The Hermeneutics of the Term Biodiversity According to the Constitution of Ecuador

Abstract

The Constitution of Ecuador opted for an inclusive and integrating vision that brought together the European idea and the Amerindian notion of Nature and the Environment. From there, various contradictions are reproduced in the constitutional text in developing principles, rights, and precepts. This article analyzes the interpretation of the term biodiversity in the current Constitution of Ecuador, the existing contradictions between the definitions and terms included in the constitutional text, and the significance of biodiversity in an intercultural country where nature is recognized as a subject of rights. Likewise, this article studies how Ecuador has transited between two different perspectives of perceiving the Environment and Nature in less than three decades. Also, it examines if the intercultural interpretation of biodiversity is correctly positioned in the constitutional text. In addition, the article analyzes the Ecuadorian environmental regulations, focusing on the development of the constitutional precepts related to biodiversity, and highlights the need for the inclusion of concepts such as Pacha Mama and Interculturality. Finally, when analyzing the development of biodiversity valuation, the article concludes that environmental regulations are regressive and reaffirm a utilitarian vision about the resources, even in the context of traditional knowledge guaranteed in the Constitution of Ecuador.