Social and Environmental Issues in Ecuador

In the 21st century, Ecuador has experienced a change of consciousness in regards to environmental and social issues, which often go hand-in-hand. The new Constitution of 2008 expands the guaranteed rights of both humans and the environment. Articles 56-60 address the rights of indigenous, montubio, Afro-Ecuadorian and other ethnic communities have guaranteed rights to maintain their language, customs and identity. Articles 71-74 provides rights to Mother Earth (Pacha Mama), including protection from environmental damage and of native species, be restored to its original state if damage has occurred and the restriction of introduced species.

Nonetheless, Ecuador still faces a number of social and environmental challenges as the nation tries to balance conflicting obligations of repaying international debt, developing industry and keeping the poorest sectors of society alive. Below are the most pressing issues.

Oil Exploitation
Oil was discovered in Ecuador in the 1960s, followed by large-scale production began in the 1970s. Oil has been a huge boost to the nation’s economy. However, development has not been sustainable. Ecuadorian Amazon is one of the most bio-diverse regions on the planet and oil companies are a serious threat to the rainforest. Petroleum exploitation has been particularly detrimental on the region’s fragile ecosystems, vulnerable indigenous populations and public health. Even at lodges deep in the jungle, plumes of smoke emanating from oil refineries smudge the otherwise untouched horizon.

The hardest-hit area is the Lago Agrio and Yasuni rainforest in Sucumbíos Province, where Texaco (now Chevron) operated from 1964 to 1994. Here, year after year, Chevron dumped 16 billion gallons of toxic waste and crude oil spilled into the waterways of the Amazon. Furthermore, it abandoned over 900 unlined waste pits that stored carcinogenic “produced water,” thus contaminating the soil. Local residents began exhibiting miscarriages, birth defects, and leukemia and other cancers, as well as cultural upheaval. The jungle was also deforested. The extent of the damage is estimated to be far greater than that caused by the Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska in 1989. Communities near Lago Agrio filed suit against Chevron in 1993. In February 2011, Ecuadorian courts ruled Chevron must pat $18.2 billion in damages.

Additionally, there have been instances of drilling on ancestral land. The Ecuadorian government sold exploration rights in two areas of the jungle without consulting the indigenous communities to whom those areas were considered ancestral: in 1989, Block 23, a 200,000-hectare (494,211-ac) oil field in the homeland of the Kichwa ancestral lands of Sarayaku, in Pastaza Province; and in 1998, the 200,000-hectare Block 24 in the Shuar and Achuar peoples’ Transkutuku region in Morona Santiago Province.

Community groups demonstrated and local workers held strikes with some limited success. Protests in Sucumbíos and Orellana provinces in 2005 caused the state-owned oil company Petroecuador to halt production for several days. While consequences were dire on the economy, the local people gained some concessions in terms of health and infrastructure investment in these areas.

In addition to guarantees in the 2008 Constitution, President Correa’s administration has implemented a cap-and-trade policy. In this scheme, billions of barrels of oil are kept underground, in exchange for monetary benefits collected from developed countries These funds, in turn, will be used for renewable energy sources research and installation.

Sustainable Tourism
Ecuador suffered a severe economic crisis in the late 1990s, which plunged over half of the population into poverty, which has led to high levels of migration to cities and foreign countries. The economy has since rebounded (in 2011, the poverty figure had dropped to 28.6 percent), due in part to tourism. This important source of income brings in over $1.2 billion of annual revenue to the country, contributing 1.8 percent to the GDP (World Tourism and Travel Council, 2011). The tourism and travel industry provided an estimated 273,700 jobs in 2011, representing 4.5 percent of total employment. Thus, tourism has the ability to decrease poverty in Ecuador in a manner that is potentially less damaging to the environment and more sustainable than other revenue generating enterprises such as export agriculture and petroleum extraction.

Many of the tourist operations in the Andean region of Ecuador promote the beauty and indigenous culture of the area, yet only a handful classify themselves as ecological and try to meaningfully engage in conservation and community awareness. Key factors determining the success of pioneering eco-lodges are conservation and community development. Most tourist operations recognize the importance of sustainable practices but do not have sufficient technological or financial resources to engage in them. One model for encouraging sustainability is through outreach by non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The Ecuadorian NGO Conservación y Desarrollo (C&D; URL: www.ccd.ec) has a program called Smart Voyager which is aimed at training and certifying operations in sustainable tourism. The Smart Voyager program increases the efficiency and profitability of tourism operations, which provides an economic incentive for the operations to become certified. Certification helps to ensure that growth in tourism has a positive impact on the environment, workers, communities and the fight against poverty. It also provides consumers with independent information on the environmental and social standards of an operation. Moreover, through workshops and training sessions run in collaboration with C&D’s partner Rainforest Alliance, tourism operators are able to share ideas and learn new methods of conserving the environment, promoting social programs and reducing poverty in their own areas.

There are a number of ways you can leave a positive mark on the places you visit: practicing responsible tourism and using companies that have received ecotourism certification are two of the most important measures to ensure the country and its people benefit from your travels as much as you do.

The Indigenous Movement in Ecuador
For over three decades, a strong and largely united indigenous movement has been developing in Ecuador and it is considered to be among the strongest in Latin America. Indigenous political groups wield significant power in Ecuador, including nation-wide strikes and the tumbling of elected officials.

In the 1980s, the Amazonian and highland federation CONAIE (Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador) was formed, bringing together 11 Ecuadorian ethnic groups (approximately 3.5 million people) with a united purpose. The group focuses on high-level key aims for all of its member groups such as human rights, consolidation of territory and education. In 1990, thousands of indigenous people held a three-week strike, the first major indigenous uprising against the government. This was the first time that such power had been wielded by these groups and came as a shock to the establishment. Roadblocks were placed in the Andes and a march took place in Quito to demand land rights and bilingual education. In the aftermath of the 1990 uprising, CONAIE began to gain real political influence as the indigenous people saw that it was possible to have a say and gain rights, if they united in their goals. This led to a number of massive protests and finally in 1995, Pachakutik, the indigenous political party, was formed, to drive the rights of the people forward in the political arena. It played a role in the ousting of Abdalá Bucaram from the presidency in 1997.

A decade of unrest, lack of social reform and government corruption in the 1990s came to head in early 2000 as the indigenous people had been left in poverty. When demonstrating again in Quito, troops were called in to break up the demonstrations. Lucio Gutiérrez (at the time an army colonel) did not follow orders and instead, provided mobile army kitchens to support the indigenous protesters and let them overtake the congress building, declaring a “Parliament of the People.” Gutiérrez worked with the indigenous to unsuccessfully try to form a new government to replace ousted president Jamil Mahuad. Gutiérrez then was arrested and imprisoned for six months and deputy Gustavo Noboa was installed as president. Despite the failure of the indigenous movement to form a new government, this was landmark news. Failure of the Noboa government to take notice led to further uprisings in January and February 2001. These united not only the indigenous groups but also the urban and rural poor, who had many of the same problems. Many marches were held in Quito. After stating he would not negotiate, Noboa was eventually forced to concede to end ten days of protests. This significantly weakened his political position, strengthening that of the indigenous movement and setting the scene for the election of Gutiérrez in 2002.

Gutiérrez’ power-base was built on siding with indigenous Ecuadorians, unhappy with a government that appeared to be out of touch with the poor. When he turned his back on this base his power began to disintegrate. Due to disagreements regarding IMF recommendations and his apparent out-of-touch with the poor, he lost his indigenous allies’ support. In April 2005, popular uprisings would topple him from power.

The provisional government, led by Alfredo Palacio also faced opposition in March 2006, in response to free trade negotiations with the United States. Indigenous groups feared such an agreement would cripple small-scale farmers in rural communities, especially those who produce rice, potatoes, beans, meat, cheese and maize. During the March protests, indigenous groups blocked the Pan-American Highway north and south of Quito. A state of emergency was declared in five central sierra provinces. These protests set the pace for political movements in the October 2006 presidential elections.

Running as a candidate of Alianza País, a coalition of over 30 parties and organizations, including Pachakutik, Rafael Correa won the 2006 elections. A major component of his platform was to call an Asamblea Constituyente, to write a new constitution which was voter-approved in 2009. In the country’s new Magna Carta, indigenous and other ethnic groups have the right to practice their traditions, language and identity. In 2010, however, the indigenous political party Pachakutik broke with Alianza País over issues of water rights, teacher certification and other issues. Pachukutik has joined the MUPP (Movimiento de Unidad PluriNacional) in the 2013 presidential elections.

The Galápagos Fishing War
There is constant tension in Galápagos between the two main industries in the islands: fishing and tourism. Those in the fishing industry are always pushing for ecologically questionable concessions from the government such as long-line fishing, long seasons for valuable species such as lobsters and sea cucumbers, and removal of protections on marine reserves.

Long-line fishing is particularly destructive—it involves baiting several hundred hooks on the same heavy line. Used to catch swordfish and tuna, it also results in a lot of “by-catch,” or unintended catch, including sea turtles, sharks, rays, sea lions and even marine birds such as the albatross, all of which are protected in Galápagos. Ecologists are aghast that this fishing method is even being considered in such a fragile ecosystem.

Catch levels are way down in recent years, yet short-sighted fishermen continue to push for longer seasons and larger catch limits. What is worse, there is a lot of illegal fishing being done in Galápagos, both by foreign vessels fishing in Ecuadorian waters near the islands as well as local boats engaged in poaching out of season or of illegal species. In particular, sharks in Galápagos are being hunted to near extinction: they are caught for their fins, which bring a lucrative price in Asia. Sharks are caught by unscrupulous fishermen (sometimes using chopped-up sea lions as bait), their fins are cut off, and they are dumped back into the water. There is a ban on shark fishing, but Ecuador does not have the resources (or desire, apparently) to enforce it.

The tourism operators in the islands favor stringent restrictions, as unchecked fishing is severely detrimental to the ecosystem. For example, the sea cucumber, one of the most highly sought-after species in Galápagos, is a key link in the marine food chain.

Most Galápagos life ultimately depends on the sea: many birds feed on fish, and if the marine ecosystem collapses, there will be no more boobies, frigates or albatrosses for tourists to come and see. Therefore, tour operators are constantly pressuring the Ecuadorian government to enact and enforce strict rules for those who want to fish in Galápagos.

Most of the residents of the islands are either fishermen themselves or have family members who fish. This is true of many of the park rangers, who are charged with enforcing the rules: they often look the other way if they catch family or friends doing something illegal. The fishermen are very powerful in the islands: on more than one occasion, they have blockaded whole islands from tour vessels to protest a new ban or law, and once they even took over the Charles Darwin Research Station, held the scientists hostage, and threatened to kill Lonesome George.

Although the two sides seem beyond any sort of agreement, there are those who are working on compromises and new solutions; large tour operators Metropolitan Touring and Lindblad Expeditions support projects such as the “Teachers on Board” plan, in which schoolteachers from Galápagos spend time on cruise ships, learning about the islands from a tourism perspective. Metropolitan also has a project in which fishermen are paid to pick up trash off the islands. Perhaps in the future, fishing, wildlife and tourism will be able to coexist in these fragile islands.

Here are some related tips to help plan your trip to Ecuador: ATMs, Education for Kids and Teenagers, Nazca Booby, Galápagos Health & Safety, The Galapagos Sea Lion, Photography In Ecuador, National Parks And Reserves, Lava Lizard, Brown Pelican and History of Quito.