Living ancestral territories: legal pluralism and biocultural rights in the peoples of the Kichwa nationality in Otavalo

Abstract

This research examines the intersection between biocultural rights of Kichwa nation peoples in Otavalo and nature's rights in Ecuador, analyzing how indigenous legal systems coexist with constitutional frameworks that recognize nature as a rights-bearing entity. Using qualitative descriptive analysis based on Ecuadorian and Colombian constitutional jurisprudence, the study explores how disregarding indigenous biocultural rights undermines prior consultation rights, collective property, and indigenous subsistence. Findings indicate that while Ecuador's 2008 Constitution explicitly recognizes nature as a rights-bearing subject, there remains a need to specifically identify ecosystems and species to establish balanced relationships with indigenous communities' rights. The research concludes that biocultural rights represent an alternative approach to recognizing natural elements as rights-bearing subjects, enabled by Article 171 of Ecuador's Constitution, fostering dialogue between indigenous epistemologies and environmental governance within a plurinational framework.