Acción Ecológica’s Legal Status Completely Restored

CEECEC partner Acción Ecológica finally had its legal status completely restored on 31 August 2009. On May 11, 2009 following an outpouring of protest and condemnation from around the world, the Ecuadorean Ministry of Health temporarily reinstated the organization’s legal status, annulling the ruling which had canceled its registration as of March 18 2009.

The original government explanation for the annulment was that Acción Ecológica was not upholding their mission to “defend natural resources, preserve a healthy environment, and defend the rights of nature.” However, according to Acción Ecológica, they were being targeted for failing to tow the government line on mining, and particularly for their recent support of indigenous-led protests and highway blockades against President Rafael Correa’s plans for large- scale mining.

The mining project in the Cordillera de Condor, an Acción Ecológica / CEECEC case study, is just one of the many mining projects which threaten the unique ecosystems in Ecuador which hold some of the world’s most biologically diverse regions.

The suspension of Acción Ecológica’s license provoked public outcry and critiscm from around the world. The authoritarian action was particularly surprising because Ecuador’s government has instituted many progressive ecological policies in the past year. For example, the new constitution includes the establishment of legal rights for nature, protecting the earth’s “right to exist, persist, maintain and regenerate its vital cycles, structure, functions and its processes in evolution”.

With its legal status reinstated, Acción Ecológica can now continue their invaluable work with communities affected by industrial shrimping, logging, mining, and oil exploitation, their support for the campaign against Texaco, the protection of the Yasuni National Park, and their work with CEECEC.