There are 545 hectares affected by mining in the Cuenca Alta Protector Forest of the Nangaritza River

It has 72,734 hectares of unique tepuis (large and elevated rock formation) that are home to plants and is located in the province of Zamora Chinchipe. This is the Nangaritza River Cuenca Alta Protected Forest, an area vulnerable to rapidly increasing mining activities.

This is revealed by the report of the Monitoring Project of the Andean Amazon (MAAP) #167 of the EcoCiencia Foundation. This study shows the impact on 290 hectares during 2020compared to 30 hectares for each year between 2006 and 2016.

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Jorge Villa, GIS specialist (Geographic Information Systems) and remote sensors from EcoCiencia, points out that the satellite analysis shows the high mining activity not only in 2020, but between June 2018 and June 2022.

“Thanks to an analysis of satellite images, several sectors with mining activity have been identified within the limits of the Cuenca Alta Protected Forest of the Nangaritza River. Additionally, with the help of information from the MapBiomas project, we have been able to observe that between 2006 and 2016 mining remained relatively stable, going from 17 hectares to 22 hectares. As of 2016, said activity increased its surface by 13 times in just five years,” says Villa.

In addition, between 2021 and 2022, 231 points where this activity is currently being carried out were determined. Too, there are 17 mining concessions dedicated to the extraction of metals such as gold, silver and copper and seven zones destined to artisanal mining for the extraction of gold.

According to EcoScience, Only in three detected cases have 545 hectares been affected by mining in the last five years, which is equivalent to 768 professional soccer fields. In total, 32% of the protected forest area is occupied by mining concessions.

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“Two of the cases are found along the Nangaritza River, in the vicinity of the towns of Miazi and Shaim, to the northeast of the forest. A third case extends to the Shamataka ravine, inside the forest”, says Villa.

In the case of the Miazi stream, 113 affected hectares were monitored. 35% of reported mining is right on the edge of the forest and it is impacting areas of the Ministry of Defense, the Association of Shuar Tayunts Centers and the Maycú Nature Reserve, the report details. And by June of this year, with this case, there are 24 hectares violated.

“The total reported mining activity, in this case, is within two mining concessions in a state of exploration / exploitation, which belong to the company SurNorte SA However, these concessions were not authorized for this type of mining, so it would potentially be an illegal activity.”, reveals Fundación EcoCiencia.

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In the second case, Shain, there are 290 hectares affected where 71% of the identified mining is within the Protected Forest. Here there are mining concessions under exploration and exploitation. “The mining concession where the greatest increase in activity was registered, called Cascas 2, is in charge of the company Proyectmin SA and is in a state of exploration for medium-sized mining, which indicates that the activities would be irregular,” the report says. .

And the third case is Shamataka in the Zurmi parish of the Nangaritza canton. Between June 2018 and in the same month of 2022, 142 affected hectares were detected. 100% of the mining, in this case, is within the forest.

This Protecting Forest shares its territory with ten centers of the Shuar nationality and it is limited by two natural protected areas, such as the Podocarpus National Park and the Cerro Plateado Biological Reserve.

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In addition, it represents the last connection bridge in the country that unites the Andean ecosystems with the Amazonian ones. Nevertheless, the protective forests are not within the national system of protected areasTherefore, non-renewable activity such as mining is not prohibited.

However, in the legal framework does include protective forests as part of the National Forest Heritage, whose conservation is the responsibility of the State.

“We believe that the first step is to socialize the effects that are taking place and influence decision makers so that they can manage actions that minimize these impacts in a timely manner,” emphasizes specialist Villa.

“It is not possible to continue with the chip in the head of gold or water at the tables that the Government has convened to deal with mining issues,” says the National Chamber of Mining

Meanwhile, the analysis of satellite images has allowed us to observe the reduction of vegetation cover in the beds of the Nangaritza river. In addition, a progressive decline in the orange-throated tanager, a unique bird species in the world.

“Mining has destroyed the guarumo forests that were on the banks of the river and that it probably served them as shelter and food, since they used to be observed in the crowns of those trees, ”says the study. (YO)