“These natural resources are important to us, for healing, dances and rituals, which is why we said that a national park must be created to protect this territory,” said Robin, who is territory and environment coordinator for the Yaigojé Indigenous leaders’ association, ACIYA.
Robin added that 2009, when local communities managed to prevent Cosigo from mining, and agreed to protect the region as a park, marked one of the most important steps taken.
Yaigojé Apaporis has undergone several changes. In 1988 a reservation with an area of 518,320 hectares was created. Then, in 1998, the Colombian Institute of Agrarian Reform (Incora) expanded the territory to 1,020,329 hectares and. Finally, in 2009, the reservation was designated a National Natural Park and extended to the current 1,056,023 hectares.
Robin said that the mining initiative also divided communities. Before 2007, ACIYA was the only Indigenous association, but according to Robin, the Canadian company’s actions led to the formation of ACITAVA, an association that represents communities on the Vaupés side of the reservation.
“The company started to misinform communities, to try to convince them of the advantages of a mining project,” said Sergio Vásquez, a legal advisor for the Gaia Amazonas Foundation, an organization that supports Indigenous communities. “They disrupted the political process of the communities, and so two Indigenous associations were created in order to torpedo the consultation and the creation of the park.”
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Edilma Prada Vanessa Teteye | Radio Free (2021-03-21T23:00:00+00:00) In the Colombian Amazon, Indigenous people resist threats to their territory. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2021/03/21/in-the-colombian-amazon-indigenous-people-resist-threats-to-their-territory/
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