Rainforest Open
Posted on Monday, March 2nd, 2009 at 11:41 am
Oil Companies Saving the Rainforest
My job involves a lot of work online, looking for interesting websites, finding articles to get more insight in the current situation of Ecuador. Every now andthen I bump into articles that really open my eyes. They give me new insights on topics I already kind of made my mind up about.
That´s what happened to me today, surfing the web I found an article written by Kurt Glaubitz for Chevron, one of the major oil companies in the world. The article had some interesting paragraphs on the positive impact of Chevron (or actually its daughter Texaco) in Ecuador. For instance on the economical impact of the oil industry in Ecuador:
´From 1972 until 1992, the consortium, of which TexPet (collaboration between Texaco and Petroecuador) wasa minority equity holder, produced more than 1.7 billion barrels of oil from the Oriente. That production generated significant revenue for the country.During those two decades, the consortium contributed about $25 billion inside Ecuador, a figure that represented 50 percent of the country’s gross nationalproduct over that period.´. The economic impact of the oil industry has beenincredible. It has certainly served Ecuador well. Jobs have been created, the government gets huge funds to support the country and the best thing is; the rainforest has hardly been damaged, according to Chevron.
´The consortium’s oil-production activities contributed only minimally to deforestation. The consortium’s area of operations totalled 6,400 acres (about 2,600 hectares). That represents 0.02percent of the 32 million acres (13 million hectares) that comprise the Ecuadorian rain forest, and much of that concession area remained untouched by oil operations.´
Several organisations have found themselves in courtrooms all over the world to ensure the safety of the environment and to preserve the way of living of many indigenous communities. Chevron is, nevertheless, proud to announce that they have been very active in supporting small projects in indigenous communities.
´Texaco Petroleum Co. (TexPet) was actively involved in community activities during itsinvolvement in the oil-producing consortium in Ecuador, as well as during theperiod it was managing the remediation program. The company made financial contributions to numerous hospitals and clinics and to projects that brought potable water to economically depressed areas of the Oriente. The company also provided funding to assist Ecuadorian recipients of Fulbright scholarships to teach abroad.´
So you might ask; ´what’s wrong with this picture?´.
Well, there are a few side effects to the contribution of Texaco in Ecuador. Especially related to small communities inthe rainforest and the rainforest itself. My work has taken me to small communities in the rainforest. One of these communities is called Sumak Sacha.
Sumak Sacha is a small indigenous community not too far away from Tena. Sumak Sacha´s location is absolutely breathtaking. In the middle of the rainforest right next to the river Rio Napo it is an incredible place to visit. Unfortunately there was something more than just rainforest in the area. Sumak Sacha is located right on top of a big oilfield. Texaco found out about this and decided to puta big oil refinery right next to this small village. Obviously this had great impact on the lives of the people from Sumak Sacha. Texaco obviously knew thatthey had to make some concessions to the community. They agreed to pay a yearly contribution of $900,00 USD to compensate for the inconvenience.
A promise was made to the community that jobs would be offered to the members of community as well.
All of these promises were lived up to by the multibillion company. The $900,00 USD was payed yearly and jobs were offered.
Unfortunately the community was not yet aware of all of the negative impacts of the Texaco intrusion in their way of life.
At thismoment dozens of trucks are driving through the small town daily to get to the riverside. Dumping their waste in the Rio Napo has already caused the soil tobe polluted, as well as the river. Pollution of the river goes on for miles downstream affecting the way of life of several other communities in the area. The community is unable to grow crops on their land due to the pollution of the soil. The jobs offered to the community members by Texaco are scarce and the company pays terrible wages, even for Ecuadorean standards.
The financial contribution to Ecuador is enormous and deforestation due to the presence of the oil companies is relatively small. Texaco has certainlyfinancially contributed a lot to the development of the country, but none of this justifies the exploitation and deceit of small indigenous communities. Neither does this justify the pollution of rivers like the Rio Napo and its surrounding area.
Articles like the one by Kurt Glaubitz for Chevron open my eyes. Not about what they mention, but about what they fail to mention.
About the Author
Martijn van Vreeden is the founder of Moving Ecuador, a non profit web intitiative to promote responsible travel and volunteering in Ecuador.
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