Ecuador’s highest court has ruled that plans to mine for copper and gold in a protected cloud forest are unconstitutional and violate the rights of nature. Enami EP, Ecuador’s national mining company, held rights for mining concessions that had been granted in two-thirds of the reserve. Los Cedros is in the Chocó region of South America that includes parts of Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. “The constitutional court states that no activity that threatens the rights of nature can be developed within the ecosystem of Los Cedros protected forest, including mining and any other extractive activity. Between 2007 and 2008, Ecuador enshrined the rights of nature in its rewritten constitution.

Source: The Guardian December 02, 2021 22:16 UTC