Implementación de bancos de conservación como medida de restauración ambiental ante faltante desarrollo normativo.

Abstract

The Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador since 2008 recognizes Nature as a subject of rights, ensuring its existence, conservation and protecting its vital cycles. Economic interests that threaten the conservation of these areas at the expense of socioeconomic development and the use of their resources stand in the way of the constitutional principles of environmental protection. Ecuador's environmental regulations contemplate mechanisms for prevention and integral reparation of environmental damage; in the case of a project that causes irreparable damage and inevitable loss of environmental values, or in the case that all restoration measures have already been adopted but a considerable impact persists, compensation measures must be adopted and the corresponding sanctions must be paid. However, there is a legal vacuum as it only foresees that the compensation is carried out directly by those responsible for the environmental damage, limiting the possibility of action to achieve effective environmental restoration in the face of these activities that have adverse effects on the environment. This study focuses on analyzing the implementation of conservation banks in national legislation as an alternative to existing compensation mechanisms for the protection of natural resources and effective remediation, through the acquisition of compensation credits generated from environmentally positive activities previously carried out by third parties. This modality of compensation for environmental damage would ensure adequate compliance with the principle of environmental remediation and would provide an incentive for investment in conservation.