Equity In Every Drop: Series Five, Episode Six

In this episode of Equity in Every Drop, host Thomas Hynes sits down with Patricio Chambers, Guayllabamba Waterkeeper in Ecuador. Patricio discusses following his father’s footsteps by taking over leadership of the organization from his father, Rafael Chambers. Patricio mobilizes communities across Metropolitan Quito through Mingas, a form of traditional indigenous collective cleanup celebrations which are rooted in the Andean worldview that humans and nature are part of one unified reality. Patricio and his team are also preparing to host the upcoming Waterkeeper Alliance global conference. His work represents a unique multi-generational commitment, engaging four generations of his family, down to his four-year-old grandson.

This conversation focuses on Ecuador’s historic 2008 constitutional recognition of the Rights of Nature (Pachamama). As the first country in the world to establish a biocentric legal framework, Ecuador legally grants rivers and ecosystems the inherent right to exist, persist, and regenerate. Local advocates successfully leveraged this constitutional foundation to declare Quito’s polluted Monjas River a subject of rights. Patricio addresses the practical gap between written constitutional law and field enforcement, demonstrating why legal protections must be matched with continuous community action to restore living watersheds.

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Thank you for listening, sharing, and supporting our mission to ensure everyone’s right to clean water. Together, we demand equity in every drop.

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Transcript – Series 5, Episode 6  Rights of Nature

[00:00:00] Thomas Hynes : Our guest today is Patricio Chambers of Quimbamba Waterkeeper. Patricio has been in this role since 2018, often working alongside multiple generations of his own family. Patricio also often leads community-led cleanups called Mingas that engage hundreds of volunteers, and has its roots in indigenous traditions.

Patricio, it’s good to see you. Thank you so much for being here today. 

Patricio Chambers: Hi, Tom. Thanks To you. Thanks to all of you. for us [00:00:30] is very important to work in favor of the nature.  And work with my family, generations or the Chambers family are working for to protect the rivers-

And the nature. 

Thomas Hynes : So we met a couple years ago. I’d done a written profile of you and … You’re a very inspiring person, and the story is very unique. I’ve spoken to maybe 100 waterkeepers at this point, and  I’m always interested in how did you get started? And yours is a little unique.

Yours is a little more of a family enterprise. You [00:01:00] started this, or you started working in this role, your father had been working with it, you work with your daughter now. There’s siblings involved. Yes. Mm-hmm. So we’re gonna talk today about the rights of nature and some of the legal backing that that has in Ecuador and just the importance of that.

But before we do get involved, I wanna come back to your origin story and how you got involved in this work. 

Patricio Chambers: Well, during many years, my father works on the rivers and the mountains, on trees [00:01:30] planting a lot of trees with – many, many students in the different schools.

The idea was in that time to protect the mountains, to protect the sources of the water and then to guarantee a great quality of water. later we decide to move near to Quito because Quito is a big city. We, in this moment, we have 3 [00:02:00] million inhabitants, so the garbage, the residuals are very big, so we had to combat that contamination.

 And thinking – how we can – take a successful actions. We decide start with the mingas. Mm-hmm. Mingas is a collective collective labor. when you work on the mingas, you need to coordinate on [00:02:30] different kinds of people societies, communities from private and public sectors.

You need to call the older oldest and children too. Yeah. Because the contamination problem is global problem. So we need to combat that problem. unite society. That is the idea behind the minga. and that is [00:03:00] the, the reason why we decided to start with mingas.

Thomas Hynes : I’m very fascinated with this concept and this idea of the mingas. When we talked, it was the thing that jumped out at me … It’s sort of the first word that pops into my mind when I think of you. Mm. And I don’t know when this episode’ll come out, but there’s a good chance I’ll be with you in Ecuador doing a minga.

Uh, So, but, so I can’t wait for that. And what I loved about it is that you have all of these members of the community coming together, and – it’s all [00:03:30] sort of rowing in the same direction. You’re all cleaning up a park or a river or a river bank. And then I remember from our talk, there’s also, like, an educational component because the children are learning- Yes

About nature and the importance of it. But there’s also, like, a celebration and a meal. I have the word here excuse my pronunciation It’s okay … is a pamba mesa? 

Patricio Chambers: Pamba mesa. It’s okay. As 

Thomas Hynes : a community table?

Patricio Chambers: Yeah. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. 

Thomas Hynes : Yeah. 

Patricio Chambers: Yeah. the most important uh, factor or variable in the [00:04:00] pollution problem is, The education

Thomas Hynes : Mm.

Patricio Chambers: So we need a good mechanism to combat the pollution from the- education . So the minga is the best way to do that on the field. Because when you go to the river and take materials plastics rubbers, et cetera, when you see that, your conscience, yeah, is [00:04:30] open to the reality.

Thomas Hynes : Yeah. 

Patricio Chambers: Because those garbage come from your homes- Yeah … your office, your school, your companies. So you need to act and, and take actions to protect that. That is the idea when you work together in, in a minga.

Thomas Hynes : And I think it’s so, powerful and effective because you’re not only cleaning up that site on the day of [00:05:00] the minga.

You’re not just cleaning up that one area and removing the trash, but what I imagine is also happening is you know, if, if you’re bringing community members there and they see, you know, “Hey, this is actually downstream. This is what happens with the trash when I don’t think about it-” that person, I would imagine, is less likely or, or less likely to pollute in the future or at least more likely to be conscious of, where that ends up, and maybe they change their behaviors as well. So there’s probably [00:05:30] multiple levels of benefit for the mingas, and again, for the listener our organization is having our, our conference for the first time out of the country in September of this year, probably right around the time this episode comes out, and or right before this episode comes out, I should say. And we will be for the first time in another country, and we will be – in Quito with our host, Mm

Patricio Chavez. We’re so excited…. We’ll be doing an event like this while we’re down there, right? Is that, do I have that right? 

Patricio Chambers: Yep, yeah. 

Thomas Hynes : I can’t wait. Well, more to come on that, [00:06:00] and on, I’m sure our social media will have a lot of videos and pictures of that, so I’m really looking forward…

I’m just looking forward to going to Quito in general. so you and your father started this work, and then you joined as the Waterkeeper in 2018. And you worked with your siblings, and, and I’ve, I feel like I’ve spoken to your daughter as well. I mean, I know your, your daughter’s involved in this work as well.

Yes, yes. Is that, is that the whole extent of the family? Or are there other family members I’ve left out, or is that everyone? 

Patricio Chambers: let me say something, mm, previously. 

Yeah? The minga is a [00:06:30] celebration, a community celebration. Or under the same idea we can do that our 2026 conference in Quito.

Mm. Yeah, t’s a celebration because we will be together and- we join to work together In favor of the nature, in favor of our rivers- and oceans in general. effectively, my father started with this organization with my brother and my sister. At that time we didn’t work with them. [00:07:00] Mm. Yeah?

But after some years I integrate the same team and start to have a leadership in that time we decide to integrate the whole family, yeah? My, my daughter is, is working in this moment with me. My grandson. 

Thomas Hynes : No. Yeah. 

Patricio Chambers: [00:07:30] Yes. My grandson now is part of

Yeah. He’s a, is a baby. Yeah, yeah. He’s four years. 

Thomas Hynes : Yeah. 

Patricio Chambers: But since now he said we have to protect our rivers. 

Thomas Hynes : He’s right. 

Patricio Chambers: Yeah. And, and it’s very exciting to hear from the children, yeah, say something that, something like that. 

Thomas Hynes : Yeah. 

Patricio Chambers: Yeah.

Thomas Hynes : So that’s four generations- Mm-hmm … just for everyone keeping track.

Yes. I thought there were only [00:08:00] three. This is breaking news. We have a fourth generation on the job. That’s great. 

Patricio Chambers: So it, it’s a great experience, too. Yeah. My, my brothers, my cousins, and the whole family is coordinate- Mm … to do that. Yeah? And in September in the, our conference, we, all of us, we are present.

Working together for your good in the conference. Yeah. Yeah? For all of you. 

Thomas Hynes : I, 

Patricio Chambers: [00:08:30] I, I- All the waterkeepers in the, in the, in the world … 

Thomas Hynes : I’m so excited for that. Like I think anybody in our organization or just in the environmental movement in general, I think we are the type to pick up a plastic bag and throw it away.

We are the type of people to go to cleanup events and things like that. I’m very excited for this one. I think this is gonna be very special for a lot of us. Nice. And so I, I just- Yes, please … in general can’t wait to, to go away and see you all there. 

So thank you so much for walking us through your background, Patricio, and sort of the concept of Mingas and the, the very inspiring story of your [00:09:00] even larger family than I realized was involved with this work. I didn’t know there were four generations. I thought there were only three.

 And I wanna just move us into the topic of our conversation today, which is, I think, pretty similar to what we’ve already started talking about. But the idea and the concept of the rights of nature, the legal backing behind this, and I’ve heard a lot of people say, “Hey, you know, we think of the trees, we think of the water, we think of the ocean and the rivers and the animals and things like that.”

 But what I find very interesting is that in, was it [00:09:30] 2008? Ecuador codified this into law and made this a constitutional amendment. Can we talk a little bit about how that came about and what that means, for you, for Ecuador, and for your work?

Patricio Chambers: Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity to talk about our constitution. Uh, In 2008, Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador was the first in the world to recognize nature, or Pachamama in Quechua language, as a [00:10:00] subject of rights. Behind this statement lies an idea rooted in the Andean worldwide worldview and the wisdom of ancient peoples and civilizations around the world.

Our planet is a living being, and as such, its rivers, seas, and lands are living entities that as [00:10:30] subjects possess rights just as we human being do. In our constitution, these rights are preserved in different articles, and the whole of them are based on a biocentric, not anthropocentric vision

Thomas Hynes : So that’s very interesting. So you’re saying it’s, it’s biocentric rather than anthropocentric. Biocentric. And so- Exactly … okay, so you just [00:11:00] don’t have to be a person. You can be anything with, like any carbon life form or any … That’s, but, and that’s, and that’s, that’s true because these things are alive, and these things do require some protection, obviously, as we’ve seen around the world.

But I, what I find interesting is that, you know, we have the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act here, which has obviously been weakened and watered down and recently. But in its sense, it’s giving legal protection to these places. But this, this is a much larger step forward, I would say, to give it a constitutional [00:11:30] right.

 How has this impacted Ecuador and how has this impacted your work? 

Patricio Chambers: Sure. for us, was very important item, to have something like that because since then we worked with different c- citizen collectives, different organizations, civil organizations, and, and the state organizations and the state entities too, yeah, [00:12:00] working together to see the best way to establish rights of nature in our rivers.

The first example was one of Quito’s river called the Monjas River. Four years ago, more or less, the community started to move around the idea because that river was very, very polluted and in [00:12:30] that case additional some heritage uh, are in danger of destroyed So with those arguments, was possible to, based on our constitution, declare, yeah the

 Manjas River as subject of rights. since then, we worked on other rivers in our area in metropolitan district [00:13:00] of Quito. So the constitution was a very good base to implement our operations 

Thomas Hynes : And do you think it’s, it’s helped? I mean, can you see the difference? Can you see that it’s working, or is it yes and no?

Patricio Chambers: Honestly one thing is the text, yeah, in constitution. The other thing is to apply that text in the field. And the distance between this [00:13:30] and this are very big. It’s not easy to do that because you need to change the mentality. You need to change the culture about your rivers, in that case.

you need to see the world and the nature from the other kind of view, and accept the nature and our planet is a, a living being

And for this you need, you need time. Yes. [00:14:00] To insist, insist, insist in the same direction always, and that from different lines. 

Thomas Hynes : so it sounds like the problem is maybe that the, it’s not always enforced or applied adequately. You were saying there’s a space between … the, the text and the enforcement, right? And that’s probably enough space for a lot of pollution to get through still. So that was my next question, is could this go further to be stronger, or stronger applications of, of this constitutional amendment? Is that necessary?

Patricio Chambers: [00:14:30] Yes. M- maybe we have the base as constitution, right? Maybe it’s not necessary more and more laws, more and more normatives, or law or mandatories i- in the city. need to change the conscience. We need to change the culture. Yeah. Because – not all of Olorians inhabitants think that nature is a living being.

No. But [00:15:00] this umbrella help us to transmit the message, with concrete actions

Thomas Hynes : I mean, is this something, and I, forgive me, I don’t have the answer to this, is this something that has, has taken off in other places? And if not, would you… I mean, I’d like to see it here. I mean, I would just like to see our own laws that we have on the books enforced. It feels like a long, like, people are losing their rights in this country.

We have a long way to go to get nature’s rights. But is this something you would like to [00:15:30] see applied elsewhere? I mean, I can probably imagine the answer, but what, what’s next for this movement and the rights of nature? 

Patricio Chambers: Well, to amplify. To amplify, yeah? To amplify, but to applicate i- in different body of waters, not just rivers.

We have lakes, and we have oceans. Galapagos, yeah, need our support, and avoid to contaminate its waters. We need [00:16:00] to work on restorations program. Additionally compensations measures from the s- the state. we need to prevent the extinction of the species. So it has a very big labor, very big challenges because the destruction of the ecosystems are a reality here in Ecuador,

And, the whole planet, yeah, the destruction of ecosystems is a [00:16:30] reality. So we need to amplify our work on that kind of ideas, to convert in new laws, new declarations, new actions 

Thomas Hynes : yeah, and I think what you, what’s interesting is that it, it was, it’s probably one challenge to get this amendment passed, but now it’s educating people about it and enforcing it and amplifying it and applying it.

What’s encouraging to me about even getting the constitutional amendment in Ecuador it, it kind of, forgive the expression, it kind of [00:17:00] mainstreams this. It says this is not some far off idea. This is not some I’m trying to not use idioms pipe dream or, or fantasy.

This is, a real legal concept, and there is real cultural and economic and, even health costs and things like that. I mean, there’s huge benefits to doing this. This is not about just running around and putting your arms around a tree and saying, “This is my brother.” – This has real, real possibility, I would say.

Patricio Chambers: You’re right, Tom, m- because the [00:17:30] sustainable use of the nature implies good living. good living in, in different levels and different kind of our activities. Yeah. The health, the community needs to… A, a, a good uh, environment, yeah? Our children need to play in, in the healthy spaces, yeah, natural spaces too, with

 … 

Thomas Hynes : that comes back to the [00:18:00] mingas too, which is what we started the conversation with. I mean, you’re bringing people out into nature to kinda care for it. But it’s not just in that moment. I mean, ideally, those kind of cleanup events and these community-led minga events can make that connection, especially…

And I’m, I always harp on this, but especially with children, ‘ cause if you get children out there at a young age and they say, “Oh my God, I love the river, I love the animals, I love the trees, and the flowers, and the way I feel,” that concept of the rights of nature feels less far-fetched as they grow up and become [00:18:30] voters, and consumers, and things like that in their own right.

Patricio Chambers: the right of the full respect of its existence, maintenance, and regenerations of the life cycles- Mm-hmm

structures and evolutionary process is very important. Not just for us. for nature in general. For our living planet. For our – rivers lakes, oceans. For all of us. 

Thomas Hynes : Yeah, and I think, what I always come back to as [00:19:00] well is if you do right by the river or you do right by the ecosystem, you’re doing right by yourself.

It is not something that’s-… outside of us . It is to your own benefit. 

Patricio Chambers: Because all of this is one. 

Thomas Hynes : Mm-hmm. 

Patricio Chambers: It’s a unite reality. It’s not a separate, it’s not insulate- 

Thomas Hynes : Yeah … 

Patricio Chambers: eh, elements. No. We are the same. We participate the same reality. – The unified. 

Thomas Hynes : Absolutely.

Well, Patricio, this has been a great [00:19:30] conversation. I’m further inspired to come to Ecuador- Mm … next month and see you and clean up whatever you need me to clean up. I’ll clean up the river banks. I’ll clean up the hotel rooms. I’ll clean anything up, the conference room, whatever you need. I am so excited uh, for everyone to hear this conversation, and I’m so excited personally to come and see you and see you again in person in a few weeks.

Thank you so much for being here today. Thank you so much for all the work you do, and I hope to see you soon. 

Patricio Chambers: Nice, nice. For us, a very important [00:20:00] meeting. Thank you for this. Your time, your time, Tom, yeah? For, for us it’s very important to, talk about this. 

Thomas Hynes : I agree.

Patricio Chambers: Because it’s our, our work and our mission to bring dream- 

Thomas Hynes : Yeah … 

Patricio Chambers: of a, a, a new world. Here, here. For the new generation. 

Thomas Hynes : Well, you have all the 

generations 

with you there, so you – 

Patricio Chambers: Yeah, yeah … you can 

Thomas Hynes : speak for all the generations. All right. Thank you so much, Patricio. Thank you so 

Patricio Chambers: much, too. 

Thomas Hynes : See you soon.

All right. Take care.