From upsidedownworld
While rivers are being polluted, rainforests cut down and the health of citizens severely threatened by the oil industry, this black gold continues to flow through Ecuador. I am in the northern part of the Ecuadorian Amazon, visiting oil fields and researching the contamination of rivers, soil and forest in order to gain insight into what problems confront the Amazon. The area is ruined. Where there were once primary rain forests there are now oil plants, oil roads and a myriad of pipelines.At several places, my driver and guide keeps the engine of the 4WD running, in case the military or security guards spot us and we need to leave. Armed with cameras and admonitions to quickly return to the vehicle, I crawl across a hill to survey yet another oil plant where hundreds of small and large pipelines lead oil, gas and wastewater to and from the oil station.
In the Upper Oriente, oil exploration, alone, has led to the deforestation of approximately two million hectares (20.000km) of rain forest. Here, history demonstrates that between 400-2400 hectares of rainforest are colonized for every kilometer of new oil road built.
"We would like to inform the rest of the world about the consequences of oil production for us," tells Fidel Aguinda, the coordinator of the Young Cofan Indians.
The Cofanes were especially exposed to oil contamination and lack of land during the Texaco era and many communities have been completely demolished.
"We would like to tell foreign countries but it’s just as important to inform other youngsters in Ecuador about what the oil industry causes our culture", he says.
