Fax: (011) 593 2 565 809
Email: rrendon@pi.pro.ec

Dear Mr. Rendon Blacio,

I wish to express my extreme concern regarding serious threats to the scarce remaining biodiversity of Ecuador by recent mining prospecting activities in Protected Areas as part of a World Bank financed mining project. It has come to my attention that you are considering releasing to the public information illegally obtained regarding mineral resources in Protected Areas. It is highly unlikely, given the experience of the Podocarpus National Park, that it will be possible to control mining activities once the information is made public. It is in your power to safeguard these biological treasures by not releasing this information. You must be highly aware of the biological value of the prospected areas, particularly the Cotacachi-Cayapas biological reserve - regarded as one of the ten hotspots of global biodiversity. Can Ecuador bear the responsibility of hastening the extinction of numerous species if it continues to allow and encourage unsustainable development in regions of biological magnificence?

You must also be highly aware of the potential revenue gained from ecologically sustainable activities such as eco-tourism that would be severely compromised by any infringement in these areas and by the negative impact on Ecuador's reputation as a country that values and protects its unique natural areas.

The resistance of local communities against mining activities in native forests in Ecuador has gained international attention. There is a global consensus that supports their opinion that sustainable development options such as eco-tourism are vastly superior to exploitative, polluting and unsustainable activities such as mining.

Please act for the long-term ecological and social integrity of Ecuador and withhold information that can only result in destructive, polluting and unsustainable development.

Yours sincerely,