Ecuador court upholds ‘rights of nature,’ blocks Intag Valley copper mine
by Liz Kimbrough on 31 March 2023 Communities in the Intag Valley of Ecuador have won a significant legal victory after a court ruled to halt copper mining in one of the world’s most biodiverse forests. The Imbabura Provincial Court ruled on March 29 that Chilean copper producer Codelco and Ecuador’s Empresa Nacional Minera (ENAMI EP) had […]
Read MoreCODELCO’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.
Twenty-four reasons why Codelco shouldn’t mess with Llurimagua’s Intag mining project
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 […]
Read MoreUna historia de dos ranas, seis empresas mineras y mucho, mucho más
carlos zorrilla A simple vista, es fácil tener la impresión de que se trata de una lucha de dos ranas en peligro crítico de extinción contra un proyecto minero de cobre transnacional masivo. En parte, tendrías razón. Pero es mucho más que eso. Se podría decir que todo comenzó en la década de 1980 cuando una expedición […]
Read MoreA tale of two frogs, six mining companies and much, much more
Carlos Zorrilla From the outside looking in, it’s easy to get the impression that it’s a black-and-white struggle of two critically endangered frogs versus a massive transnational copper mining project. In part, you’d be right. But it’s much more than that. It could be said that it all started in the 1980’s when a Belgian-government […]
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 […]
Read MoreEcuador’s Ecuador’s Problematic Llurimagua Mining Project
Now that the international arbitration requested by the Chilean mining giant Codelco against the Ecuador is attracting worldwide attention, it feels like the right time to inform the public a little bit about what is behind the arbitration, and call the press for such shoddy reporting on this mining project
Read MoreRecordar
A veces es necesario parar… y recordar lo que esta en juego, y por qué se lucha. El futuro de nuestra zona depende, en gran medida, en la capacidad de reaccionar a los impactos sociales y ambientales gravísimos previstos en el Estudio de Impacto Ambiental preliminar hecho por expertos japoneses para una pequeña mina […]
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