Ecuador
In May 2022, Ecuadorian environmental defenders, led by lawyer Yaku Pérez, and communities in the Quimsacocha moorland area promoted a protective action against the Canadian mining company Dundee Precious Metals, requesting a prior, free and informed consultation with the communities of the area regarding the Loma Larga mining project, due to prospecting, exploration and exploitation activities of metallic mining in water sources, moorlands, wetlands, forests and in all the recharge and water regulation zones of the Quimsacocha hydrological system.
Subsequently, the regional Court of Justice granted precautionary measures to the Quimsacocha moorlands and suspended all mining activities, arguing that the Ecuadorian State and the Canadian company did not consult the affected communities.
The request for precautionary measures was filed by the Federation of Peasant and Indigenous Organizations of Azuay (FOA) and the Community Water Systems of Tarqui, Victoria del Portete and Girón against the Ministry of Environment, Water and Ecological Transition (MAATE).
The court ruling orders MAATE to conduct a study of the biodiversity present in the moorland and to begin the prior consultation with the communities, for which the Ombudsman's Office will have to inform the Azuay court of the progress in this regard every 45 days.
The national government appealed the decision to Ecuador's Constitutional Court. However, the communities are celebrating the provincial court's decision in defense of the Quimsacocha páramo, a landmark case in the country's environmental struggle, as the project affects water resources and communities due to toxic mining materials.
Following a complaint from the Federation of Indigenous and Peasant Organizations of Azuay, the Court of Justice of the province of Azuay ordered the suspension of mining activities in the Loma Larga gold, silver and copper extraction project in the Quimsacocha moorland.
The justice body also established that prior consultation with the communities that inhabit the moorland must be carried out and that the Ministry of Environment, Water and Ecological Transition (MAATE) must conduct biodiversity and water protection studies in the area.
The Ecuadorian national government appealed the decision of the Azuay Court of Justice, which will now be reviewed by the country's Constitutional Court.
It is important to mention that the Magna Carta recognizes the rights of nature and establishes that the State will guarantee the conservation of biodiversity and the natural regeneration capacity of ecosystems and ensure the satisfaction of the needs of present and future generations, as well as the active and permanent participation of the affected people, communities, towns and nationalities in the planning, execution and control of all activities that generate environmental impacts, especially that in environmental matters the legal provisions will be applied in the most favorable sense to the protection of nature.
Implementation
On February 7, 2024, in a landmark ruling, the Court rejected the lawsuit filed by the Presidency of the Republic and the Ministry of the Environment in Extraordinary Protection Action number 2785-23-EP, as it did not meet the established legal requirements.
This confirms that the case is closed and that any attempt at mining in Quimsacocha must comply with prior consultation, environmental consultation and obtain the social license of the affected communities.
The Constitutional Court's ruling follows a favorable decision issued in August 2023 by the Provincial Court of Justice of Azuay, which suspended the Loma Larga mining project of the company Dundee Precious Metals. This victory is the result of more than 25 years of struggle for the protection of water and nature.
In response to any attempt by the mining company and the Ecuadorian government to continue mining operations in Quimsacocha, the organizations have announced that they will file an international lawsuit before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR).
Although the ruling is positive, there are prerequisites for its application, such as the Ecuadorian legislature approving a law that defines prior and environmental consultations, regulations that do not exist in Ecuador.
In the legal proceedings, the plaintiffs requested the protection of the area's natural resources from mining activities. Among their main arguments, they invoked the rights of nature recognized in the Constitution (guaranteeing the effective protection of the right to live in a healthy environment, the effective protection of the rights of nature, the right to health, collective well-being, and good living), to ensure the participation of individuals, communities, peoples, and nationalities in the formulation of environmental management, and the principle IN DUBIO PRO NATURA (for the environmental services provided by the moorland to mitigate the impacts of global warming).
- Ecuadorian environmental defenders led by lawyer Yaku Pérez
- Federation of Indigenous and Peasant Organizations of Azuay
- Totoracocha Agricultural Workers Association
- Decentralized Autonomous Government of the Province of Azuay
- Ministry of Environment, Water and Ecological Transition
- Canadian Mining Company Dundee Precious Metals
Quimsacocha is a high-altitude moorland covering more than 3,217 hectares, where the Tomebamba, Tarqui, Yanuncay, Machángara, and Norcay rivers originate. These rivers provide the water consumed by the inhabitants of Cuenca, the third largest city in Ecuador, and eleven other towns.
The páramos are highly sensitive and vulnerable ecosystems, susceptible to human activity. They are considered vital for water recharge and regulation, as well as for carbon sequestration, making them an ecosystem capable of mitigating climate change. The rivers that originate there supply water to more than 630,000 people in the city of Cuenca and the cantons of San Fernando, making it a strategic territory for biodiversity and water resources. The páramos are home to more than 410 plant species, 20 mammal species, seven amphibian species, three reptile species, and 95 bird species.
The moorland is also the largest in the Cajas Massif, a biosphere reserve declared by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2013.
The area is inhabited by peasant and indigenous Kichwa communities who are fighting against the potential contamination with mercury, arsenic and other toxic components resulting from mining, as it would affect communities and ecosystems that depend on these waters.
The Quimsacocha National Recreation Area is characterized by being covered by fragile ecosystems such as the páramo, which allows the maintenance of one of the main resources of the area: water.
- Rio Declaration on Environment and Development
- Paris Agreement
- Escazú Agreement
- Convention 169 concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries - International Labour Organization
National and international laws
- Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador
Beginning
- Principle of prevention
- Precautionary principle
- IN DUBIO PRO NATURA