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Life Must Come First in Ecuador and Around the World Ecuador's current constitution is one of the most advanced in the world: it includes rights of nature, the right to water, and collective rights for indigenous peoples who protect valuable ecosystems. This constitution also guarantees various types of consultations that allow citizens to have a say on economic activities with a high environmental impact, such as oil and mining. Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, who strongly supports opening up oil extraction and mining in Ecuador, is promoting constitutional change. His government has called a referendum for November 16th so that citizens can decide whether they want to dissolve the existing constitution and have a new one drafted. As researchers, scientists, academics, artists, environmental advocates, and supporters of Indigenous peoples, we express our support for environmental defenders in Ecuador and encourage Ecuadorian citizens to maintain Ecuador's current Constitution and vote No on the call for a constituent assembly. We respect the Ecuadorian people's right to self-determination and their right to decide on their constitution. As people and organisations who have been inspired by the Ecuadorian constitution, we look to the Ecuadorian people to continue to lead the world with the same foresight they displayed in 2008. However, like many people, both in Ecuador and around the world, we are also deeply concerned about the ecological vulnerability that the new constitution could generate by weakening ecosystem protections and prioritizing extractivist economic interests. Right now, the Amazon, the Galapagos Islands, highly biodiverse Andean forests, and other invaluable ecosystems are at grave risk. Ecuador became the first country in the world to recognize rights of nature in its constitution in 2008. Since then, it has served as a beacon of hope and a model for communities worldwide seeking to protect the ecosystems that sustain life. Ecuador's pioneering constitutional framework has inspired hundreds of movements across dozens of countries—from Indigenous communities in North America to municipalities in Europe, from grassroots organizations in Asia to regional governments in Latin America—to pursue similar legal protections in their own jurisdictions. This global movement recognizes what Ecuador enshrined in law: that nature has inherent rights independent of human utility, and that protecting these rights is essential for present and future generations. Ecuador's constitutional innovations have demonstrated that it is possible to build legal systems that place ecological integrity and community rights at the center of governance. The constitution makes clear what the climate and ecological crises on the planet are also making clear: that nature’s rights are everyone’s rights, intertwining humans’ very being with that of the rivers, mountains, and forests. The potential weakening of these protections would represent not only a loss for Ecuadorian people, but a setback for people everywhere seeking to protect their communities in the face of climate change and biodiversity loss. And it represents a huge loss for nature. Last September, Ecuadorian citizens launched a new wave of protests to defend their communities from the ecological, health, and social damages that come with increased extractivism. Ecuador's government has responded with alarming violence. Since protests began in September 2025, reports document more than 282 people injured, 172 detained, 15 temporarily disappeared, and at least three killed in the context of the government's crackdown on environmental and Indigenous protectors. The Ecuadorian government has also begun freezing the bank accounts of more than 60 Indigenous and environmental defenders and organizations, without laying charges or providing legal justification. Activist groups, including Amazon Frontlines and coalitions of Ecuadorian environmental organizations, see these actions as deliberate attempts to silence resistance and enable extractive expansion. These developments reflect a severe and well-documented escalation of repression directed at Ecuadorian citizens defending Ecuador's ecosystems and Indigenous territories from extractive expansion, and they have drawn widespread international attention and condemnation. We join major international organizations and over 120 groups in condemning this repression, in particular the use of militarized policing, force against peaceful protests, and arbitrary financial punishment. We call on Ecuador's government to stop these human rights abuses. Ecuador is one of the countries with the highest biodiversity per square kilometer in the world. Ecuador’s vibrant, diverse ecosystems provide essential benefits to all humanity: they regulate climate, purify water and air, maintain fertile soils, pollinate crops, provide medicines, and support the food systems upon which billions depend. The Amazon rainforest alone generates rainfall that sustains agriculture across South America, stores vast amounts of carbon that helps stabilize global climate, and harbors species that may hold cures for diseases we have yet to understand. The Galapagos Islands serve as a living laboratory for understanding evolution and adaptation in an era of rapid environmental change. These ecosystems are irreplaceable—once destroyed, they cannot be reconstructed, and their loss diminishes the prospects for human wellbeing and survival everywhere. These ecosystems are Life. Life must come first. Signatures: