“Court issues ruling in world's first “rights of nature” lawsuit”- February 16, 2017

After six and a half years of combined suspense and patience, finally on January 11 2017, Ecuador’s Esmeraldas Provincial Court handed down its decision on the world’s first constitutionally-based Rights of Nature lawsuit…The plaintiffs—the Afro-descendant community of La Chiquita and the Awá community of Guadualito—filed the landmark intercultural constitutional court case against Los Andes and Palesema Oil Palm…Companies, on July 23, 2010, a little over two years after Ecuador recognized the Rights of Nature in its 2008 constitution…Requesting repairs in relation to the Rights of Nature, Living Well…and pluricultural self-determination over territory, the plaintiffs contended that both Los Andes and Palesema Oil Palm Companies were responsible for massive deforestation, widespread biodiversity loss, excessive river pollution, and the subsequent deterioration of health and food sovereignty of the two communities. With the plantations surrounding their ancestral territories—and Chiquita River’s headwaters falling within the limits of the plantations—the communities asked the court to suspend any and all harmful plantation activities. They also asked for the companies to repair the damages…Nevertheless, it is not clear why the judgement generates a transfer of responsibilities from the Los Andes and Palesema Oil Palm Companies to the state, when the claim was made against the latter…