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The covid-19 pandemic was the pretext that extractive companies found to continue exploiting indigenous territories with more intensity, while everyone is looking elsewhere.
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In the Ecuadorian Amazon, for example, indiscriminate felling of balsa wood was triggered, exerting great pressure on the middle and lower basin of the Pastaza River, in the territory of the Achuar nationality, as well as that of others such as the Kichwa. shuar and waorani;
a pressure that highlights the extent to which the impacts derived from extractivism in the Amazon region are being disastrous these days.
Furthermore, in the midst of a health emergency, the effects on the local population are even greater.
In the Amazon of Ecuador, the raft fever, with the arrival of hundreds of loggers for massive felling of this precious Amazonian wood, became the fatal source of contagion of the coronavirus in the Amazonian indigenous communities.
Given the increasing impact of the raft fever in the center of the Amazon, caused by the very high international demand for this wood, light and very resistant at the same time, which is used to manufacture the blades of wind power generators In Europe and China, together with my colleagues Bryan Garcés and Lenin Montahuano, the Confeniae Lanceros Digitales communication team decided to document this reality through field visits, mainly to the Achuar territory.
We entered the Chico Copataza road and on the way we saw at least five trucks carrying slats of raft wood, with the presence of people who were not indigenous, but from other countries.
At the request of the Achuar leader, we began to keep an audiovisual record of everything that happened in the territory.
When we started the tour with our team to document the situation, we already saw trucks loading and unloading rafts, boats transporting the wood, and people entering and leaving.
Already on the canoe trip on the Pastaza River, we observed how dozens of people concentrated on each of the islands that exist along this great river, precisely cutting the largest raft trees to get more slats, for which they had camps of about two square kilometers on each island, stationed on the banks and banks of the river.
This was just the beginning, the situation was going to get complicated later.
"There is no authorization to remove raft from our territory, I have not given that provision, gentlemen," said Tiyua Uyunkar, president of the Achuar nationality of Ecuador, who accompanied us on our journey, while observing the effervescence of the raft extraction.
“The logging must stop immediately because it puts the conservation of the banks of our rivers at risk and this can then unleash floods that affect our communities.
We will hold assemblies with the presidents of the associations and communities because this is community territory and the people must make decisions, ”said Uyunkar, showing clearly visible concern.
On this and other tours, we visit up to 15 illegal camps established on the islands of the Pastaza River.
And this only in relation to the Achuar territory.
We know that in other areas, such as the Kichwa and Waorani, the fever has likewise soared and similar points of exploitation are found throughout different hydrographic basins.
But in addition to the indiscriminate felling of this valuable wood, other degradation phenomena derived from and typical of extractive activities have been observed in the communities.
Prostitution, alcoholism and social disintegration proliferate.
Fight raft fever
In the community of Sharamentsa, located in the Achuar territory of the lower Pastaza, it has been decided not to cut down the raft trees and to maintain the permanent protection of the islands and the animals that inhabit them, since they are part of the ecological balance of the area.
In addition, it has been decided to carry out different economic alternatives to the raft such as food production, education and tourism.
Sharamentsa is a model ecological community that has decided to resist.
Nantu Canelos, a young indigenous leader from Sharamentsa, told us about the activities that, together with several community members, they carry out as an alternative to protect this biodiverse corner of the Amazon rainforest.
“Today we have carried out an important activity for our community, we have counted the raft and the area of the islands in our territory that are permanently being defended by the Achuar community.
When we started the counting activities, we found that the islands are the refuge of different birds and animals.
They are also a place for the reproduction of fauna.
We find different tracks of animals such as the jaguar, deer, capybaras and also of birds of different species such as herons, parrots and macaws.
With this I want to show that it is not only we in the fight for these animals, but that this biodiversity is what acts within the jungle, fulfilling the function of sowing, dispersing seeds and in this way reproducing life ”.
During the days we were there, the president of the community called an assembly to make decisions in the face of the raft fever crisis.
First, in the early morning, they gathered for the traditional guayusa
Wais umamu
, a traditional energizing drink to keep their spirits strong during the work day.
Hours later, delegates from the different surrounding communities gathered at the Sharamentsa communal house.
To kick off the event with the ancestral greeting, they extended their spears in front of each other, seated on wooden benches shaped like animals, while greeting each other with vigorous phrases in their native language.
The ecosystem in the lower Pastaza is as immensely rich as it is fragile, and the aggression that the raft fever is causing may destroy the balance that it has maintained for thousands of years
The assembly raised an intense debate on the need to conserve the forest on which the families of the communities have historically depended as a source of life and subsistence, for which they understand that an indiscriminate exploitation that threatens the forest endangers the survival of the communities. current and future generations.
After deliberating very seriously, the communities decided to suspend the raft extraction in their community territory, for which their spokespersons made the resolutions known through written communications signed by the authorities.
They were also disseminated through the audiovisual platforms of our communication team, which was invited to document this and subsequent events in order to make it visible to national and international public opinion.
“The prohibition of the extraction of the raft in the entire territory of the Achuar nationality of Ecuador is declared to protect the future of our generations.
The jungle is our source of life and it is our duty to protect it by not giving way to excessive logging and extractivism that has only left problems and threats in the Amazon ”, declared the highest Achuar representative.
The ecosystem in the lower Pastaza is as immensely rich as it is fragile, and the aggression that raft fever is causing may destroy the balance that it has maintained for thousands of years.
The prohibition of extraction is a decisive step in the conservation of the territory and it is essential that the authorities respect indigenous sovereignty and collaborate with all means at their disposal to stop this fever that can be even more lethal than the pandemic itself.
Andrés Tapia, Bryan Garcés and Lenin Montahuano
are part of the Confeniae - Lanceros Digitales communication team.
This story is part of the series 'Destellos del Amazonas', produced in the Amazon by
DemocracyAbierta
.
In Ecuador, the
CONFENIAE
team participated
together with indigenous journalists from Lanceros Digitales.
The series is supported by the
Rainforest Jounalism Fund
of the Pulitzer Center.
We appreciate the testimonies and graphic material provided by members of the communities portrayed in this story, who remain isolated due to covid-19.
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