| Ecuador 2008-2009 Andean Bear |
![]() |
|
|
In 2008 and 2009 I went to the Imbabura province in northern Ecuador to continue to work on my story on the andean bear. There, I visited the communities of the Intag region. I met many people and among them, those who fought during many years against a Canadian mining company , whose project to operate an opencast copper mine might have threatened the region. It was particularly interesting to meet Carlos Zorilla, executive director of the Ecological Defense and Conservation of Intag (DECOIN). "Significant portions of the mountain forests of the Intag zone are the cloud forests the andean bears call home", he said."They are considered to be on the top of the list of threatened ecosystems. Furthermore, they play an oversized role in the protection of water resources." It is precisely in this region that the industrial copper mining project might have destroyed thousands of hectares of primary forests harboring threatened mammal and bird species. |
||
![]() |
A preliminary Environmental Impact Assessment
revealed the following devastating impacts of such
a project: Today, the mining company has lost all its concessions in the region of Intag. She has also lost those of Junin and Chaucha who are now in the hands of the Ecuadorian government and who may, under the new mining law, be operated by a national company . At the last meeting of DECOIN, last January 2010, Carlos Zorilla said: "It could hardly be clearer that there will be no mining in Intag… However, your energy will be needed again if the government goes ahead with the plans of exploring in Junin via the newly created state-owned mining company. For now it will be difficult because the company has not money, but that can quickly change." |
|
|
In July 2009, I also met Ramiro Porras,
coordinator of the 2500 hectares Alto Choco
Reserve, located in the Intag zone. Alto Choco is
one of the three reserves managed by the Foundation
Zoobreviven, a non-profit Ecuadorian organization
established in 1997 to protect Ecuador's ecosystems
and wildlife. Foundation Zoobreviven runs a
volunteer program where volunteers can assist with
reserve's management tasks, such as reforestation,
organic farming, area patrolling, plant and tree
development studies and more recently, coffee
farming. |
||
| Click on pictures for larger version |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
© Philippe Henry 2004 - No reproduction authorized