This article traces the history of legal and institutional changes leading up to the implementation of Ecuador's decentralized mangrove conservation and territorial use rights (TURFs) approach to managing artisanal mangrove fisheries. The paper further explores the implications of the 2008 constitution, which was the first in the world to officially recognize the legal rights of nature. Recognizing nature’s rights is part of the larger concept of Buen Vivir, or sumak kawsay (Kichwa), an explicitly non-Western worldview about wellbeing held by Andean and Amazonian cultures, in which nature is revered with deep respect and appreciation as kin.  In essence, Buen Vivir questions the cultural assumptions of modernism and offers new possibilities for alternative visions of development in a post-neoliberal world. I argue that the allocation of custodias to specified user groups has successfully addressed a significant weakness in the historical enforcement of mangrove conservation. On the other hand, solving a tragedy of open-access by allocating a form of property rights may reflect another example of increasing neoliberalization of the world’s fisheries. Similar to other critiques of co-management in small-scale fisheries, Ecuador’s approach to marine governance raises questions about whether concepts like Buen Vivir are tenable in a neoliberal world. While compatible with Western ideals about sustainable development, the approach encloses a public good, continues to treat fish as commodities, and promotes competitive relationships over the cooperative relationships envisioned by the Buen Vivir philosophy.  In essence, introducing the concept of Buen Vivir into Ecuador’s constitution raises new philosophical and ethical questions about whether nature can be appropriated at all, even if it is for her own protection.