For the first time in history, the Ecuadorian Constitutional Court has agreed to hear a case based on the Rights of Nature enshrined in Ecuador’s Constitution.

In an unprecedented and exciting new move, the Constitutional Court of Ecuador, the highest court in the land, has announced it will hear arguments in the case to preserve the threatened Los Cedros Protected Forest from mining development, and apply for the first time Ecuador’s constitutionally guaranteed Rights of Nature within legally titled Protected Forests.

If Los Cedros wins, this could set a precedent to protect 2 million more hectares being threatened by mining in Ecuador, in direct violation of many of Ecuador’s laws, including the Rights of Nature.

“Ecuador was the first nation to include the Rights of Nature in its constitution,” said Sir Jonathon Porritt, one of the UK’s leading environmentalists, “and it could now become the first to actually protect large swathes of biodiversity based upon this constitutional innovation, and set an invaluable precedent worldwide.”