Indigenous women call on Ecuador not to drill for oil
Sun, Mar 25, 2018
Thomson Reuters Foundation, BOGOTA
Indigenous women from the Amazon rainforest have called on Ecuadoran President Lenin Moreno to end oil and mining projects on their ancestral lands, as the nation pushes to open up more of its rainforest to drillers.
Their meeting late on Thursday with Moreno at the presidential palace in Quito comes after the Andean nation launched a new bidding round this month for foreign companies to develop oil and gas reserves.
Ecuador, one of the smallest OPEC producers, hopes to attract about US$800 million in investment to boost production that the government says is vital to improve its sluggish economy.
However, women from Amazon indigenous groups say oil exploration damages their livelihoods, as well as the environment and water sources on ancestral lands, and comes amid growing deforestation in unspoiled areas of the biodiverse region.
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