An Ecuadorian court has ruled that pollution has violated the rights of the Machángara River, which runs through the capital of Quito. In some parts of Latin America and North America, inhabitants have constitutional rights to a clean environment, but Ecuador is one of the few countries that recognize the right of natural features not to be degraded or polluted.
Created by the tech start-up Ichthion, the Azure system’s simple design has the capacity to stop and collect around 80 tonnes of plastic per day. The Azure system is a boom device that stretches across the river to stop objects floating on the surface. It extends two feet down into the water, allowing fish and other organisms to move freely below and is placed at an angle allowing the natural water flow to direct all debris into one corner of the riverbank.
Since the 1980s, the combined populations of river dolphin species have plummeted by 73%. With the Global Declaration for River Dolphins, 14 countries are expected to join forces to protect six surviving species. So far, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Cambodia, Colombia, Ecuador, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Peru, and Venezuela have signed the declaration.
For the first time, Ecuador has recognized an Indigenous population’s right to “possess a territory that has been declared a protected area.” Indigenous advocates hope this ruling can serve as a precedent for other Indigenous communities that are trying to regain control of their land.
The referendum was a popular initiative demanded by Indigenous communities to protect the vast Yasuní National Park from oil drilling. Ecuador’s government has announced that it will honor the result of the referendum and have machinery removed within a year.
Ecuador launched a plan that would effectively wipe out roughly $1 billion of interest on part of its debt in exchange for its protection of the Galápagos Islands.
The Yasuní Strip of Diversity and Life was created to protect the area’s Indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation and to uphold the rights of Indigenous and farming communities in the region.
A provincial court recognized that the mining companies violated the communities’ constitutional right to consultation and the rights of nature guaranteed by Ecuador’s Constitution since 2008.
Since last August, thousands of Awá have been forcibly displaced or suffered threats, intimidation, torture or forced recruitment by organized crime groups participating in drug trafficking and illegal mining.
The Tarímiat Pujutaí Nuṉka Reserve of Andean and Amazonian forests in the Morona Santiago province of eastern Ecuador, where numerous Shuar and Achuar communities have for years been fending off numerous drivers of deforestation.
