CODELCO’S TROUBLED MINING PROJECT IN INTAG UNDER NEW SCRUTINY
For nearly 30 years, communities have worked to conserve, restore and defend the cloud forests of the Intag Valley in Ecuador, in what locals say is the longest continuous resistance movement against mining in Latin America.
The tropical Andes are considered the world’s most biodiverse hotspot, ranking first in plant, bird, mammal and amphibian diversity; however, less than 15% of Ecuador’s original cloud forests and only 4% of all forests in northwestern Ecuador remain.
Codelco, the world’s largest copper producer, plans to open a mine in the Intag Valley that would destroy primary forest and lie within the buffer area of Cotacachi Cayapas Ecological Reserve — a plan that experts say would be ecologically devastating and not worth the cost.
Communities are using the presence of two threatened frog species — previously thought to be extinct — at the mining site to challenge the project under the “rights of nature,” Ecuador’s constitutional guarantee that natural ecosystems have the right to exist, thrive, and evolve.
Efectos ambientales de la minería
((Traducido del ingles: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_effects_of_mining 09-2022)) Los efectos ambientales de la minería pueden ocurrir a escala local, regional y global a través de prácticas mineras directas e indirectas. Los efectos pueden resultar en erosión , sumideros , pérdida de biodiversidad o la contaminación del suelo , las aguas subterráneas y las aguas superficiales por los productos químicos emitidos por los procesos mineros. Estos procesos también afectan a la atmósfera por las emisiones de […]
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Carlos Zorrilla updated March 2023) UPDATE MARCH 29, 2023: AFTER NEARLY 3 DECADES OF STRUGGLE, INTAG COMMUNITIES WIN! #25!! The Imbabura Provincial Court finally agreed with the communities and ruled against the Llurimagua mining project, revoking the environmental license and ordering a total cessation of all mining activity within the mining concession. The ruling was […]
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Read MoreGlobal biodiversity hotspot faces mining threat Endangered amphibians, including a toad new to science, are at risk from planned copper extraction in Ecuador’s cloud forests Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Reddit Email to a friend By Kenny Taylor Published: April 4, 2022 at 7:00 am Part of the most wildlife-rich zone in the world […]
Read MoreCODELCO EL SUBIMPERIALISMO MINERO CHILENO…2 Alberto Acosta[1], Carlos Zorrilla[2] “Algún día América tendrá una voz de continente, una voz de pueblo unido. Una voz que será respetada y oída; porque será la voz de pueblos dueños de su propio destino”. Salvador Allende Ecuador es un país relativamente nuevo en el mundo de la minería transnacional. […]
Read MoreVeintitrés razones para que Codelco no se meta en Intag
(Actualizado Octubre 2021) Carlos Zorrilla (Actualizado 10-2021) Escribo el presente documento porque siento la urgencia de hacer todo lo posible para evitar lo que varios científicos consideran será uno de los desastres ambientales más grande del mundo El anunciado desastre ambiental sin precedente es conocido como Llurimagua; un proyecto minero cuprífero a gran escala. El […]
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