ECUADOR: Palm Oil Companies Focus of First Case on Rights of Nature

A mass amount of dead fish piled together on the surface of the Chiquita River the same day, when that Los Andes Extractor threw its residual waste waters into the river after extracting the palm oil

UPDATE: Constitutional-based civil suit of the ancestral communities Guadualito, La Chiquita, and Nature

Dear Supporters, We write to you with an update about the constitutional-based civil suit of the ancestral communities Guadualito, La Chiquita, and Nature versus the oil palm companies in San Lorenzo Canton (Esmeraldas Province) of Ecuador, which began in July 2010. It is the first civil court case in Ecuador and the world in which Nature is a subject of rights! The provincial court’s judgment will also set special precedence because an Indigenous and an Afro-descendant community have come together with Nature to defend their ancestral rights!  Learn more here. After months of silence, there is news that the judge will make his decision any day now! The oil palm companies are pressuring the judicial officials, thus we must also react! It is critical that we let the judge and the communities know that the world is watching and awaiting a just decision in favor of the Indigenous, Afro-descendant and the rain forest/river communities! That’s why it is urgent that you sign and spread wide and far the following petition. Click here to find the petition, more details, and a link to like our Facebook page. Thank you and ... Please sign and share with your social media network as well. More info: CASE SUMMARY A PORTRAIT OF HUMAN AND ENVIRONMENTAL DEVASTATION: STOP THE INVISIBILIZATION!!! Over the years, since 1998, the oil palm monocultures have resulted in severe deforestation, biodiversity loss, and contamination of the rivers, soil, and air. Consequently, the Afro-descendant and Awá people, who live in the communities of La Chiquita and Guadualito, which are surrounded by the oil palm plantations, also have contracted new diseases. Click here to view images and learn more about their plight.