Ecuador's Indigenous Groups Have New Power to Protect Their Lands from Destruction
The country's highest court ruled in favor of groups having more control in the Amazon.
ByAngely Mercado
23 minutes ago
The highest court in Ecuador ruled last week that Indigenous communities in the country should have a stronger say over extractive projects like oil drilling and mining that affect their ancestral lands.
The Constitutional Court’s decision is a blow to Ecuador’s president, Guillermo Lasso, who had previously planned to expand mining operations and oil production, the New York Times reported. According to the ruling, Indigenous communities in the country can refuse an extractive project in their territories, and the government can only advance those projects under “exceptional cases,” but not if the project obviously hurts the people and wildlife in the protected territories.
Part of the court’s decision also included striking down parts of a 2019 decree under previous President Lenín Moreno, which allowed oil drilling in an area of the Amazon that is protected for isolated Indigenous groups.
“It’s by far one of the most powerful rulings that supports free, prior and informed consent to Indigenous peoples to date,” Oscar Soria, a campaign director at Avaaz, told the New York Times. “This will have enormous implications.”
More:
https://gizmodo.com/ecuadors-indigenous-groups-have-new-power-to-protect-th-1848503188
Celebratory dance.
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