The legislators’ shortsighted approval of the Protected Areas law deepens and aggravates the history of violation of human and collective rights
Quito, Ecuador, July 10, 2025. – Today in Ecuador, the National Assembly approved the draft Law to Strengthen Protected Areas, breaking from international consensus and Ecuador’s position on protected areas, which had focused on respect for the human and collective rights of Indigenous Peoples and nationalities.
The initiative won a majority vote (80 in favor, 23 against, 6 abstaining), though its mercantile, hierarchical, and militarized vision represents a serious normative and institutional regression that violates both national law and Ecuador’s international obligations, exposing the country to a series of political-legal risks. By showing the world that it does not guarantee respect for the current legal framework regarding collective rights and protection of biodiversity, Ecuador is sending a clear message to governments and philanthropic organizations seeking to invest in it.
In principle, this draft law contradicts the 2008 Constitution of Ecuador, a country then considered a world pioneer for recognizing the rights of nature and the plurinational nature of the State. And today, the National Assembly violates the right to Free, Prior and Informed Consultation for the State’s Indigenous Peoples, in both its formulation and implementation. It ignores ancestral ownership of territories, over which protected areas were unilaterally superimposed, and which is essential for the physical, cultural, and spiritual survival of peoples and nationalities, and transfers regulatory power to the Executive, without democratic control or binding participation.
The Law to Strengthen Protected Areas contradicts:
- The Principle of no regression on rights (Article 11.8)
- Rights of Nature (Article 71–74)
- The Plurinational Character of the State (Article 1)
- Collective Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Article 57)
- Free, Prior, and Informed Consultation (Article 57.7 & 57.17)
On several occasions, Indigenous organizations alerted the assembly members to these violations, which will cause collateral effects through the application of this law in the country.
“Today, Ecuador’s lawmakers have chosen to deepen the wounds of history. By approving this dangerous and unconstitutional law, they are not only reinforcing systemic violations of Indigenous rights, but actively perpetuating a legacy of dispossession and violence that dates back to colonizing missions, rubber barons, and extractive regimes. This law opens the doors for private and corporate interests to commodify our sacred forests, rivers, and territories — lands that we have protected for generations with our lives and our spirits. It threatens the survival of Indigenous Peoples and undermines the very principles of justice, democracy, and Indigenous guardianship. We categorically reject this law, which is an assault not only on our communities, but on the future of nature and collective dignity in Ecuador”, said Siekopai leader Justino Piaguaje.
“Ecuador’s lawmakers have betrayed not only the first peoples of this land, but the soul of the nation and the future of our planet”, added President of the Kichwa People of Pastaza, Luis Canelos. “This law is a direct assault on our existence as Indigenous Peoples, and a threat to the well-being of all Ecuadorians who depend on the oxygen, water, and climate balance that our territories safeguard. By trampling on our constitutional rights and putting our ancestral lands up for grabs, the government is advancing the interests of private corporations and extractive industries — the very forces that have devastated ecosystems, displaced communities, and fueled the climate crisis. We reject this law completely, and we will not give up our fight for life, justice, and the rights of our peoples and territories”.
“Opposing these unconstitutional legislative proposals is not opposing the interests of the executive branch or the country. On the contrary, it is fulfilling the obligation that all individuals and institutions have to respect human rights, collective rights, and the rights of nature. Approving this law would gravely violate and put at risk essential rights of Indigenous peoples and nationalities, such as the right to pre-legislative consultation, the right to effective possession and management of their territories, and the respect for and legitimacy of their own governance systems — ultimately threatening the physical and cultural survival of ancestral communities and peoples”, said Jorge Acero, Amazon Frontlines lawyer and human rights defender.
The Constitutional Court itself has expressed: “the preservation of the particular connection between Indigenous communities and their lands and resources is linked to the very existence of these peoples, and therefore merits special protective measures by the State”; ratifying the essential nature of the territories to guarantee the future of the Indigenous Peoples, which this law further threatens.
This legislation also contradicts or violates at least 15 international treaties ratified by the Ecuadorian State:
▪ Convention 169 of the ILO
▪ American Convention on Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights Case Law (IDH)
▪ United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)
▪ American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (OAS)
▪ The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF)
▪ Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources
▪ Ramsar Convention on Wetlands
▪ Network of Protected Amazonian Areas (Red APA)
▪ International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
▪ International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)
▪ Escazú Agreement
▪ Principles of the Maastricht Treaty (ETO)
▪ UNESCO Directives for World Patrimony
▪ Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO)
▪ Case Law of the United Nations Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples
In light of this decision of the National Assembly, Indigenous Organizations will go to the Constitutional Court with an action of unconstitutionality against this law, to denounce the violations of their rights and of life, both in substance and in form, and to demand its annulment, in addition to denouncing this act before international organizations.
Of the three urgent economic laws previously approved by the National Assembly, two face 18 claims of unconstitutionality pending before the Constitutional Court, brought by various social organizations, trade union organizations, and academic associations, among others.
Press Contact:
Luisana Aguilar,
National Press Coordinator, Amazon Frontlines
+593 99 924 0129
luisana@amazonfrontlines.org
