Nature in Ecuador wins battle against mining companies

Recently, the Ecuadorian forest Los Cedros won a feud against the country's state mining company Enami EP, based on Ecuador's constitution to protect the country's nature. Photo: Canva.

Of: Frida Lamberth Wallensteen

Ecuador's Supreme Court recently stopped plans for mining in the species-rich forest of Los Cedros, citing the country's constitution for natural rights. The country is the only one in the world with such a constitution, and the event opens up the idea that the legal rights of non-human beings are a necessary means in the fight against exploitation.

March 3, 2022, News

Swedish fund money is invested in polluting oil giants

An oil spill has caused damage to animals and nature in the Ecuadorian rainforest where Mireya Gualinga and her people Kichwa live. Photo: Mike Gualinga.

Of: Elise Olsson

Several Swedish AP funds and several large Swedish banks invest in companies that engage in deforestation and violate human rights in various places in the world - something that affects, among other things, the Amazon rainforest and indigenous peoples. "These companies are killing our earth. They are plundering the last help the earth can offer – and that is the forest," says Mireya Gualinga, climate and indigenous activist from the Ecuadorian Amazon.

January 25, 2022, Interview

Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities struggle in Ecuador

The northernwestern Esmeraldas Province, a highly marginalized and invisibilized region, is home to the Chachi, Awá, and Épera Indigenous peoples, traditional Afro-descendant communities, and Mestizo people. Photo: Julianne Hazlewood

Of: Eleonora Moen and Leni Lindemann

Palm oil companies are detrimentally impacting rural livelihoods and biodiversity in northwestern Ecuador by extracting resources and polluting ancestral lands and rivers. Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities are particularly vulnerable to exploitation and health hazards posed by these companies. As an act of resistance, the communities, supported by the organization Roots & Routes IC, have filed the world's first constitutionally-based Rights of Nature Lawsuit to demand justice.

May 3, 2021, English, Interview, Magazine

Human rights organizations stopped new defense decree in Ecuador

Ecuador's Ombudsman Freddy Carrión Intriago has an important role to play in defending human rights. Photo: Defensoría del pueblo

Of: Jessica Johansson

A new decree in Ecuador is criticized for increasing the military's presence during protests and for allowing deadly violence against protesters. Human rights organizations stopped the decree in the Constitutional Court - with the help of the country's Ombudsman. The Development Magazine has spoken to the noted Ombudsman.

July 17, 2020, FUF-correspondents

Corona measures create new protests in Ecuador

Fernando Bastías Robayo in Guayaquil, Ecuador

Fernando Bastías Robayo from the local human rights organization CDH reported during protests in the city of Guayaquil. Photo: Standing Committee on the Defense of Human Rights (CDH)

Of: Jessica Johansson

In the autumn, Ecuador was shaken by mass protests after the government wanted to introduce a austerity package in the country. In May, new protests erupted against the government's corona measures. The government is now worried about the spread of infection while human rights organizations report violence.

July 3, 2020, FUF-correspondents

Indigenous Land in Ecuador Under Threat, Again

A Kichwa girl carrying her sack tumpline style near the Jondachi river in Ecuador.
Photo: Tomas Munita / CIFOR, Flickr.

Of: Johanna Caminati Engström and Lisa Elamson

In the last decade, progress has been made for the rights of the indigenous people of Ecuador. But despite a favorable legal context and numerous promises made by the government, their rights are still under threat by foreign economic interests.

October 26, 2018, Paper, English, Magazine

Ecuador's indigenous peoples marched to demand results from the government

Of: Linnea Kronebrant

On November 27, 500 people from various indigenous communities and organizations embarked on a joint trek from Puyo in the Amazon to the capital, Quito. Along the way, more and more people joined, and two weeks later, about 10 people marched into Plaza Grande, Quito, the final destination of the march, to meet Ecuador's President Lenín […]

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June 11, 2018, FUF-correspondents

Old ideas about water must change

It is not enough to improve the treatment plants in Ecuador, it is necessary to create trust among the inhabitants. Photo: Flickr / MunicipioPinas

Of: Josephine Biro

The water situation in Guayaquil, Ecuador, has greatly improved over the last 17 years. Despite this, many of the households in the city still have an old picture of their tap water, a picture that does not correspond to the current situation. Residents do not believe that tap water is drinkable, even if the responsible players in water distribution and treatment say so.

May 3, 2018, FUF-correspondents

Valuable nature and indigenous territories are threatened by mines

Of: Linnea Kronebrant

The Ecuadorian government pursues an aggressive extraction policy and mining concessions, permits to conduct mining activities, spread over large parts of the country. The new mines affect both indigenous territories and nature reserves - and at the same time the people who are fighting to preserve the vital water and forests are portrayed as "development opponents" and "mafia" by the state. Ecuador has already been hit by the […]

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February 27, 2018, FUF-correspondents