More than 35 years after the publishing of Christopher Stone’s epic essay (at least for environmental lawyers) Should Trees Have Standing? Toward Legal Rights for Natural Objects (45 S. Cal. L. Rev. 1972) it looks as if Stone’s pleadings have been heard. At least in Ecuador, which yesterday approved the country’s 20th constitution. The approved constitution, which is widely criticised for transferring too much power to the incumbent leftwing president Rafael Correa, contains a significant novelty in terms of constitutional protection of the environment. The new constitution simply creates a right for the natural environment to exist much like what…