20 March 2026
Jambato, the Harlequin Toad, the Plaintiff
Frogs and toads are making headlines defending their constitutional rights. In a successful Rights of Nature case in Ecuador, the Jambato – a toad with an orange belly and black back – has now stopped an infrastructure project in Angamarca. RoN cases are often told as David vs. Goliath stories: Indigenous communities or grassroots environmental movements defeat overmighty companies or state agencies in court. The Jambato case illustrates that this narrative tends to oversimplify the conflicts behind RoN cases. They are often shaped by complex power dynamics and deep disagreements within the affected communities. Continue reading >>
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07 February 2025
Legal “heartfelt thinking”
Courts in Ecuador and in many other jurisdictions across the Global South, and increasingly in the Global North, have addressed this recognition of rights to nature in a pluralistic manner. Yet, it is exactly that cacophony of voices and actors that challenges traditional legal thinking. This requires leaving the beaten track and experimenting with new (legal) processes and methods. They can open up a space for experiments that can stimulate legal thinking and contribute to the further development of rights of nature, as illustrated in the following artistic-legal minga in Quito, organized in the framework of the Amazon of Rights project. Continue reading >>
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18 June 2024