Ecuador’s pioneering Pachamama Constitution was approved in 2008. It is the first of its kind to recognise Ecuador’s natural habitat as a legal entity with constitutional rights. As a result, Ecuador’s natural habitat can no longer be treated as just a set of natural resources to be exploited. Instead, nature’s right to exist, flourish and evolve must be respected.
The Rights of Nature
In chapter seven of Ecuador’s constitution are The Rights of Nature. These rights aim to allow Ecuador’s natural habitat to regenerate and flourish so that communities can continue to benefit from the environment.
The Rights of Nature are as follows:
Article 71: Nature has the right for its existence to be respected to allow the maintenance and regeneration of its life cycles, functions and evolutionarily processes.
Article 72: Nature has the right to be restored. In cases of severe environmental impact, the state will adopt measures to reduce this impact and help to restore the natural environment.
Article 73: The state shall apply preventative and restrictive measures on activities that might lead to the extinction of species, the destruction of ecosystems and the permanent alteration of natural cycles.
Article 74: Persons, communities, peoples and nations shall have the right to benefit from the environment and the natural wealth.
These articles are simplified versions of the English translation of Ecuador’s 2008 constitution. Click here to learn more about the Rights of Nature.
‘World Mother’
Indigenous people in South America view the natural environment very differently to many western cultures. Pacha Mama, the name of an Incan goddess, means ‘World Mother’ in the indigenous Aymara and Quechua languages. In indigenous philosophy, Pachamama is a living being, therefore, the natural environment is also a living being.
Ecuador is the first country in the world to grant nature with protected rights. However, other South American countries are starting to recognise nature as a legal subject rather than an object. In 2010, Bolivia also gave legal rights to nature.
How can fishing respect the Pachamama Constitution?
Ecuador is home to the largest small-scale fishing fleet in the world. It is made up of 15,500 gillnet boats and employs 58,000 people. Supported by some of the world’s richest fishing grounds, the fishing fleet represents 1.5% of Ecuador’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The fishing industry is supported by Ecuador’s Rights of Nature. Article 74 states that “communities have the right to benefit from the environment and natural wealth”. However, the fishing industry has unfortunately high levels of bycatch that impact local populations of large marine fauna such as sharks, turtles and cetaceans.
Bycatch is contributing to declining populations of sea turtles, sharks and cetaceans in the South Pacific. It is estimated that 40,500 turtles and 220,000 sharks are caught as bycatch each year. Furthermore, many of these marine megafaunas occupy high positions in the food chain. Therefore, the balance of Ecuador’s coastal ecosystems is at threat. As a result, bycatch violates Article 71 and the right of these vulnerable species to exist and the marine ecosystem to function.
Article 72 states that ‘nature has the right to be restored’. Several fisheries in the country are working hard to improve their sustainability. However, the adoption of sustainable fishing practices is limited by a lack of information and regional stock management.
The Illuminar El Mar project is working fishing communities in Santa Maria to test how effective LED lights are in reducing bycatch. Coloured LED lights have been found to deter some megafauna like turtles and sharks away from fishing nets. Some studies have reported that simply putting LED lights on gillnets reduced bycatch of turtles, sharks and cetaceans by up to 74%.
For six months in 2023, eight gillnet boats will trial LED light as bycatch reduction tools. Some boats using LED lights will test only green lights as a deterrent for sea turtles. The others will use Pisces LED lights, designed by SafetyNet Technologies, to explore how different colours of light affect turtle, shark, and ray bycatch. The outcomes of these trials will be available in 2024.
To learn more about the project, read this blog. Also, follow Illuminar El Mar on LinkedIn and Instagram to keep up to date with the latest in this project and learn more about Ecuador’s marine ecosystem and small-scale fishing industry.
