Today, the Mayor of the Cotacachi Municipality in the Imbabura Province of Ecuador, issued a formal denunciation to BHP Billiton over their mining concessions in the area, with particular concerns over their transgressions in protected reserves and conservation areas.

Mining concessions totalling 22,570 hectares were given to BHP in the Cotacachi Canton despite unanimous rejection by the population of the canton, and in direct opposition of the wishes of local council.

The EcoMinga Fundacion, an Ecuadorian conservation organisation, raised concerns to the Cotacachi Municipality on the 16th of July over BHP employees illegally trespassing onto their property  despite formal agreements with company spokespeople banning entry by employees without consent. The employees entered between the 7th and 9th of July, clearing an area of forest for a camp, which is sensitive habitat for the Rhaebo Olalai, an extremely rare Andean toad.

EcoMinga is located west of the Los Cedros Biological Reserve, and is dedicated to the conservation of the unique foothill forests, cloud forests, and alpine grasslands (“paramo”) of the Andes, especially those on the edge of the Amazon basin in east-central Ecuador and those on the super-wet western Andean slopes of the Choco region in northwest Ecuador. EcoMinga has established seven reserves in the upper Rio Pastaza watershed in east-central Ecuador between Banos and Puyo. Most of these reserves adjoin national parks, which protect higher-elevation habitats. The reserve extends protection down into the much more diverse middle and lower elevations which are not protected by national park status.

Report shows new mining concessions could severely decrease biodiversity and ecosystem services in Ecuador.

Our results reveal the potential losses that mining could cause: eight critically endangered species, including two primates (brown-headed spider monkey and white-fronted capuchin), 37 endangered species, 153 vulnerable, 89 near threatened, and a large number of less threatened species... The short-term national profits from mining will not compensate for the permanent biodiversity losses, and the long-term ecosystem service and economic losses at the local and regional level.

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Ecuador's policy of silencing NGOs that question government policies and programs has gotten the world's attention. UN experts on human rights claim it is a strategy to asphyxiate civil society.

Cuban-born Carlos Zorilla has lived for more than 35 years in Ecuador, where he is a leading activist opposing extractivism. He is the co-founder and former President of DECOIN (Defensa y Conservación Ecológica de Intag), which works to protect the environment and promote the sustainable development of the Intag Valley in North Western Ecuador.

Read more at Open Democracy

Activists celebrate around Yaku Perez, Ecuarunari president, on Friday night in Cuenca after a judge ruled to suspend mining activities at the Junefield Rio Blanco site. Photo: Yasunidos

Among the most significant animal species found at Los Cedros is the critically endangered brown-headed spider monkey (less than 250 remain in the wild), the neotropical otter, margay, puma, jaguar, and spectacled bear. Unsurprisingly, Los Cedros is also a bird hotspot. At least 298 bird species have been seen along the short trail system, including numerous endemic species found only in the cloud forests of the Chocó region, secretive species like the lanceolated monklet, and newly discovered species such as the cloud forest pygmy owl. Of the birds seen at the Reserve, at least 10 are endangered, threatened, vulnerable, or near threatened due to habitat loss. The forest is also extraordinarily rich in plant species. A field study estimated an average of 299 tree species per hectare, an estimated 400 orchid species (many of which were first discovered in the Reserve) and a very high number of local endemic species with small ranges.

For a page full of details of the incredible splendours of Los Cedros (along with some spectacular photos) Click here.

Click here to view a 23min documentary about the reserve.