Science, Culture, & Environment
and cultural survival through partnerships with indigenous peoples.
Since 1998,
we have been advising the Secoya in
their dialogue with Occidental Exploration and Petroleum Company, as
they
attempt to limit impacts of oil exploration in their territory and
their
community. We led efforts for a precedent-setting Code of Conduct that
the
Secoya signed with Occidental in October 1999 (available in English,
Spanish,
and Pai
Coca, the Secoya language). Designed
to defend rights of indigenous peoples established in the Ecuadorian
Constitution and international treaties but infrequently applied,
the Code is
a tool in the Secoya's
on-going struggle to participate in decisions affecting their land and
community.
Following
that success, and after several months
of negotiations held under the Code, our team helped the Secoya win
important
environmental and cultural protections, as well as compensation for oil
development that, for the first time, addresses long-term community
needs. The
negotiations also established an innovative community-based monitoring
program
that, with technical support from Las Lianas, watches over oil
activities in
Secoya territory.
To date, the
company has built two platforms and
drilled two wells in Secoya territory and has done some seismic
testing. They
have permission to drill two more wells and do additional seismic
testing.
There are disagreements, however, ranging from the definition of the
area in
which they are allowed to work to the results of the reforestation of
the
abandoned wells. Las Lianas continues to provide legal and technical
support in
negotiations and to support community analysis of company proposals and
of
documents such as environmental impact statements.
Oil
Information Center
Although the
Code of Conduct and subsequent
negotiations won important rights for the Secoya in their dealings with
Occidental, industry and government policies at the national level
haven’t
changed. Throughout the Ecuadorian Amazon, oil companies continue to
offer
trinkets and to use threats to win entry into areas where they want to
work;
agreements reached with communities represent ad hoc responses to local
situations rather than a nationwide application of constitutional
rights.