Title II: Rights, Chapter 4: Rights of Communities, Peoples and Nations, Article 57, paragraphs 8 and 12

Per Article 57, the Constitution confirms the rights of indigenous communities, including the right to 8) "To keep and promote their practices of managing biodiversity and their natural environment. The State shall establish and implement programs with the participation of the community to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity."

Per Article 66 (12), the following right of conscientious objection is recognized and guaranteed but may not “undermine other rights or cause harm to persons or nature.”

27) Persons are guaranteed “[t]he right to live in a healthy environment that is ecologically balanced, pollution-free and in harmony with nature.”

Per Article 71, the Constitution recognizes the rights of Pacha Mama, or “Mother Earth”. Specifically, it is given the right to “integral respect for its existence and for the maintenance and regeneration of its life cycles, structure, functions and evolutionary processes.” All persons, communities, peoples and nations can call upon public authorities to enforce the rights of nature. To enforce and interpret these rights, the principles set forth in the Constitution shall be observed, as appropriate. The State shall give incentives to natural persons and legal entities and to communities to protect nature and to promote respect for all the elements comprising an ecosystem.

Per Article 72, nature has the right to be restored. This restoration shall be apart from the obligation of the State and natural persons or legal entities to compensate individuals and communities that depend on affected natural systems. In those cases of severe or permanent environmental impact, including those caused by the exploitation of nonrenewable natural resources, the State shall establish the most effective mechanisms to achieve the restoration and shall adopt adequate measures to eliminate or mitigate harmful environmental consequences.

Per article 73, the Constitution provides for the protection of species. Specifically, it requires the state to “apply preventive and restrictive measures on activities that might lead to the extinction of species, the destruction of ecosystems and the permanent alteration of natural cycles. The introduction of organisms and organic and inorganic material that might definitively alter the nation's genetic assets is forbidden.”

Per article 74, Persons, communities, peoples, and nations shall have the right to benefit from the environment and the natural wealth enabling them to enjoy the good way of living. Environmental services shall not be subject to appropriation; their production, delivery, use and development shall be regulated by the State.

Per Article 249, “ [c]antons whose territories are wholly or partially within a forty-kilometer border belt shall receive preferential attention for consolidating a culture of peace and socio-economic development, through integrated policies safeguarding sovereignty, natural biodiversity and interculturalism .”

Per Article 259, “ [w]ith the aim of safeguarding the biodiversity of the Amazon ecosystem, the central State and decentralized autonomous governments shall adopt sustainable development policies which shall also onset disparities in their development and consolidate sovereignty.”

Per Article 261, the central State shall have exclusive jurisdiction over 7) Protected natural areas and natural resources and 11) Energy resources; minerals, oil and gas, and water resources, biodiversity and forest resources.

Article 267 provides that rural parish governments shall carry out the duty,”[t]o encourage the development of community production, the conservation of biodiversity and the protection of the environment under its exclusive jurisdiction.”

Per Article 275, “The good way of living shall require persons, communities, peoples and nationalities to effectively exercise their rights and fulfill their responsibilities within the framework of interculturalism, respect for their diversity, and harmonious coexistence with nature.”

Per Article 277, the State has the responsibility of guaranteeing the rights of people, communities and nature.

Per Article 281, the Constitution requires that animals reared for food are “healthy and raised in a salubrious setting.”

Per Article 290, “ Public borrowing shall be monitored to ensure that it does not affect sovereignty, rights, the good way of living and nature conservation.”

“The State shall "promote environmentally responsible exports", and support the imports necessary for development objectives and shall discourage those that negatively affect domestic production, the population and nature.”

Per Article 319, “ [t]he State shall promote forms of production that assure the good way of living of the population and shall discourage those that violate their rights or those of nature.”

Article 395 provides that “ [t]he State shall guarantee a sustainable model of development, one mat is environmentally balanced and respectful of cultural diversity, conserves biodiversity and the natural regeneration capacity of ecosystems, and ensures meeting the needs of present and future generations.”

Article 399 provides, “ The full exercise of state guardianship over the environment and joint responsibility of the citizenry for its conservation shall be articulated by means of a decentralized national environmental management system, which shall be in charge of defending the environment and nature.”

The State shall exercise sovereignty over biodiversity, whose administration and management shall be conducted on the basis of responsibility between generations. The conservation of biodiversity and all of its components are declared to be of public interest, especially agricultural and wildlife biodiversity and the country's genetic assets.

Per Article 403, “ [t[he State shall not make commitments to cooperation agreements or accords that include clauses that undermine the conservation and sustainable management of biodiversity, human health, collective rights and rights of nature.”

Per Article 405, “ [t]he national system of protected areas shall guarantee the conservation of biodiversity and the maintenance of ecological functions…”

Nonrenewable natural resources and, in general, products coming from the ground, mineral and petroleum deposits, substances whose nature is different from that of the soil, including those that are located in areas covered by territorial sea waters and maritime zones, as well as biodiversity and its genetic assets and the radio spectrum, are the unalienable property of the State, immune from seizure and not subject to a statute of limitations.

"TITLE VII: THE GOOD WAY OF LIVING SYSTEM, CHAPTER 2: Biodiversity and natural resources, SECTION 7. BIOSPHERE, URBAN ECOLOGY, AND ALTERNATIVE SOURCES OF ENERGY Article 415
"

The central State and decentralized autonomous governments shall adopt integral and participatory policies for urban development and land use planning that make it possible to regulate urban growth, manage urban fauna, and promote the establishment of green areas.

TITLE VIII: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, CHAPTER 2: International treaties and instruments, Article 419, paragraph 8

Article 419 provides that “ [t]he ratification or denunciation of international treaties shall require prior approval by the National Assembly [when] they compromise the country's natural heritage and especially its water, biodiversity and genetic assets.”

TITLE VIII: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, CHAPTER 3: Latin American integration, Article 423, paragraph 2

Article 423 provides, “ Integration, especially with Latin American and Caribbean countries, shall be a strategic objective of the State. In all integration bodies and processes, the Ecuadorian State shall pledge…2) to promote joint strategies for the sustainable management of natural assets, especially the regulation of extraction activities; sustainable energy cooperation and complementation; the conservation of biodiversity, ecosystems, and water; research, scientific development and exchange of knowledge and technology and the implementation of coordinated food sovereignty strategies.”

TITLE I. CONSTITUENT ELEMENTS OF THE STATE CHAPTER 2. RIGHTS OF THE GOOD WAY OF LIVING Section 2: Healthy Environment

The right of the population to live in a healthy and ecologically balanced environment that guarantees sustainability and the good way of living (sumak kawsay), is recognized. Environmental conservation, the protection of ecosystems, biodiversity and the integrity of the country's genetic assets, the prevention of environmental damage, and the recovery of degraded natural spaces are declared matters of public interest.