La Natura come soggetto di diritto: l'approccio ecuadoriano

All legal systems by now must confront the issue of environmental protection. The scope of this paper is to analyse the Ecuadorian approach, considering that it is the only legal system which, so far, has constitutionalized the rights of Nature, thus allowing a change in the status of Nature, from object to subject of law, overcoming the traditional approach of Western environmental law. The paper also aims to show how the theme of the rights of Nature offers a valuable opportunity for intercultural dialogue, and how the Ecuadorian experience represents, in this sense, a perfect mix between Western legal notions, such as damage, protection, or representation, and the ancestral knowledge of the indigenous peoples as the ones concerning Pachamama or the concept of Sumak Kawsay, thus linking the (unavoidable) anthropocentrism of law, with the biocentrism.