Oil spills that destroy jungles and traditions in Ecuador

1The organization that represents the majority of indigenous and peasant communities in the Sucumbíos and Orellana provinces contaminated by oil companies is called UDAPT and proposes a tourist tour to sensitize visitors about the serious environmental crisis in the area.

Donald Moncayo, a farmer from the UDAPT, accompanies the participants during the 'Toxic Tour' in the province of Sucumbíos, Ecuador.

Gianmarco Di Costanzo

2Hand stained with oil.

The 'Toxic Tour' shows the enormous damage caused to the environment during the last decades by oil companies.

Gianmarco Di Costanzo

3 Drain pipe near an oil well.

The flora and fauna have also suffered damage caused by pollution and the presence of wild animals in the area has drastically decreased.

Lorenzo Ambrosino

4In the provinces of Sucumbíos and Orellana there are about 1,000 oil wells scattered throughout the forest.

Oil companies have for decades dumped oil extraction residues in the jungle.

Lorenzo Ambrosino

5The so-called 'lighters' are huge chimneys that burn gas from oil extraction, releasing it into the air.

The gases emitted pollute even the rainwater, which constitutes the first source of water supply for the inhabitants of the area.

Gianmarco Di Costanzo

6Pablo Fajardo, lawyer for UDAPT, in his Quito office.

For many years he has led the legal battles of the populations affected by pollution against Chevron-Texaco.

Lorenzo Ambrosino

7The 'Millennium Community' project has given Dureno a new look.

Concrete huts, roads and even a school have been built.

The village is equipped with a lighting installation and water cisterns;

For such services, electricity and drinking water, the community pays taxes, Dureno, Sucumbíos province, Ecuador.

Gianmarco Di Costanzo

8Dureno school classroom.

All the young people of the community thus have the possibility of studying, Dureno, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador.

Gianmarco Di Costanzo

9María Minda Aguinda, an elderly Cofan woman, lives in the town of Dureno.

The woman continues to live according to the traditions and trying to transmit them to the youngest.

Lorenzo Ambrosino

10Río Aguarico, in the vicinity of Dureno, contaminated by oil extraction, flows into the Napo River and crosses many indigenous and peasant communities, including Dureno and San Pablo, Aguarico River, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador.

Gianmarco Di Costanzo

11Multinationals and oil companies have been exploiting some areas of the Ecuadorian forest for decades and causing irreversible damage.

Many of the neighbors lament the high incidence of disease in the community.

Lorenzo Ambrosino

12Celestino Piaguage is one of the founders of the Siekopai community of San Pablo de Kantesiya.

This place has been dealing with the problem of environmental pollution for years.

Celestino personally experienced the changes due to the arrival of oil companies in the area.

Gianmarco Di Costanzo

13Willie is a Siekopai artist from the San Pablo community of Kantesiya.

Since his childhood, he has been forced to live in an environment affected by the pollution produced by the extractive industries.

In this painting he paints the Aguarico River contaminated with oil.

Lorenzo Ambrosino

14The community of San Pablo de Kantesiya had to adapt to the new lifestyle due to the presence of oil companies in the area.

However, traditional activities such as crafts continue to be practiced.

Lorenzo Ambrosino

15Simon Lucitande became the shaman in the community of San Pablo de Kantesiya after the death of the previous shaman, his brother.

Gianmarco Di Costanzo

16Justino Piaguage, president of the Siekopai nationality and son of Celestino Piaguage, dressed in the traditional ceremonial costume.

The survival of the ancestral culture is threatened by the contamination of the forest, to which it is intrinsically linked.

Lorenzo Ambrosino

17 Girls from the Cofan community, in Avie, on the Bermeja river.

Gianmarco Di Costanzo

18Girls from the Cofan community, in Avié, on the bank of the Bermeja river, polluted by oil extraction activity.

The inhabitants are in close contact with pollution.

Lorenzo Ambrosino