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Interprovincial Federation of the Ecuadorian Nation of Achuar

 The Achuar have inhabited Ecuadorian territory since before the Inca conquest. Numbering over 5,000, they live in a remote territory of seventy square kilometers -- much of it only accessible by foot or by airplane -- along both sides of the border between Pastaza and its neighboring province to the south, Morona-Santiago. Since 1990, the Achuar have been represented by FINAE, the Interprovincial Federation of the Ecuadorian Nation of Achuar.

With the exception of some land located within Blocks 23 and 24 in the western part of Pastaza province, Achuar territory has largely been spared oil development because of its remoteness. However, new leasing of land for oil drilling in the upcoming Ninth Round of oil lease auctions will open more Achuar territory to exploration. FINAE has taken a stance against all oil development whatsoever.

Oil companies began preliminary exploration in Block 23 and 24 several years ago, and the Achuar responded immediately -- and not always in the most diplomatic manner. In 1997 oil prospectors came to the Achuar community of Shaim, in Block 23, disguised as environmentalists. When their identity was discovered, residents briefly kidnapped the prospectors and then escorted them out of the community. Members of FINAE told them not to come back

At a meeting in early 1997, the Achuar decided unanimously to prohibit oil projects completely in their territory. Pedro Tsamaraint, Territorial Director for FINAE, described the deliberation process that led them to this decision: "Our community gave us recommendations about the oil exploration. They said that the companies would contaminate our rivers, the fish would die, and that we would get incurable diseases -- cancer, tuberculosis, and others. The Achuar have not suffered from these diseases. But if we permit the oil exploration, the same thing will happen as in the north. We don’t want that.

"The oil development would also affect our planting, our gardens, where we grow yucca and other staples. When the companies come they would throw oil on the ground and contaminate it, and then the soil would not produce anything. Trees would die, and the animals that live in our area would swim in the oil pools and die. The Achuar always hunt. If we eat sick animals, then we will become sick.

"Our elders told us all these things. They went to Sucumbios and Orellana, Coca, to see what had happened in that sector. The companies offered us many things, a communal house, food, so that we would live well. They offered to make a contract with us. But in reality, they haven’t fulfilled such contracts in other places. They do it for six months, and then when they pump the oil, goodbye. So we say that the same thing would happen to us, and therefore we don’t want it. So we say ‘no’ to oil development."

Activists with FINAE have worked with the Center for Economic and Social Rights to explore the issue of a debt swap, and the San Francisco-based Pachamama Alliance has helped FINAE generate a "master development plan." This plan proposes alternative development schemes for the area of Block 24, an oil concession on the border of Pastaza and Morona-Santiago provinces -- the traditional territory of the Achuar.

FINAE’s plan includes forest conservation, debt reduction, and a carbon dioxide emissions credit exchange with more developed countries. FINAE has requested that the Ecuadorian government and oil companies support a 12-month moratorium on oil exploration in Block 24 so that it can elaborate a plan for management of this territory. The organization asserts that its plan will bring in more income for the State of Ecuador than will oil development. International conservation organizations have expressed willingness to grant assistance for setting aside "biodiversity preserves."

• For updates on FINAE activity, see the Pachamama Alliance's website.

FINAE -- Interprovincial Federation of the Ecuadorian Nation of Achuar
Pastaza, Ecuador, Telefax (593) 3-883827

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