"Violating Nature's Right"- Ecuadorian Court Votes in Favor of Forests Against Mining Plans

Ecuador's highest court has determined that mining copper and gold in a protected cloud forest is illegal and infringes on natural rights.

The verdict, according to campaigners, is a watershed moment for Ecuador and the region, as numerous more mining and extraction projects are planned in environmentally sensitive areas. Ecuador's new constitution incorporated environmental rights between 2007 and 2008.

Dr. Mika Peck, an Ecuadorian senior lecturer in biology at the University of Sussex who first looked into the biological meaning of Los Cedros in the mid-1990s, links the ruling to Thomas Paine's Rights of Man, a crucial document in the American revolution.

"It is critical that the world thinks on nature's boundaries and critically evaluate the efficacy of present conservation policies and activities," he added. "Policy frameworks that place humans in context as a part of nature, integrated into a system that balances intrinsic rights between legitimate legal subjects, rather than placing humans above or apart from nature, will be a necessary part of addressing the serious environmental issues that our planet faces." This decision is just as significant for nature as Thomas Paine's Rights of Man were for our species."

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