11 August 2009 | Interviews | Forests and biodiversity
Definition of commodity
Ecuadorian indigenous reject the definition of forests as negotiable goods
1 minute, 44 seconds
Download: MP3 (1.2 Mb)
The commodification of forests and biodiversity would lead to the “extinction” of the indigenous peoples who live in the Ecuadorian Amazon “from ancient times”. The warning was launched a few days ago by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon (Confeniae), which rejects all the environmental negotiations that imply benefits for the forestry, mining and oil corporations.
The indigenous warn that the territories are now being controlled by the state, foreign countries, transnational corporations, REDD negotiators and Carbon traders, something that will lead to a situation of “poverty, hunger and extreme poverty never seen before”.
In an interview with Real World Radio, the vice-chair of Confeniae, Ines Shiguango, criticized the government’s initiative known as Plan Socio Bosque, as it attempts against the territorial autonomy of the native communities and ends up benefiting the corporations that have deforested the most.
“It seems that even the air is for sale and that all natural resources are commodities. We say that neither the air nor the territories are for sale”, said Shiguango.
Confeniae is trying to stop a long deterioration and pollution process that the northern part of the Amazon has been suffering. For over forty years, US oil corporations such as Texaco, Occidental Petroleum (also known as Oxy), Arco and Maxus Energy Corporation caused serious damages in this region of the country, besides the impacts of mining corporations.
