"The case of Junin is a clear wake-up call to governments all over the world, and to big mining companies in particular, that local populations must not be ignored, and that their rights to decide their own future must never be overlooked."

—Carlos Zorrilla, Intag Defense and Ecological Conservation

Preserve Cloud Forest, Stop Mitsubishi Mine / Ecuador - Victory

With the cooperation of the Ecuadorian and Japanese governments, Mitsubishi subsidiary Bishimetals is building an open-pit copper mine in an ecologically fragile and precious "cloud forest." Local and national indigenous organizations, small farmers and environmental groups unanimously oppose the Junin mine, but their protests have been ignored until this month. The Minister of Energy and Mines has finally agreed to meet with local people and environmental organizations in mid-September. Global Response members are asked to write faxes and letters immediately in support of the people's demand that no mining should be permitted in this ecologically precious region.

From its beginning, when the governments of Ecuador and Japan signed an agreement in 1991, the Junin mine project has ignored Ecuador's environmental laws. No environmental impact assessment was conducted prior to the exploration phase of the project (required by law), and local subsistence farmers have not been consulted or informed of potential impacts of the mine on their communities and way of life.

The environmental impact assessment for the mine's exploitation phase predicts "massive deforestation that will give way to arid conditions (desertification) and will cause local climatic changes." The EIA also concludes that the Mitsubishi project will have to relocate 100 families from four communities to make way for the open-pit mine. The study warns that over 4,500 hectares of forest (11,000 acres) will be directly affected by the construction of open pits, new roads, tailing dams and a mining plant, along with the introduction of 5,000 new workers into the ecologically fragile area.

Ecuadorian environmental organizations say the potential damage is incalculable. Road construction for the mine will open the forests of the Toisan Range to uncontrolled colonization, which has already devastated 86% of Ecuador's forest cover.

Junin lies in the buffer zone of the Cotacachi-Cayapas Ecological Reserve, one of the earth's most biologically diverse protected areas. One study found 22 species of hummingbirds in a 100-hectare area (6 more than are found in the whole United States). Junin is home to 28 endangered species, among them the spectacled bear (South America's only bear species), jaguar, puma, spider monkey, howler monkey, plate-billed toucan, Andean cock-of-the-rock and yellow-eared parrot.

The Ecuadorian government recently announced its intention to permit mining in 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres) of forested land in the Toisan Range. The outcome of the battle over the Junin mine may influence the future of mining in this entire region.

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