Nature Conservancy Magazine: Spring 2008 - Newsfront: Indigenous Activists

Go Deeper

The Nature Conservancy in Ecuador
The Nature Conservancy has worked with local partners in Ecuador since 1984.

The Nature Conservancy in Colombia
Colombia covers only 0.8% of the Earth's land surface, yet 10% of its species are represented here.

The Amazon Basin
The Amazon River Basin harbors nearly one-third of the world’s species and contains nearly one-quarter of the earth’s fresh water.

For more than 50 years, the Cofán indigenous group has struggled to preserve its ancestral lands in Ecuador and Colombia, nearly a million acres with lush forests and rich deposits of gold and oil that stretch from the foothills of the Andes deep into the Amazon. While the group’s numbers have dwindled to roughly 3,000 people, they have a history of fiercely protecting their territory from the many fortune hunters who have come searching for riches.

When extensive oil exploration began in the region in the 1960s, the Cofán challenged several operations drilling on protected lands. In the 1970s, the construction of a road from Quito brought logging pressures and an influx of migrants looking to make a living off the land. After renewed exploration led to several oil spills and pipeline leaks in the 1990s, the tribe began directly confronting oil drilling and logging operations. On several occasions, they occupied drilling sites, evicting workers and forcing wells to shut down.

In September 2007, the Cofán won a significant victory when the government of Ecuador gave them ownership of about 75,000 acres of forest. “For us, this is something pretty special,” says Randy Borman, the Cofán Federation’s territories chief in Ecuador. “It is the first time we’ve been able to get such a large area under actual title.” Borman, the son of U.S. missionaries, was born in Ecuador, raised among the Cofán and later married into the tribe.

While the Cofán had already negotiated rights to help monitor more than 740,000 acres of state-owned preserves in the region, winning outright ownership of their lands has proved more difficult. Several other groups had petitioned the government for control of the land, including a group of commercial timber and mining interests. The Nature Conservancy backed the Cofán’s bid, as the group has been a strong ally for conservation in the region. The Conservancy also played a supporting role in helping prepare the group’s proposal for ownership to the government.

“About 20 percent of the Amazon Basin is in indigenous territories, and most of these areas are still in excellent condition,” says Paulina Arroyo, the Conservancy’s western Amazon program manager. While the land surrounding the Cofán is experiencing increased deforestation and oil exploration, she says, “Cofán territory is still intact.”

—Tristram Korten