There was a time when people were considered property and this idea is quickly being antiquated. But now, Ecuador has taken a revolutionary step -- by codifying it in its Constitution -- of granting rights to Nature! Ecuador's constitution grants nature the right to "integral restoration" and says that the state "will promote respect toward all the elements that form an ecosystem" and that the state "will apply precaution and restriction measures in all the activities that can lead to the extinction of species, the destruction of the ecosystems, or the permanent alteration of the natural cycles."
