Subject: Ecuador Protects Two National Parks
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4/18/99
OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY by EE
RAN is taking the high ground and trying to consolidate the
significant step forward by Ecuador in blocking oil exploration,
mining and logging in 2.7 million acres of old growth rainforest. To
prevent backsliding, your letters are needed. Chip in!
g.b.
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Title: Ecuador Protects Two National Parks
Source: Rainforest Action Network, Action Alert 143: April 1999
Status: Distribute freely with credit given to source
Date: April 1999
In an enormous victory for indigenous rights and the environment, this
January Ecuadorian President Jamil Mahuad issued a decree blocking
future oil exploration, mining, logging, and colonization in the
Cuyabeno-Imuya and Yasuni National Parks.
The Cuyabeno-Imuya and Yasuni National Parks, located near Ecuador's
borders with Peru and Colombia, cover some 2.7 million acres of old
growth rainforest. The parks are part of the lush and biologically
rich Amazon basin and contain a vast system of rivers and lakes as
well as thousands of plant and animal species.
The parks are also home to thousands of indigenous peoples, including
the Huaorani, the Tagaeri, the Taromenare, the Sionas, and the
Secoyas. The Tagaeri and the Taromenare, two subgroups of the Huaorani
people, have managed to steadfastly resist contact with the outside
world, and are now two of the world's last remaining nomadic, largely
uncontacted indigenous peoples. Over the years the region has
experienced ongoing conflicts between oil companies seeking to develop
the area and indigenous communities afraid that development will lead
to the destruction of their ancestral homeland and loss of their
traditional way of life.
Environmentalists praised President Jamil Mahuad's decision to protect
these parks and the indigenous peoples living there. "By protecting
the rainforests of the Cuyabeno-Imuya and Yasuni National Parks,
Ecuador is investing in its long-term economic and social well-being"
said Shannon Wright, RAN's Beyond Oil Campaign Director. "Rather than
sacrificing the area for the short term profit of a few multinational
oil companies, these rich ecosystems will now continue to provide for
Ecuador as a whole and the local indigenous peoples in perpetuity."
A presidential decree like the one protecting the Cuyabeno-Imuya and
Yasuni National Parks can remain in effect indefinitely-or it can be
reversed at any time by the current, or any future, Ecuadorian
president. Activists are now working to have the decree passed into
permanent legislation. In the past successful presidential decrees
have been used to create more binding legislation, and environmental
and indigenous rights advocates are hoping that this will be the case
with President Mahuad's new decree.
Unfortunately, the Cuyabeno-Imuya and Yasuni park decree will most
likely meet with strong resistance from those that have an economic
stake in exploiting the region. Oil companies in particular have a
long history of using full-scale pressure to influence decision-
makers. In 1991 an Ecuadorian Supreme Court decision to ban oil
projects in protected natural areas was overturned after oil companies
threatened to divest from Ecuador. Support from the international
community may play a critical role in encouraging President Mahuad to
stand by his decree in the face of mounting pressure from oil
corporations and other development interests.
What You Can Do!
Thank President Jamil Mahuad for his decision to protect the Cuyabeno-
Imuya and Yasuni National Parks from harmful development. Encourage
him to withstand any pressure from industrial interests to reverse his
decision.
Fax a letter for free to Presidente Mahaud from our site at:
http://www.ran.org/info_center/aa/aa143.htmlber/education/21educat
Or send a printed letter with the following as a possible basis:
Presidente Jamil Mahuad
Presidente de la Rep#blica
Casa Presidencial
Calle Garcia Moreno
Quito, ECUADOR
Honorable President Jamil Mahuad,
I was encouraged by your decision to issue a presidential decree
protecting the Cuyabeno-Imuya and Yasuni National Parks from
development. As you know, these parks are home to thousands of
indigenous peoples. Protecting these areas is vital to the long-term
economic, environmental, and social well-being of Ecuador.
By issuing this decree you have established Ecuador as a regional
leader in the protection of the Amazon basin. I commend you for your
decision to protect this critical region. I urge you to uphold the
Cuyabeno-Imuya and Yasuni decree and to support legislation that would
permanently protect the Cuyabeno-Imuya and Yasuni National Parks.
Sincerely,
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