July 1st, 2011
On March 30, 2011, the Provincial Court in Loja, Ecuador ruled in favor of Nature – specifically the Vilcabamba river – marking the first successful case enforcing Rights of Nature outlined in the 2008 Constitution.
The case was brought in response to excessive dumping of large quantities of rock and excavation material in the Vilcabamba River from a project to widen a nearby road.
This road project had been underway for three years without studies on its environmental impact. The associated dumping violated the Rights of Nature by altering the river’s flow, increasing the risk of disastrous floods and dangerously fast currents, and negatively affecting the riverside populations who utilize the river’s resources..continued....
