In recent times the issue of mining and its impact, generally negative, on the natural environment of the South American continent has once again been in the forefront: Brazil, Peru and Venezuela have had coverage of the international press due to major disasters (Minas Gerais), mercury pollution in Peru and the threat to spaces declared natural world heritage by Unesco, water sources and where native peoples live, as is the case of the highlands of Venezuelan Guiana.
But there are other South American spaces on which the mining threat hangs and does not enjoy such diffusion, as is the case of the Santurban paramo in Colombia .
The paramo of Santurban, a NATURAL PARADISE threatened by mining
The complex of the paramo of Santurban is located in the eastern branch of the Andes mountain range Colombians, between the Santander Norte and Santander departments, and covers a an area of about 142,000 hectares ranging from 2,800 m to 4,290 m, with great landscape wealth, especially for the complex of lakes and lagoons (over 40), and the presence of an exceptional flora and fauna.
It is estimated that this region provides water for about 2 million people and for agricultural activities that are developed both in the paramo and in the lower areas of the aforementioned states, so Several protection areas have been decreed and implemented for years under the figure of natural parks .
However, this beautiful region has long been threatened by exploitation m inera, especially for the one dedicated to gold .
For decades, in several of the neighboring towns to this paramo the main activity has been the artisanal mining , but in the 90s this situation changed with the permits granted to transnational companies for the exploration and exploitation of this mineral on a large scale; Companies like Canada's Greystar Resources LTD (also called Eco Oro Minerals Corp), have tried to carry out an open pit mine project called "Angostura" , and which they have faced from mayors to political organizations and non-governmental organizations interested in the protection of this environment, home of the spectacled bear (also called frontal bear ) and the frailejon , one of the most emblematic plants of the South American paradise.
The fight against this company, and against mining in general in this area, was apparently resolved in February 2016, when the Colombian Supreme Court ruling against mining activity in paramo areas and suspended all exploitation licenses in these ecosystems.But the pressure to change this decision and the threat to the spaces of the Santurban paramo is still there, and not only by the Canadian multinational, but also by the thousands of miners who have their livelihood in this activity.
In the case of Santurban, and other mining operations in South America, Eduardo Galeano's words in The open veins of Latin America seem to continue to be valid : "Our wealth has always generated our poverty to feed the prosperity of others: the empires and their native caporales" .
If you are worried about these issues, then consult these places that will disappear , largely because of human intervention.
Images: Luis Alveart, Valerie, Wikipedia
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