Field Trip Reflections

University of Sussex graduate, Sam Nurney, reflects on his field trip to Ecuador, conducting research for his Masters thesis and working with Ecoforensic

Ecuador is beautiful. Abrupt changes in altitude support a diversity of landscapes and habitats, meaning a six-hour bus journey can take you through tropical forests, rolling pastures and rugged mountain crags. Life is abundant, and, thanks to the 2008 Ecuadorian constitution, it has the right to remain so. The Rights of Nature (RoN) grant ecosystems and species the rights to evolution, restoration and respect, but upholding these rights against the legal might of multinational corporations poses a considerable challenge.

While few large-scale mines have come to fruition yet, international companies have poured billions of dollars into Ecuador with the hope of exploiting its natural resources, and by extension, the people living on top of them. Many of these companies are based in the Global North, meaning considerable portions of the Ecuadorian mining profits are diverted abroad. The insatiable appetite of the renewable energy transition is exacerbating existing pressure on resource-rich countries, putting Ecuador at risk of becoming a ‘green sacrifice zone’.

This resource extraction is a threat parallel to human rights abuses for Cobalt in the DRC and Lithium mining drying up rivers in Argentina, but this isn’t a new structural inequality spawned from the green transition. It is a form of colonialism, following the same flows of resources and power dynamics that have existed for hundreds of years.

Applying the Rights of Nature

The Rights of Nature (RoN) offer a legal mechanism for challenging industries that would cause species extinctions and damage ecosystems. In spite of the breadth and depth of this legal framework, however, upholding these rights is complex. The 2021 Los Cedros case was the first major success for a protected forest. This was a reserve which already possessed reams of scientific data (or in this case, evidence) from decades of research. But how can RoN be widely applied to unprotected regions with different ecosystems, where communities don’t have extensive histories of scientific data?

In-depth ecological studies are the first piece of the puzzle. They are undertaken by paraecologists: highly trained, highly motivated local scientists supported by Ecoforensic to bring community knowledge and lived experience to the forefront of these conflicts. But in order for this process to be efficient, it requires interdisciplinary collaboration.

Lawyers target parts of the constitution that make a strong case, scientists decide what data would be most appropriate, and paraecologists collect that data in the field. The RoN strategy workshop we attended aimed to facilitate the functioning of these disciplines in harmony, and was a rare opportunity to have everyone brainstorming in the same room.

Reflecting on the Rights of Nature workshop

“It was incredible to witness the collective determination that arises from injustice…I felt like a very lucky fly on the wall – and we were in Ecuador, so that would make me a horsefly, or a butterfly the size of a human hand.”

The first day started slowly. Naturally, it took a little time for everyone to navigate ecological and legal dialects, and to hear updates from community members. By the third day, though, the chemistry was palpable. Pots of coffee disappeared in seconds as ideas and action plans poured forth in frenzied legal conversations which tested my Spanish comprehension to its limit. Dinner offered no respite as productive arguments led to hopeful agreements between mouthfuls of plantain, chicken and rice.

It was incredible to witness the collective determination that arises from injustice. Seeing the cogs of environmental law, community resistance and scientific methods interlock and whirr into life was amazing. I felt like a very lucky fly on the wall. In Ecuador, that would make me a horsefly, or a butterfly the size of a human hand. It also showed how important it is to work face-to-face, to breathe the same air as your collaborators.

While the internet allows these symbiotic relationships to continue, this workshop was invaluable for deepening understanding and allowing these connections to form tangible plans for future cases. A walk through the cloud forest on the last day was grounding and necessary. It reminded everyone how much that overwhelming few days could really be worth. What a beautiful place.

Reflecting on the community visits

“The hypothetical existence of a future mine drives people apart from each other, causing divisions that may long outlive even a successful legal case for nature.”

Speaking to people in the communities themselves gifted us with a different set of lessons to take away. Corporate greed infiltrates places like a disease, promising wages that are impossible to refuse for work that will contaminate river systems for generations to come. This socialisation often takes place before environmental impact assessments have been conducted. This deceit and manipulation makes resistance stories even more inspiring, with films like ‘Under Rich Earth‘ documenting the extensive oppression and maltreatment that must be endured to simply say ‘no’ to a mining company.

Each case is unique, with some communities resisting fairly cohesively and others split as years of resistance have become decades. But their common problem is the social conflict that this industry incites. The hypothetical existence of a future mine drives people apart from each other, causing divisions that may long outlive even a successful legal case for nature.

Alternative sources of income are critical to nurture community support for Rights of Nature cases and maintain economic and social stability for the residents of places facing these threats. The paraecologist programme is an excellent case study for this, and future support for communities in developing tourism and other sources of income will be essential for an equitable, sustainable future.

Written by Sam Nurney, recent University of Sussex graduate in Msc Global Biodiversity Conservation. The fieldwork, travel and accommodation was part-funded thanks to the Royal Geography Society’s Geographical Fieldworks Grant.

Published June 17, 2026

We have been very busy!

Ecoforensic CIC is now up and running – but we have done a huge amount of background work. A quick update – thanks to funding support from the University of Sussex (Sussex Sustainability Research Programme & Higher Education Impact Fund). We spent 5 weeks in Ecuador to explore the potential of our idea – the thought that future legal cases under the rights of Nature will require new knowledge, a new interdisciplinary field we have called ‘Ecological Forensics’.

Over 5 weeks we travelled to meet partners in their ‘ecosystems’ – from the cloudforest of the Western Andes to the lowland rainforests of Esmeraldas Province and back to the Eastern Andes. We ran a workshop bringing people together to understand what ecological information is actually important in protecting ecosystems under this new emerging of the ‘rights of Nature’ paradigm and developed a training curriculum for our new network of paraecologists. It is the paraecologist network that is at the forefront of the data collection to understand the undiscovered and incredible biological diversity of Ecuadorian ecosystems, and vital in any legislative processes to protect them. The workshop venue at Oho y Media in Quito was a last minute, and urgent change from Los Cedros Reserve, much to disappointment of all. The reason was the ‘Paro’ or strike, that saw indigenous groups, students and social organisation bring the national road network to a halt – shutting down Quito – and highlighting the active role of society in Ecuadorian politics in their demands for Justice! This was to the annoyance of Jose Decoux who had already catered for our group ……

Luckily the pantry of food for the 25 + attendees (cause of the annoyance, as it needed to be transported up to the reserve, only to be transported back down – not so easy when the mode of transport is mules up a 2 hour mountain track), didn’t go to waste.

Reflecting back it is still incredible to think how, in February, we started with an idea and now we are in an incredibly fortunate position, where we can discuss opportunities to scale. We have literally hit the ground running. We started with a short research study to explore the importance of ecological information in ‘Rights of Nature’, to identify and surface ecological information important for legal practitioners in a language and format that is most helpful, to individually visiting potential partners in Ecuador that eventually culminated in a workshop bringing together a group of incredible people. It is never easy to describe (and bring to life) each memorable experience spent with incredibly passionate individuals, committed to their cause and in the forefront of innovative ways of protecting nature – our respects to them all as they remain positive in face of, sometimes extreme challenges, to their efforts in conservation, ecosystem protection and restoration.

So here are a few highlights….

This is only the beginning…

Ecoforensic is a non-profit Community Interest Company (CIC). Every penny we raise goes directly into our efforts towards improving access to forensic ecological data and defending the rights of Nature around the world.

If you’re a community organisation, protected area, an academic, legal institution or a specialist in ecology and interested in supporting the efforts of paraecologists for the ‘Rights of Nature’, or want to know how you can become one and start contributing data, click below to find out more.