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Photo credit: Amazon Watch
On March 1, 2012 in Quito, various indigenous leaders and representatives of NGOs, including Fundación Pachamama, met with representatives of the Pachakutik and Popular Democratic Movement political parties to discuss the eleventh oil round and the impact that it could have on the south central Amazon region.
Sarayaku Verdict Could Impact Oil Round
Also in attendance were members of the Ancestral People of Sarayaku, who asked the assembly members to pay attention to the visit that the Inter American Court of Human Rights will make to their territory on April 21 this year.
The visit is the final step before the Court delivers a crucial ruling on the rights of indigenous communities to prior consent and consultation for oil or other extractive development projects.
If the Court rules in favor of the people of Sarayaku, it would establish the right of all indigenous communities to be consulted and to give their consent prior to commencement of any development projects, including and especially extractive oil or mining projects.
Patricia Gualinga shares a message from the people of Sarayaku
Standing with Indigenous Nations
Such a ruling would halt the Ecuadorean government’s current plans to move forward with auctioning off the 3 million hectares of pristine rainforest in the south central Amazon, which is home to seven indigenous nationalities.
Humberto Cholango, President of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador, expressed his support for a declaration made by the seven affected nationalities rejecting the government’s attempt to compromise their ancestral territories by opening these new oil blocks.
Other points of discussion included:
- the importance of sharing information about the danger of these projects and their potential to violate human rights and the rights of nature.
- the incoherence of the Yasuni ITT Initiative, which would protect 200,000 hectares of ecologically irreplaceable rainforest while exploiting the adjacent south central region.
Government Expected to Move Quickly
Our colleagues from other NGOs in Ecuador indicate that while the Ecuadorean government has not made any official announcements about when oil blocks will be auctioned, their actions suggest that they will move quickly if the InterAmerican Court rules against Sarayaku.
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