Summary
Starting in 2011 and continuing for several years, Ecuador’s Ministry of Environment sought to block the the Provincial Government of Morona Santiago from constructing the Evenezer – Macuma – Taisha highway alleging that it caused various rights of nature violations. In 2018, the Defensoría del Pueblo of Ecuador urged the local authorities of Morona Santiago to comply with the environmental regulations in the Ecuadorian State, given the execution of the “Evenecer – Macuma – Taisha” Road Project without an environmental impact study, resulting in the possible impact on the Macuma-Macuma and Taisha Rivers, as well as the Katuku-Shaimi forest. The Defensoria del Peublo bases its arguments on the constitutional principles of the rights of nature as well as the environmental precautionary principle.