|
12 February 2000 | Intag | By Carlos Zorrilla
Our struggle against one of the world’s biggest corporation,
Mitsubishi, was not, at first, planned. All we felt was this
great need to stop a massive mining project that threatened
our communities, our forests, our rivers, and our livelihood.
This powerful need was the main force that led to the series
of events that culminated in the expulsion of the giant corporation
from the stunning Toisan Range, situated in north-western
Ecuador, and the total halt to mining exploration since May
1997. It was also, undoubtedly, the motivating force that
led us to find and successfully promote sustainable economic
activities in our region.
It was, in fact, the threat by this mining project that
crystallized the formation of DECOIN- Defensa y Conservacion
Ecologica de Intag- the local grass-roots environmental organization
that I helped create in January 1995. And it has been DECOIN,
made up wholly by people living in the Intag area, which has
successfully led he struggle to halt all mining activities
in the Toisan Range. However, it has been the communities
involved in this struggle, that has made this struggle be
as successful as it has.
The mining project in question goes (went) by the name of
"Junin", which is also the name of a tiny community
tucked away in astonishingly beautiful corner of Northwest
Ecuador. Both derive their name from a perfectly clear river
born high up on the forested watersheds of the Toisan Range.
The forests are primary cloud forests, belonging to one of
earth’s great biotic regions- the Choco Floristic Province.
Being on the western slopes of the Western Andes, these magnificent
forests also belong to the Western Ecuadorian Forests, likewise
known for their extreme biological diversity and endemism.
. Five hundred hectares of these forests harbor more species
of hummingbird and orchids than that found in all of the USA
and Canada combined. All but about 8% or 9% have been transformed
into industrial banana and oil palm plantations, degraded
pastures and second rate agricultural areas. Logging companies
have made millions, while decimating one of our planet’s
great biological jewels. It is estimated that thousands of
the approximately 10,000 species of plants that once thrived
in Western Ecuador have become extinct. Now these last remaining
forests are facing their greatest threat: open pit copper
mining.
The Junin copper mining project was made possible by a treaty
between the Japanese and Ecuadorian governments, signed in
1991. Under the terms of the treaty, JICA, (Japanese International
Co-operation Agency), would fund exploratory activities to
identify mineralized areas in the Toisan Range. JICA then
hired Bishimetals (today, Mitsubishi Materials) to. carry
out the actual exploration. The Ecuadorian counterpart was
CODIGEM, (Corporacion de Investigacion Geologica Minera)-
part of the Ministry of Energy and Mines. One of the objectives
of this agreement was for the Japanese taxpayer to save Mitsubishi
millions of dollars in exploratory expenses. As a Japanese
representative for Mitsubishi told us one day in the Junin
area when questioned abut this: "You don’t understand,
Japanese government and business, same thing".
Of course, the main goal was to identify promising mineral
reserves and exploit them. Back in 1991, the Intag area around
the Toisan Range had several advantages from the miner’s
and the government’s perspective. One big one was that
there are no indigenous communities. This cut down considerably
the chance of organized resistance, as has been the case in
Ecuador’s Amazon with the petroleum companies. Two, since
the area is largely made up of "colonos" (settlers)
from different parts of Ecuador, and their offspring, the
area lacks a strong cultural or ethnic identity. This "pioneer"
culture, as well as the geographical isolation (the communities
are widely dispersed) and poor road and communication infrastructure,
has historically made it extremely difficult for organized
groups to succeed. Finally, the mainly subsistence economy
and very poor level of education , added to what should have
been ideal conditions for the mining interests to win the
day. But, as we shall see, it didn’t turn out that way.
When I first found out abut the presence of "miners"
in the Intag area from Father Geovanny, a young, liberal,
catholic priest, I knew almost nothing abut who they were
and what they were doing. The extremely dispersed and wildly
mountainous nature of the Intag area, poor roads and almost
nonexistant telephones, made it difficult t find out and keep
track on such going ons (Intag’s population is about
15,000 spread out over 1500 square kilometers). However, Father
Geovanny’s concern with the miner’s activities and
my own interest, were enough to coalescence into what is today
DECOIN. With some young adults I had helped organized into
a local conservation organization a few years prior, another
youth group from a nearby community and a handful of concerned
and curious individuals, the seed for DECOIN was planted one
January morning in 1995.
Our first job was gathering information and seeking funds
to finance our environmental work . The first was easy compared
to the second. We talked with our neighbors and asked many
questions. Until the church sent Father Geovanny to Cuba two
years ago, he never missed a opportunity to "spread the
Green Word" and win over supporters. We journeyed into
the Junin area to talk with the people to learn what their
experiences were. We also got in touch with a Quito based
activist environmental NGO, called Accion Ecologica, which,
as we later learned, had been also "snooping" around
the mining project gathering information. They helped us get
more information, and organize a few events, which helped
us reach more people and educate them about the mining threat.
Little by little we gathered and shared information, some
of which detailed a host of illegal activities perpetrated
by the miners in Junin and specially by Ecuadorian mining
officials.
November 1995, eleven months after the founding DECOIN,
we were able to organized the first environmental congress
in our area (also the first in our province). The congress
attracted over 200 participants from 20 communities. Also
present were some very high government officials (including
the # 2 at the Ministry of Energy and Mines, the governor,
and a congressional representative) and representatives from
several mining companies, including Bishimetals and the giant
RTZ (Rio Tinto Zinc). Something extremely important was clearly
at stake in Junin. This was a watershed event, for it not
only brought the mining issue t the forefront, but more importantly,
it was here for the first time that DECOIN publicly opposed
the Junin project and mining in the Toisan Range. The battle
lines were drawn, so to speak.
In this uneven fight against one f the world’s largest
corporation backed by the Ecuadorian government, we have received
many lucky "breaks". Our first one was getting TV
coverage of the Junin issue by of the most popular TV programs
at the time. The show was aired at prime time Sunday night
and was watched by hundreds of thousands of people. This,
as you can imagined saved us a tremendous amount of time in
informing and seeking backing from the national audience.
We have also used this same TV program in many occasions with
our work with the communities and with outside organizations
to seek support. After the television coverage, newspapers
were more willing to publish our articles and news releases,
which have been numerous (more than 30 in the past almost
4 years). We have also been fortunate in that several of DECOIN’s
members have been good writers. All this media coverage not
only helped spread the information and gather support for
the anti mining campaign, but it also gave us some level of
protection from possible harassment from government officials.
This has not, however, prevented some of us from receiving
death threats on more than one occasion from "pro-mining"
interests.
The next main event was obtaining a copy of the Environmental
Impact Study, which for years we tried to obtain. By this
time our work with the communities in environmental education,
workshops in fish culture and our working with women’s
groups, had greatly increased our popular support. The release
and consequent dissemination of the Environmental Impact Study
was another watershed event, and it served to coalescence
opposition to the project by those who had doubts or who were
misinformed about our organizational work. It, in short, made
our work easier. And no wonder.
The seriousness of the social and ecological impacts detailed
in the environmental study, (which was prepared in Japan (Metal
Mining Agency of Japan) speeded up the process of opposition
to the mining project. Of all the impacts, the threats to
the communities was probably crucial in the increased level
of opposition.
These impacts include:
1. The relocation of 4 communities and 100 families
2. Massive deforestation
3. Local climatic change, leading to desertification
4. Impacts to the Cotacachi-Cayapas Ecological Reserve
5. Dangerous levels of contamination of rivers with lead,
arsenic, cadmium, chrome and nitrates.
6. Increase in crime
7. Impacts to several endangered species, including: Jaguars,
Pumas, Ocelots, Spectacled Bears, Howler and Spider Monkeys,
Plate-billed Mountain Toucans, and about 7 other identified
species (Our estimate is approximately 30 species of threatened
animals by the project).
We took this information and quickly made it available to
the communities by copying it and producing a simple to understand
summaries of the study. We then spread its content internationally
via the Internet to our contacts overseas.
The campaign quickly prospered and acquired strength. The
study itself became a powerful tool for our local, national
and international campaign. Part of the successful campaign
involved letter writing from people in Europe and the USA,
through such organizations as Global Response in the state
of Colorado, and Rain Forest Action Network, in California,
USA, and Rettet Den Regenwald in Germany- who has helped us
greatly from the start. An integral part of the campaign included
the frequent use of the Internet in order to keep NGO's informed
and for seeking support and funding (obtaining enough funding
has been a constant struggle). The result of the campaign
was thousands of letters sent to Ecuadorian government and
Mitsubishi officials, which, we firmly believe, played a important
part in the favorable outcome.
The threat to the communities rallied the opposition, and
not too long after the release of the study representatives
from seven communities in and around the mining project area
decided to form a committee to confront the project and save
their communities. Besides backing the committee, DECOIN also
facilitated contacts between community members and government
mining officials, with the intent of finding a peaceful solution
to the community’s growing opposition to the mining project.
Somewhere along the way, a handful of campesino went on a
trip to mining areas in Peru, a trip which was made possible
with the help of Quito-based Accion Ecologica. This trip played
an important part in educating the people of mining’s
real impacts.
In light of the total lack f response from government officials
to meet in the mining area and discuss the project, the newly
formed committee decided, after an assembly attended by over
60 persons, to "take" the mining camp in the area,
in the hope of forcing mining officials to talk with community
representatives. Again the mining officials failed to respond,
and this led to the unanimous decision to burn down the mining
camp as a gesture of the rejection of the project. This was
done with the participation of approximately 150 persons from
7 communities and included the presence of women and children.
After careful removal and inventorying of all equipment and
goods in the camp (which was owned by Bishimetals) the goods
were all transported on the back of 60 mules to the nearby
community of Junin. Later (after a 5 hour mule trip), they
were carefully turned over to Municipal authorities, and much
later, handed over to Ecuadorian mining officials. It needs
to be pointed out that the Mayor of our County (Canton Cotacachi),
in general, has backed the community’s decision to reject
the mining project and has, at times, served as a go-between
between the government and communities.
Government officials finally responded to events in Junin
by criminally charging three of the movement’s leaders
with "sabotage and terrorism"- which in Ecuador,
carries a minimum 16 year prison sentence. The charges were
made against two leaders of the committee Polibio Perez and
Luis Torres, and a member of DECOIN, Luis Robalino, who also
took part in the collective torching of the camp. Only recently,
and after constant pressure from church leaders, national
human rights, and other international organizations, was the
criminal process suspended.
The burning of the camp did a number of things: First, and
foremost, it stopped all mining activities in the area. Second,
it solidified the community's opposition, and strengthened
the committee for the defense of Junin and the Toisan Range.
Fourth, it created damaging international publicity both for
Mitsubishi and the Ecuadorian government (who had been handling
the whole situation incredibly ineptly). Third, it scared
the government and Mitsubishi officials, leading to the temporary
suspension of the government to government agreement to explore
for minerals in the Toisan Range. So far, this treaty has
not been extended a further two years, as it would have been
under normal circumstances. Perhaps more importantly, it showed
the communities that by being organized they can successfully
defend their environment and their basic human rights, even
against such powerful players as the Ecuadorian government
and a giant multinational corporation.
Coffee VS Copper
It is very important to point out that all the while this
was on, DECOIN made some fundamental changes in its strategy.
We did not "get stuck" in the merely opposition
and resistance mode, but quickly started looking for viable
sustainable economic alternatives to offer Intag’s residents.
Along these lines, in 1998 DECOIN helped create and partially
fund, the first ever region-wide association of shade-grown
organic coffee (called: Cafe Rio Intag). The association has
quickly grown to over I00 members, with new members joining
all the time, and offers one of the best alternatives to mining.
The association has lately received a powerful helping hand
from two Japanese organizations: Japan Brazil Network (JBN),
and Organic Coffee, Inc. JBN organized and funded a trip to
Japan with 2 community leaders and the mayor of our Municipality
to promote organic coffee and to educate the Japanese public
about the threats our communities mining were facing by this
JICA (Japanese Agency for International Cooperation) funded
project. Organic Coffee Inc. is a fair trade organization
from Fukoka. Its founder recently visited the Intag area to
establish personal and business contacts. The very positive
visit resulted a deal to start exporting our coffee to Japan.
The Association, we are proud to say, now is strong, independent
organization.
Besides coffee, and our permanent contacts with the communities,
we are also involved in the following community-based projects:
community ecological tourism (in the mining area), native
tree reforestation (6 communities); school gardens; and helping
organize women’s groups to work in handicrafts, and home-gardens.
We also are going ahead with a brand new project aimed at
creating community-administered forests and watersheds- the
first of these community forests reserves has been established
at the site of the ex mining camp, encompassing approximately
60 hectares of primary and secondary cloud forests, and protecting
Junin´s watersheds. All of the projects have had wide
acceptance and have been elaborated based on real needs and
in close consultation with the communities; two essential
ingredients needed to guarantee success.
Another very important event, was the publishing of Decoin`s
book on the Junin struggle, and the real consequences of mining
in developing countries. The book, Es Un Monstruio Grand que
Pisa Fuerte, written by Decoin member, Mary Ellen Fieweger,
is the first time in Latin America a book on the environmental
impacts of mining has been published by, and expressing the
views of the communities and a grass-roots organization. This
publication has also helped to inform the general public of
the Monster called industrial mining.
Our struggle here in the Intag area is far from over. At
any time the Junin mining concession can be given to another
mining company, or increases in the price of copper could
increase the pressure to mine in this Eden. We also fear that
the new proposed mining law, if approved, will make it much
harder and dangerous to keep carrying out our campaign. The
proposed law, in effect, is a shameful strategy to "make
mining safe for multinational corporations", by violating
community and individual basic human rights; eliminating all
royalties; and seriously eroding environmental legislation
and local government rights.
The so-far successful struggle in Intag against the Junin
mining project, forced an issue which government and mining
companies have been neglecting for years and secretly hoping
it would not surface in Junin: the community’s inherent
right to have a say in the use of their natural resources
and to oppose projects that threaten their rights or environment.
A burning issue, which may determine, to a great degree, and
in the very near future, the nature of natural resource extraction
world-wide. We are hopeful that the struggle in the Intag
area will serve as yet another model of resistance and hope
in the struggle to secure those rights, and make them prosper.
|
