Ecuador: Guild rejects illegal mining in a natural reserve near Peru

The Chamber of Mining of Ecuador (CME) rejected the activity illegal mining which is registered within the Podocarpus National Park, one of the main protected natural areas of the country, located in the Amazonand warned that the pollution generated can reach the territory of Peru.

Through a statement, the main mining union of Ecuador expressed its “total rejection of the illegal extraction of minerals” in a natural reserve, which he recalled is home to “high biodiversity and endemism” with more than 600 species of animals, according to data from the Ministry of Environment, Water and Ecological Transition.

“The damages generated by illicit mining extraction are not only environmental but also social and economic”reviewed from a series of reports that warn of growing mining activity within the Podocarpus.

The Andean Amazon Monitoring Project (MAAP), which tracks Amazon deforestation through satellite images, warned in February of the loss due to illegal mining of 25 hectares of jungle within the Podocarpus National Park since 2019.

The CME, which advocates for legal and environmentally responsible mining, warned that the introduction of machinery, opening of accesses, installation of illegal camps and extraction of minerals, such as gold, in such a sensitive area causes “a negative environmental impact that is very difficult to remedy.”

“The invasion of illegal mining in the Podocarpus is even more serious because it is within a protected area, in a remote and poorly controllable area, even the water contamination would reach Peru through the Puyango-Tumbes basin,” said the executive president of the CME, María Eulalia Silva.

The Podocarpus covers some 146,000 hectares between the southern Amazonian provinces of Loja and Zamora Chinchipe, both bordering Peru.

This area is home to a large area of ​​moors, cloud forests and scrub areas, essential for the preservation and continuity of the ecosystems of southern Ecuador and northern Peru.

Silva also indicated that as a representative union of the industrial mining sector of Ecuador, it is considered “that the true enemy of all Ecuadorians is illegal mining, which is also an enemy of nature and sovereignty” from the country.

For Carolina Orozco, president of the CME board of directors, “It has been demonstrated that the Government has not had the human or financial resources to combat illegal mining that has gotten out of hand. Responsible mining is part of combating this illegal extraction.”

“The gold is in the subsoil and it is the responsibility of Ecuadorians to decide who does it and how they do it. “Today the decision is not whether or not we want mining, but how we fight against illegality and how we promote responsible mining,” Orozco added.

According to a report from the Superintendency of Companies and the Debt Management and Analysis System (Sigade), foreign direct investment in the mining sector went from US$808 million in 2018 to less than US$190 million in 2022, which represents “a disinvestment.”

This is due, according to the CME, to the fact that mining companies in exploration and prior to the construction phase have paused their investments, as a result of the economic and legal uncertainty but also due to the lack of guarantees regarding security for legal operations and the incursion of illegal mining, which is an evil that plagues Ecuador.

The mining union insisted that “Ecuador is losing an opportunity with its natural resources, because on the one hand the State has not been able to stop illegal mining and, on the other hand, important sources of foreign investment are being chased away by erratic decisions.”

“We call on the next authorities to take this problem seriously and promote a legal industry for the benefit of all Ecuadorians.” concluded the CME.

Source: EFE