ACTION
ALERT
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WORLDWIDE
FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS
Ecuador
Protects Two National Parks
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Forest
Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises
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Conservation
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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TEXT STARTS HERE:
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.html
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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