Ecolex

What Ecolex does

ECOLEX (Corporación de Gestión y Derecho Ambiental ECOLEX) is a Quito-based, for-profit environmental law and management corporation founded on March 30, 1998, operating exclusively in Ecuador. The firm delivers a portfolio of specialized services organized around six practice areas — Políticas y Legislación, Cambio Climático, Territorio y Gestión de Conflictos, Litigio Ambiental, Comunidad de Práctica, and Sistemas de Información Geográfica (SIG) — and two flagship projects: Línea Verde, a free nationwide telephone and email hotline for environmental queries and damage reporting, and the Paralegales Comunitarios program, which trains and mobilizes a national network of community paralegals to advise affected communities. Its underlying technical capability centers on GIS-based spatial analysis for land tenure, regularization, territorial planning, and biodiversity mapping, applied alongside deep legal expertise in Ecuadorian environmental law, including the Sumak Kawsay framework introduced by the 2008 Constitution.

The business model is professional services revenue, generated through consulting contracts and project implementation agreements with government ministries (Ministerio del Ambiente, Municipio de Quito, SOCIO BOSQUE), international organizations (FAO, United Nations), and NGOs/foundations (MacArthur Foundation, Rainforest Alliance, International Alert). Línea Verde is offered free of charge at the national level and is not a revenue stream. The firm's go-to-market combines a sales-led channel (direct consulting and project partnerships with public and private entities) with a community-led channel (the Paralegales network and multilingual educational materials published in five indigenous languages). ECOLEX also distributes educational content via radio theater, comics ("El Bosque me Habla"), and publications, and maintains alliances with international environmental networks including FSC, ILC, AIDA, CEDENMA, ELAW, and UICN. The company has 11–50 employees, is privately held, and discloses no funding rounds, acquisitions, or revenue figures.

Name

Ecolex

Legal name

Corporación de Gestión y Derecho Ambiental ECOLEX

Website

https://ecolex-ec.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ECOLEX is a Quito-based environmental law firm founded in 1998 that provides legal consulting, environmental litigation, climate change policy, and GIS-based territorial planning services to communities, municipal governments, international organizations, and NGOs across Ecuador.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Quito

HQ country

Ecuador

HQ region

Latin America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Environmental Consulting Services: Professional consulting services provided through contracts and agreements with various organizations including government ministries, international agencies, and NGOs. Services include policy formulation, legislation development, environmental litigation support, and capacity building.
2. Project Implementation: Execution of environmental programs and projects through partnerships with international donors and development organizations, including conservation initiatives, community development, and environmental management projects.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Ecolex is an Ecuadorian environmental law firm that delivers professional consulting services across environmental policy formulation, legislation development, environmental litigation, climate change advisory, and territorial and conflict management. It also operates the free nationwide Línea Verde hotline for environmental reporting and runs the community paralegal network (Red Nacional de Paralegales Comunitarios) plus the SOLDAN initiative providing legal and institutional solutions to local governments for environmental compliance.

Product overview

ECOLEX is a portfolio of environmental legal and management services organized as distinct practice areas and projects. The core offerings include Línea Verde (a toll-free telephone and email hotline for environmental reporting and consultation), Paralegales Comunitarios (community-based legal advisory program), and various specialized areas covering climate change policy, environmental litigation, land conflict management, and geographic information systems. The Iniciativa SOLDAN provides structured environmental compliance services for local governments. Publication products include paralegal training materials, radio theater series, and multilingual comics. These services work together to provide a comprehensive ecosystem of environmental legal support, from community empowerment through hotline access and paralegal networks, to policy development, litigation support, and GIS-based territorial planning.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Línea Verde: A telephone and email service for environmental damage reports and consultations, free of cost and national coverage.
• Paralegales
• SOLDAN

Products and services

• Línea Verde (Green Line) Free nationwide telephone and email service for environmental consultation and damage reports. Provides advice on environmental rights and serves as a communication channel between citizens and environmental authorities. Available in Ecuador at national level.
• Paralegales Comunitarios (Community Paralegals Program) National network program that trains recognized community leaders in environmental law, agrarian reality, and community organization. Trained paralegals advise communities on human, environmental, and nature rights.
• Sistemas de Información Geográfica (SIG) / Geographic Information Systems Geographic Information Systems services providing spatial analysis methodologies for land tenure sanitation, regularization, multifunctional cadastre, territorial planning, spatial modeling, GPS point collection, boundary demarcation, and mapping for indigenous territories and protected areas.
• Políticas y Legislación (Policy and Legislation Advisory) Policy and legislation advisory service focused on sustainable development law, project design, policy formulation, and monitoring of infrastructure and megaproject initiatives including those under the IIRSA framework.
• Cambio Climático (Climate Change Advisory) Climate change advisory and implementation services addressing adaptation and mitigation measures through policy, legislation, and education, including national and international conservation incentive mechanisms.
• Litigio Ambiental (Environmental Litigation) Environmental litigation services promoting rights enforcement through local leader training, justice operator capacity building, and innovative litigation strategies.
• Territorio y Gestión de Conflictos (Territory and Conflict Management) Territory and conflict management services supporting land access through titling, legalization processes, and conflict resolution related to land tenure.
• Comunidad de Práctica de Género y Conservación (Community of Practice on Gender and Conservation) Virtual platform with controlled access for exchanging knowledge and experiences on gender and conservation, providing resources for designing development activities and strengthening organizational capacities in environmental management with a gender focus.
• Iniciativa SOLDAN (Legal Solutions for Development, Environment and Nature) Initiative providing environmental management systems and training for local governments (GADs) on regulatory compliance, including ordinances, capacity building, and environmental management system implementation.

Quantifiable outcome

• Free nationwide environmental hotline providing consultation and damage reporting

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• FSC (Forest Stewardship Council)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEnvironmental partnership through FSC logo displayed on ECOLEX website, indicating alignment with forest stewardship principles and sustainable forest management standards.
• ILC (International Land Coalition)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with International Land Coalition, an organization working on land governance issues, aligning with ECOLEX's land tenure and territorial management work.
• AIDA (Asociación Interamericana para la Defensa del Ambiente)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Inter-American Association for Environmental Defense, supporting environmental defense initiatives in the Americas.
• CEDENMA (Consejo Ecuatoriano para la Defensa del Medio Ambiente)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Ecuadorian Council for Environmental Defense, a national environmental organization.
• CEFOVEminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization displayed on ECOLEX website, nature of partnership not detailed.
• ELAW (Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal alliance of environmental lawyers and organizations, supporting ECOLEX's environmental litigation and legal work.
• UICN (Unión Internacional para la Conservación de la Naturaleza)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), the global authority on environmental status and conservation.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• Sociedad Peruana de Derecho Ambiental (SPDA): Peruvian environmental law organization with similar mission to Ecolex. Comparable in providing legal and policy services for environmental protection in Latin America, operating as a regional peer in adjacent geography.
• Fundación Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (FARN): Argentine environmental law organization promoting sustainable development through legal advocacy. Comparable in delivering environmental policy, litigation, and capacity building services in Latin American context.

Direct peers

• AIDA (Asociación Interamericana para la Defensa del Ambiente): Inter-American environmental defense organization that litigates and advocates on environmental issues across the Americas. Highly comparable to Ecolex's environmental litigation and policy work, with overlapping geographic focus in Latin America.
• Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL): Global environmental law organization working on climate, biodiversity, and human rights policy. Comparable in combining legal advocacy with policy formulation across multiple jurisdictions, though operating at a much larger international scale.
• Environmental Law Institute (ELI): Independent research and education center that works to strengthen environmental law and policy. Comparable focus on environmental legal research, publications, and capacity building, though operating in a different geography.
• Forest Peoples Programme (FPP): International NGO supporting forest-dependent indigenous peoples to secure their rights. Comparable focus on indigenous rights, land tenure, and community empowerment in environmental contexts.
• Natural Justice: International NGO providing legal support for community-driven environmental and human rights advocacy, particularly with indigenous communities. Comparable community-based legal empowerment model to Ecolex's Paralegales program.
• EarthRights International: International NGO that combines legal expertise with grassroots organizing to defend human rights and environment. Comparable mission and structure to Ecolex's community paralegal model and environmental litigation focus.

Broad incumbents

• Conservation Strategy Fund (CSF): Global organization providing economic and policy analysis for conservation. Comparable in providing technical advisory services to environmental projects and working with international donors, with broader geographic footprint.
• IUCN Environmental Law Centre: Specialist unit of IUCN focused on environmental law development. Already a partner of Ecolex, working in overlapping domains of environmental legislation and policy formulation globally.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ecolexecuador
• Facebookfacebook.com/ecolexec

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Ecolex