Social Explorations of Resource Extraction

Tag: Latin America

WANAMEI: An intervention for and with small-scale gold mining communities in the Peruvian Amazon

By Laura Maillard and Carole Baudin, User-Centered Product Design Group, HAUTE ECOLE ARC ENGINEERING – HES-SO

Illegal gold mining in the Amazon region of Peru potentially causes a variety of damages to the environment, human health, and societal wellbeing. The people most directly affected – usually through gold production – are communities living in the region.

In this context, we have been working with three regional mining communities to develop the Wanamei project, which aims to contribute to improve local working and living conditions.

In the cosmology of native people of this region – the Amarakaeri – Wanamei means “the tree of life.” This title is representative of the philosophical approach of anthropotechnology, which insists on using local knowledge and practices to design socio-technical solutions.

This photo gallery aims to share a global overview of the Madre de Dios context, issues faced by local miners and our efforts to find – for and with local communities – sustainable socio-technical solutions in extractive industries.

Muzo: Colombia’s Emerald Kingdom

By Bram Ebus

Muzo, Colombia – It is here where clouded forests overgrow the mountain slopes in which world’s most valuable emeralds are hidden. For much of history, Colombia has been the global provider of emeralds, though in the last decade it has given way to Zimbabwe and Brazil. In an attempt to organize mining and to not miss out on the profits of emeralds that often are smuggled out of the country, the government decided to formalize the sector in 2001.

As often is the case, the presence of precious resources like emeralds are a catalyst to conflict. The shiny green gemstone brought many lawless barons to the region and the heavily fought-over emeralds caused one of Colombia’s most bloody eras. One of these barons, the (late) emerald czar Victor Carranza, formed an army of mercenaries in the region during the 1970s and 1980s and can be seen as the creator of one of Colombia’s most lethal paramilitary forces. His private army originally functioned to protect his business against emerging guerrilla threats in the region, but as more families in the emerald sector started to surround themselves with men with guns, a war was at hand. Nobody was able to compete with Carranza, who despite the many attempts on his life died of cancer at the age of 77 in 2013.

In the current day and age, the mining panorama underwent some changes due to the governments efforts to regain control over the mining industry and its profits, and to end the ´wild west´ times in the western Boyacá region, where thousands occupied the rivers. Colombia hoped that mining could be one of the new ‘motors of the economy’ and a new mining legislation was approved in 2001, forcing the sector to formalize. Carranza, still alive at that time, agreed and ‘legalized’ his operations, but not everybody had his connections or means to legalize. New national and foreign companies now operate the largest mines around Muzo, some of them have been bought from the Carranza family. The upside is that official work, fixed wages and social securities are generated, but many of the 10,000 inhabitants that depend on informal mining – the barequeros – are being pushed out of the sector. As Mayor Bohórquez says: “Everybody wants to work the mines, but I will tell you, there are not enough beds for so many people.”

This photo essay shows a glimpse of Muzo’s transition process and documents the remains of a rough mining culture (enter full screen for optimal viewing).

 

Criminalization and violence in natural resource conflicts in Guatemala

Elisabet Dueholm Rasch, Wageningen University and Research

July 4, 2012 (Santa Cruz el Quiché). The CPK (K’iche Peoples Council) is attacked by armed individuals during a peaceful manifestation, saying they are looking for Lolita Chávez, environmental human rights activist.

September 18, 2015 (Sayaché, Petén). Rigoberto Lima Choc, environmental activist, is shot dead in front of local court house.

July 22, 2016 (Guatemala City). Seven ancestral authorities from Santa Eulalia who were detained because of their advocacy against two electric power dams in their community, are released from prison after sixteen months of detention. Continue reading

Why aren`t you more angry? Fossil Fuels and Community Life on Mexico’s Gulf Coast

By Svenja Schöneich, GIGA

When starting fieldwork in the Emiliano Zapata community in the state of Veracruz, Mexico in 2016, I was mainly interested in conflicts about hydraulic fracturing, commonly referred to as “fracking” – the practice of fracturing the subterranean rock deep below the surface to extract oil and/or gas. Fracking has been a topic of concern in Mexico since the approval of a series of constitutional amendments in December 2013 known as the Mexican Energy Reform. This reform, which enabled foreign investments in oil and gas exploration and production, led to a growing number of fracking projects in the country. However, the last decade has seen more and more conflicts related to fracking, especially regarding its environmental impacts. Fracking is said to trigger seismic events and major ground water and air pollution, thus damaging flora, fauna and the population living near fracking sites.

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