Protecting Andean Ecosystems and Communities from Mining's Impact

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Photo: An area in Colombia’s Central Forest Reserve that would be affected by the planned La Colosa mine.

When it comes to mining's environmental impact, Colombia is among the world's most vulnerable places. The country's fragile ecosystems - ranging from biodiverse forests to high-altitude wetlands - are under seige from mining development. The indigenous and rural communities that depend on these ecosystems for drinking water stand to suffer the most from mining's harmful effects.

As the home of South America’s second largest coal reserves and potentially the largest gold mine in the hemisphere, Colombia must grapple with complex mining-related issues. These issues are intensified by national economic policies that shift priority from agriculture to mining. Government regulators, meanwhile, lack the legal framework and technical knowledge to balance mining regulation with environmental protection. AIDA is there to help.

In the case of the Muriel Mining Corporation´s Mandé Norte project in northwestern Colombia’s biodiverse Chocó region, AIDA contributed to a lawsuit submitted by the Inter-ecclesial Commission for Justice and Peace. Ruling on the case, the Colombian Constitutional Court established a key precedent regarding the right of indigenous and tribal communities to free, prior and informed consent under international law. Specifically, the court ordered the company and government to stop all work on the mine until they have produced comprehensive studies of potential environmental impacts and conducted a new consultation process with affected communities.

East of the Mandé Norte project, in the Santander department, we are working to stop the Angostura mine, a gold and silver mining project planned for a wilderness area that supplies drinking water and irrigation to at least ten municipalities, including a city of 1.2 million. Here, the Greystar Resources Corporation of Canada aims to build one of the world’s largest open pit mines in an area partly located on paramos – sensitive high-altitude wetlands that capture water from fog, serving as “water factories” for lower-lying areas. Collaborating with various partners, AIDA investigated the case and provided legal advice to environmental and mining regulators.

On April 23, 2010, the responsible authorities ruled that Greystar cannot build its mine in the area because the wetlands are legally protected. Greystar is appealing the decision based on having submitted an environmental impact study for the project before adoption of these legal protections.

AIDA has also been working with other environmental organizations to investigate a project that could become the hemisphere’s largest gold mine – the proposed La Colosa mine, a project of AngloGold Ashanti in the district of Tolima. In this case, we seek full and informed citizen participation as well as compliance with the highest environmental standards.

Finally, to address mining throughout Colombia, AIDA joined other organizations in filing two lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the national mining code. In its ruling, the Constitutional Court established important precedents regarding the need to protect ecologically sensitive areas, the importance of the precautionary principle and the independence and role of environmental authorities – as compared to mining authorities – in environmental licensing for mining projects.

Beyond Colombia, AIDA has been asked to help counter mining projects in Bolivia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Mexico and Panama, among other nations. In all this work, regardless of location, we aim to develop significant legal and scientific resources, including case studies and international legal briefs of broad utility. See our bilingual mining resources website for more information.