ABSTRACT
There are many reasons that might explain why the Ecuadorian experiments in lawmaking have remained anthropocentric, despite the eco-centrism that the 2008 Constitution advanced in its recognition of rights for Pachamama. While the new Ecuadorian legal regimes did not always deviate from conventional approaches to the governance of human-plant relationships, the experience of the country with an ecological turn in lawmaking could provide inspiration for future efforts to take vegetal life seriously in law. The transgenic soybean case – situated in the context of the broader Ecuadorian rights of nature jurisprudence and the corresponding reordering of human-plant relations in law – demonstrates that it is difficult to remove anthropocentric concerns from the governance of non-human life. The Ecuadorian experiment with eco-centric lawmaking provides an interesting history on which to reflect, and a source of inspiration for future efforts to take plants seriously in law.
