Editing Ecuador (section)

===Biodiversity===
[[File:20180818-Pale-mandibled aracari at Bosque Protector Mindo – Nambillo.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.9|Ecuador is one of the most [[megadiverse countries]] in the world, it has the most biodiversity per square kilometer of any nation, and is one of the highest in [[endemism]]. In the image, a [[pale-mandibled aracari]] in the [[Mindo, Ecuador|Mindo]]-Nambillo Ecological Reserve.]]
Ecuador is one of seventeen [[megadiverse countries]] in the world according to [[Conservation International]],<ref name="Conservation International Site"/> and it has the most biodiversity per square kilometer of any nation.<ref name="Plan Nacional del Buen Vivir">[https://ecuadornoticias.com/plan-nacional-del-buen-vivir/ Plan Nacional del Buen Vivir] {{dead link|date=January 2017|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}, Objective 4, Diagnostic, Section "La Biodiversidad y Patrimonio Natural", 2008 (Spanish)</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usaid.gov/policy/budget/cbj2005/lac/pdf/518-001.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060323233748/http://www.usaid.gov/policy/budget/cbj2005/lac/pdf/518-001.pdf |archive-date=23 March 2006 |title=Ecuador&nbsp;– Biodiversity Conservation |publisher = USAID}}</ref>

Ecuador has 1,600 bird species (15% of the world's known bird species) in the continental area and 38 more [[Endemism|endemic]] in the Galápagos. In addition to more than 16,000 species of plants, the country has 106 endemic reptiles, 138 endemic amphibians, and 6,000 species of butterfly. The Galápagos Islands are well known as a region of distinct fauna, as the famous place of birth to Darwin's [[theory of evolution]], and as a [[UNESCO]] World Heritage Site.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31&id_site=1 |title=Unesco World Heritage |publisher=UNESCO |access-date=26 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100901025658/https://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31&id_site=1 |archive-date=1 September 2010 |url-status=live  }}</ref>

Ecuador was the first country to recognize the [[rights of nature]] in its constitution.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Constitutions/Ecuador/ecuador.html |title=Ecuador's Constitution |publisher=Pdba.georgetown.edu |access-date=24 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217041712/http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Constitutions/Ecuador/ecuador.html |archive-date=17 February 2012 |url-status=live  }}</ref> The protection of the nation's biodiversity is an explicit national priority as stated in the National Plan of "Buen Vivir", or good living, Objective 4, "Guarantee the rights of nature", Policy 1: "Sustainably conserve and manage the natural heritage, including its land and marine biodiversity, which is considered a strategic sector".<ref name="Plan Nacional del Buen Vivir" />

[[File:Giant tortoise of the galapagos islands.jpg|thumb|[[Western Santa Cruz tortoise]] in the [[Galápagos Islands]]]]
As of the writing of the plan in 2008, 19% of Ecuador's land area was protected; however, the plan also states that 32% of the land must be protected in order to truly preserve the nation's biodiversity.<ref name="Plan Nacional del Buen Vivir"/> Current [[List of national parks in Ecuador|protected areas]] include 11 national parks, 10 wildlife refuges, 9 ecological reserves, and other areas.<ref>Ministry of the environment of Ecuador, [http://www.ambiente.gov.ec/?q=node/59, Protected Areas]   {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120325164618/http://www.ambiente.gov.ec/?q=node%2F59 |date=25 March 2012 }}</ref> A program begun in 2008, Sociobosque, is preserving another 2.3% of total land area (6,295&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>, or 629,500&nbsp;ha) by paying private landowners or community landowners (such as Amerindian tribes) incentives to maintain their land as native ecosystems such as native forests or grasslands. Eligibility and subsidy rates for this program are determined based on the poverty in the region, the number of hectares that will be protected, and the type of ecosystem of the land to be protected, among other factors.<ref>Ministry of the environment, [https://web.archive.org/web/20110903214344/http://www.ambiente.gov.ec/?q=node%2F1064%2C Sociobosque Program]</ref> Ecuador had a 2018 [[Forest Landscape Integrity Index]] mean score of 7.66/10, ranking it 35th globally out of 172 countries.<ref name="FLII-Supplementary">{{cite journal|last1=Grantham|first1=H. S.|last2=Duncan|first2=A.|last3=Evans|first3=T. D.|last4=Jones|first4=K. R.|last5=Beyer|first5=H. L.|last6=Schuster|first6=R.|last7=Walston|first7=J.|last8=Ray|first8=J. C.|last9=Robinson|first9=J. G.|last10=Callow|first10=M.|last11=Clements|first11=T.|last12=Costa|first12=H. M.|last13=DeGemmis|first13=A.|last14=Elsen|first14=P. R.|last15=Ervin|first15=J.|last16=Franco|first16=P.|last17=Goldman|first17=E.|last18=Goetz|first18=S.|last19=Hansen|first19=A.|last20=Hofsvang|first20=E.|last21=Jantz|first21=P.|last22=Jupiter|first22=S.|last23=Kang|first23=A.|last24=Langhammer|first24=P.|last25=Laurance|first25=W. F.|last26=Lieberman|first26=S.|last27=Linkie|first27=M.|last28=Malhi|first28=Y.|last29=Maxwell|first29=S.|last30=Mendez|first30=M.|last31=Mittermeier|first31=R.|last32=Murray|first32=N. J.|last33=Possingham|first33=H.|last34=Radachowsky|first34=J.|last35=Saatchi|first35=S.|last36=Samper|first36=C.|last37=Silverman|first37=J.|last38=Shapiro|first38=A.|last39=Strassburg|first39=B.|last40=Stevens|first40=T.|last41=Stokes|first41=E.|last42=Taylor|first42=R.|last43=Tear|first43=T.|last44=Tizard|first44=R.|last45=Venter|first45=O.|last46=Visconti|first46=P.|last47=Wang|first47=S.|last48=Watson|first48=J. E. M.|title=Anthropogenic modification of forests means only 40% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity – Supplementary Material|journal=Nature Communications|volume=11|issue=1|year=2020|page=5978|issn=2041-1723|doi=10.1038/s41467-020-19493-3|pmid=33293507|pmc=7723057|bibcode=2020NatCo..11.5978G |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Despite being on the UNESCO list, the Galápagos are endangered by a range of negative environmental effects, threatening the existence of this exotic [[ecosystem]].<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Lemonick |first=Michael D. |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/printout/0,8816,983635,00.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130204091815/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/printout/0,8816,983635,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 February 2013 |title=Can the Galapagos Survive? |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=30 October 1995 |access-date=26 June 2010 }}</ref> Additionally, [[Petroecuador|oil exploitation of the Amazon rainforest]] has led to the release of billions of gallons of untreated wastes, gas, and crude oil into the environment,<ref>{{cite news |title=European banks urged to stop funding oil trade in Amazon |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/aug/12/european-banks-urged-to-stop-funding-oil-trade-in-amazon |work=The Guardian |date=12 August 2020 |access-date=14 September 2020 |archive-date=14 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200914103303/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/aug/12/european-banks-urged-to-stop-funding-oil-trade-in-amazon |url-status=live }}</ref> contaminating ecosystems and causing detrimental health effects to Amerindian peoples.<ref>{{cite news |title=Exclusive: European banks face indigenous calls to end Amazon oil trade |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-climate-change-banks-exclusive/exclusive-european-banks-face-indigenous-calls-to-end-amazon-oil-trade-idUKKCN25809Z |work=Reuters |date=12 August 2020 |access-date=14 September 2020 |archive-date=8 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201008185259/https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-climate-change-banks-exclusive/exclusive-european-banks-face-indigenous-calls-to-end-amazon-oil-trade-idUKKCN25809Z |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=San Sebastian |first1=M. |last2=Hurtig |first2=A. K. |title=Oil Exploitation in the Amazon Basin of Ecuador: A Public Health Emergency |journal=Pan American Journal of Public Health |volume=15 |issue=3 |pages=205–11 |year=2004 |doi=10.1590/S1020-49892004000300014 |pmid=15096294 |doi-access=free }}</ref> One of the best known examples is the [[Chevron Corporation|Texaco-Chevron]] case.<ref>{{cite news |title=How the Environmental Lawyer Who Won a Massive Judgment Against Chevron Lost Everything |url=https://theintercept.com/2020/01/29/chevron-ecuador-lawsuit-steven-donziger/ |work=The Intercept |date=29 January 2020 |access-date=14 September 2020 |archive-date=25 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125222623/https://theintercept.com/2020/01/29/chevron-ecuador-lawsuit-steven-donziger/ |url-status=live }}</ref> This American [[Petroleum in the United States|oil company]] operated in the Ecuadorian Amazon region between 1964 and 1992. During this period, Texaco drilled 339 wells in 15 petroleum fields and abandoned 627 toxic wastewater pits. It is now known that these highly polluting and now obsolete technologies were used as a way to reduce expenses.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.raco.cat/index.php/rcda/article/view/280972/368631|title=Revista Catalana de Dret Ambiental|last=Pigrau|first=Antoni|date=27 July 2014|work=The Texaco-Chevron Case in Ecuador: Law and Justice in the Age of Globalization|access-date=14 September 2020|archive-date=14 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414212915/https://www.raco.cat/index.php/rcda/article/view/280972/368631|url-status=live}}</ref> The case has also been documented in [[Crude (2009 film)|Crude]], a documentary.

In 2022, the supreme court of Ecuador decided that "under no circumstances can a project be carried out that generates excessive sacrifices to the collective rights of communities and nature." It also required the government to respect the opinion of Indigenous peoples about industrial projects on their land.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Einhorn |first1=Catrin |title=Ecuador Court Gives Indigenous Groups a Boost in Mining and Drilling Disputes |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/04/climate/ecuador-indigenous-constitutional-court.html |access-date=6 February 2022 |agency=The New York Times |date=4 February 2022 |archive-date=6 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206102216/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/04/climate/ecuador-indigenous-constitutional-court.html |url-status=live }}</ref>