban on oil drilling and mining
- In Panama the jungle remains protected by the closure of a copper mine
- Ireland is working hard to become the first EU country to include the rights of nature in its constitution
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