۱۳۹۱ آبان ۲۸, یکشنبه

Ecuador's Indigenous Leaders Oppose New Oil Exploration Plans in Amazon Region



"The Sapara do not believe in cemeteries," said Rosa Dahua, an Indigenous leader from the Ecuadorean Amazon. She was seated on a wooden stool with an anaconda carved into its base, and she leaned forward as she spoke, her dark hair falling in waves over her shoulders.
Dahua is the vice president of the Association of Sapara Women of Ecuador, an organization dedicated to maintaining the cultural identity of the Sapara and promoting equality for Indigenous women. She was eager to describe some of the ancestral customs that are still practiced by the Sapara today. 

"We bury our deceased alongside the rivers, in the mountains, or in the lowlands of the forest. These burial sites then become sacred and are inhabited by the spirits of loved ones," she said. "We might say something like, 'my mother lives in that mountain', or 'my father lives by the river over there'. However, if the oil companies enter our territories and deforest our land, then we worry that they will also destroy the spirits of our ancestors." 

The Sapara are one of seven Indigenous nations that will be affected by a new oil boom in the central south region of the Ecuadorean Amazon. On Nov 28, Ecuador is set to open its 11th licensing round for oil exploration – a chance for private oil companies to bid for 13 blocks in the Amazonian provinces of Pastaza and Morona Santiago. Petroamazonas, Ecuador's state run oil company, has also announced plans to collaborate with foreign companies to develop three additional oil blocks in the region. 

Ecuador's Minister of Nonrenewable Natural Resources, Wilson Pastor, has said that companies will have until May 30 to place offers and that all contracts should be cemented by September 2013. Ecuador is expecting some $1.2 billion in investments from the oil blocks.
According to Amazon Watch, the 11th round will affect up to 10 million acres of primary forest that encompass the ancestral territories of the Indigenous Andoa, Achuar, Kichwa, Sapara, Shiwiar, Shuar, and Waorani nations.
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