The recognition of the Rights of Nature in Ecuador, Bolivia and New Zealand is proof that Indigenous activism has significantly contributed to create a new legal phenomenon: the idea that nature itself can have rights. In 2008, Ecuador was the first country to establish Rights of Nature in its Constitution. Bolivia followed Ecuador’s steps with Evo Morales, the first Indigenous head of state in Latin America, who called for a constitutional reform that established rights of nature in 2009. However, unlike Ecuador and Bolivia, New Zealand’s rights of nature are not embedded in its constitutional law, but rather protect specific natural entities. The legal concept of rights of nature signals the influence of Indigenous peoples as political actors in state-making and shows us the way to preserve the earth for future generations.
