Ecuador

Giant tortoise

Giant tortoises return to Galápagos island after 180 years

By / / Good News For Humankind

For the first time in 180 years, giant tortoises are once again roaming Floreana Island in the Galápagos. The native species was hunted to extinction in the mid-nineteenth century, but scientists recently discovered descendants living on a neighboring island. Following a highly successful, decade-long captive breeding program, conservationists and local park rangers have officially released 158 juvenile tortoises back into their ancestral homeland. As vital ecosystem engineers, these young tortoises will disperse seeds and restore habitats, marking a monumental first step in a broader project to revive the island’s natural biodiversity.

Nine nations commit to recognizing 395 million acres of Indigenous land by 2030

By / / Good News For Humankind

A landmark international coalition has committed to formally recognizing 395 million acres of Indigenous and traditional community lands worldwide. The nine countries making this pledge are Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Gabon, Guatemala, the Republic of Congo, Peru, and Venezuela. This massive commitment to land tenure security empowers millions of Indigenous and local people to be the primary stewards of their ancestral territories, ensuring the permanent protection of globally vital carbon sinks and biodiversity hotspots.

Sea turtle swimming

Ecuador’s coastal ecosystems have rights, constitutional court rules

By / / Good news links

The Constitutional Court of Ecuador has determined that coastal marine ecosystems have rights of nature, including the right to “integral respect for its existence and for the maintenance and regeneration of its life cycles, structure, functions, and evolutionary processes,” per Chapter 7, Articles 71 to 74 in the country’s constitution. This is not the first time that Ecuador has established legal rights for nature. In fact, Ecuador was the first country in the world to establish that nature held legal rights, Earth.org reported.

Plastic pollution in the water

Plastic-choked rivers in Ecuador are being cleared with conveyor belts

By / / Good news links

Created by the tech start-up Ichthion, the Azure system’s simple design has the capacity to stop and collect around 80 tonnes of plastic per day. The Azure system is a boom device that stretches across the river to stop objects floating on the surface. It extends two feet down into the water, allowing fish and other organisms to move freely below and is placed at an angle allowing the natural water flow to direct all debris into one corner of the riverbank.