Dr. Elizabeth Bravo - Q11. New Genetic Technologies to Resurrect Extinct Species?

Dr Elizabeth Bravo from Acción Ecológica, one of the most important environmental organisations in Ecuador, discusses what has been the real ecological and cultural impact of genetic engineering in Latin America. She discusses how the northern conservation focus on iconic species distracts from the bigger picture of industrial agriculture and extractive industries’ systemic destruction of ecosystems and economies. She discusses what was the impetus behind Ecuador’s constitutional prohibition on GMOs and Ecuador becoming the first country in the world to enshrine the rights of nature in its constitution, inspired by the indigenous Ecuadorian worldview of living in harmony with mother nature and also points out that the release of gene drive organisms in the Galápagos Islands would be in violation of Ecuador’s constitution.