LEGAL ETHNODEVELOPMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

We live in a world in which we pay the consequences of the damage caused by overexploitation of natural resources. In this article, the author analyses the interesting solution found by the Andean States, which, listening to the voice of indigenous peoples, rediscover in the ancient knowledge the route to follow at present. In this way, an invisible line links past, present and future. The Constitutions of Ecuador and Bolivia find inspiration in the values of the Andean cosmovision, buen vivir and vivir bien. Nature is subject of rights and as such must be defended, protected from any possible damage to it. This paper consists of two parts. In the first part, the author analyses the influence of ancestral knowledge and tradition in the construction of the environmental protection system of Ecuador and Bolivia. In the second part, he examines the main elements of the solutions of the two Countries in order to evaluate the advantages and observe the possible perplexities. Following this method, the author wants to underline how the culture of the ancestors can contribute to the legal development of the Countries, also through the construction of a system that effectively protects the environment.