LC safe for now. Mining out.
The Constitutional Court of Ecuador has ruled that there were no atempts to prove what the value of the forests in LC actually are so neglegence has been used to invalidate the environmental lisence expedidted by Min of Environ that favored the mining company. In this clear victory for the science produced over the years in LC which was proven to the supreme court of Ecuador´s satisfaction, mining has practically been excluded from the reserve along with lumbering and any extractive activities.
I personally expect attempts to overturn this ruling and continued manipulation of the comunities by these avaricious mining title speculators as thier profit comes when the sell on the concesion. The big problem they leave behind is the greed they have implanted in the local comunities who have turned on our long standing comitment to comunity management for conservation to the comitment to sell on the reserve to extractive industry.
As such we hope to incorporate this protected area into the National Park system and extend the Cotacachi/Cayapas park. You can count on a reaction from the mining sector here in Ecuador as the jurisprudence generated by the courts decision, affects them all.