Public Project
Agua es oro
The extraction of the precious metal dates back to pre-Columbian times, developing an ancestral artisanal method that today is being mostly replaced by diggers for deforestation and by chemical separation systems using mercury. Adding to the multiple state concessions to foreign multinationals, there are groups of illegal miners financed by drug trafficking who create disorder even within the same communities for different intentions.
So, on the other side groups are created in defense of the land, and women play a fundamental role in this fight especially those the Serena's Kitchwa community, an organized indigenous guard group called "Yututuris Warmi" inspired by the name of the warrior ant.
Today, the mercury has seeped underground contaminating the main rivers of the eastern region, especially the Rio Napo, a principal tributary of the Amazon river.
Since 2004, in the territories over-exploited, plants didn’t grow above one meter height.
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