Eric Horstman
Despite the fact that the constitution of the country of Ecuador
recognizes the rights of nature, much still remains to put in practice this
groundbreaking legislation.
A case in point is the threat to the natural integrity of the Cerro
Blanco Protected Forest by a group of land traffickers. For some of you in the USA and elsewhere,
this may be a foreign term. For over
thirty years in Ecuador, and especially in the city of Guayaquil, much of the
expansion of the city has not been in an orderly fashion.
Instead, certain persons wrap themselves in a lie as being community
leaders fighting for the rights of the people, in this case taking control of
land by force and then dividing it up in tiny parcels to sell to mostly poor
people in search of a roof to live under.
Many of these “leaders” have strong political connections and one who
operates in the Cerro Blanco Protected Forest buffer zone, even as a
evangelistic pastor.
The 15,000 acres protected since 1989 in Cerro Blanco due to their
close proximity to the city of Guayaquil, has been a target for land
traffickers in the past. Both in 1997
and 2000 a so-called agricultural cooperative (just a front for the
traffickers) tried unsuccessfully to take by force a part of the Cerro Blanco
Protected Forest. Thanks in large part
to the press and public pressure on local officials the threat was averted.
Once again, the land traffickers have appeared in Cerro Blanco. In June of last year, five persons were
arrested by the environmental unit of the Ecuadorian National Police, while
hacking fence lines in Cerro Blanco, on land owned by the Pro-Forest
Foundation. Members of the environmental
unit of the Ecuadorian National Police arrested the traffickers and the
Foundation pressed charges. The five
detained persons were held for a little over a month and then released, pending
their trial.
The leader of this group, has re-appeared, beginning on April 9th,
sending a group of 13 persons including two lawyers to enter Cerro Blanco and
clear an area of 1,600 m2 on land owned by the Pro-Forest Foundation, and
planting corn. A total of 70 trees that
were planted as part of a reforestation project, were cut down as well.
We called the police to take action, as our park guards that are
stationed near the site do not have a legal base to take action. Intimidated by the lies and deceptions of the
lawyers accompanying the land traffickers, they failed to take action in this
moment.
After nearly a week waiting for the police to provide us with their
report, we drew up a contingency plan for the three-day Easter holiday,
suspecting the traffickers would strike again.
Indeed, this happened and on Saturday, April 23rd, twenty
people tried to enter Cerro Blanco by force with a pre-fabricated bamboo
house. This time, the police acted
decisively, preventing the traffickers and their lawyers from entering Cerro
Blanco.
Knowing that public opinion served in the past to move authorities to
act, we put out Facebook and Tweeter messages, with results. El Expreso, a Guayaquil based national
newspaper, provided coverage, while a friend contacted the Minister of the
Environment, who ordered an investigation.
The Police Superintendent also ordered the police to support us and
today, personally inspected the sight of the land invasion and reiterated his
help. Today, the situation in Cerro
Blanco made the headlines of two other Guayaquil based national newspapers and
yesterday and today, I gave interviews to four TV channels, Ecuavisa, RCT, TC
and Canal Uno (Teleamazonas has also gone to the invasion site and filed a
report). Right now our efforts are
focusing on the authorities to sanction the traffickers both under the penal
code for the attempt to take our land by force, and also to sanction with fines
for the environmental damage, especially the destruction of the 70 planted
trees.
I will keep you posted as things develop.
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