지구와사람

For eight years, scholars have celebrated Ecuador’s auspicious move to include rights of Nature (RoN) in its 2008 Constitution. The constitution pledges to build a new form of sustainable development based on the Andean Indigenous concept of sumak kawsay (buen vivir in Spanish), which is rooted in the idea of living in harmony with Nature. The Preamble “celebrates” Nature (Pachamama) and presents a guiding principle for the new development approach: that humans are part of Nature, and thus Nature is a vital part of human existence. Ecuador’s constitution presents buen vivir as a set of rights for humans, communities, and Nature, and thus portrays RoN as a tool for achieving sustainable development.