Let them eat oil! The dolphins, eagles, and humans inhabiting the Cuyabeno
Wildlife Reserve in the Ecuadorian Amazon, that is. This seems to be the
will of Petroecuador, the Ecuadorian state oil company, which has begun oil
exploration in the most sensitive and best conserved part of the 1.6 million
acre reserve, one of the richest wildlife areas in the Ecuadorian
rainforest. A recent stody on biodiversity sited 400 species of trees, 449
shrubs, and 92 lianas in just one hectare, the highest species density yet
recorded for any rainforest zone.
During the past two years, five oil spills have caused great destruction in
the northwest part of the Reserve, contaminating rivers and lakes, and
causing serious health problems for local Indigenous communities such as the
Cofan, Siona, Secoya, Quichua, and Shuar, and harming the animal and plant
life of the region. Despite this fact, Petroecuador plans to construct 170
kilometers of roads within the reserve, opening the area to colonization,
lumber companies, and ranchers. The promising ecotourism industry in the
Cuyabeno will also be destroyed. The fact that Petroecuador will be working
in an area of flooded forest means they will need to cut vast amounts of
wood for walkways, platforms, and towers. This also will make it more
difficult to control contamination from oil spills.
Recently, an interministerial taskforce visiting the Cuyabeno found
Petroecuador contaminating rivers with drilling wastes, and permitting
hunting within the Reserve, activities which are prohibited in protected
areas. The group recommended "the immediate suspension of these destructive
activities" and asked that Petroecuador "be fined to the maximum extent
legally possible". Still, the company continues its illegal oil
activities.
Now, a coalition has been formed, uniting Indigenous communities, workers,
ecotourism guides, scientists, and conservation groups in the "Committee for
the Defense of the Cuyabeno". The Committee demands an immediate cessation
of illegal oil activities, and a ten-year moratorium on all further oil
development within the Cuyabeno Reserve.
What you can do:
Write the president of Ecuador, expressing your
desire that illegal oil exploration by Petroecuador be
halted within the Cuyabeno Reserve.
Address your letters to:
President Sixto Duran Ballen
Presidente Constitucional del Ecuador
Casa Presidencial
Quito, Ecuador
Send a copy to:
Comittee for the Defense of the Cuyabeno
P.O. Box 17-21-508
Quito, Ecuador
For more information, call Glen Switkes
Rainforest Action Network (415) 398-4404
or en.rainforest