Intag Valley

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Intag Valley is tucked between mountain crests in the Tropical Andes biodiversity hotspot of northwestern Ecuador. For close to 30 years, the communities here have been fighting off the threat of open-pit copper mining, a highly destructive practice.

Thank you to the thousands who signed our open letter standing in solidarity with the communities of Ecuador’s Intag Valley who are protecting their home, livelihoods and the wildlife in the Intag-Toisan Key Biodiversity Area. Together, we recognize, respect and celebrate the rights of nature!

The Intag Valley provides clean water, clean air and livelihoods for local communities, and it is home to dozens of Critically Endangered species, some of which are not found anywhere else in the world. Besides harboring extraordinary biodiversity, the 12,000-acre (5,000 hectare) mining site is the source of 43 rivers and streams and includes the Intag-Toisan Key Biodiversity Area (KBA). KBAs are critical to the persistence of life on Earth and the overall health of the planet.

The latest threat to Intag Valley comes from Ecuadorian state-owned company Enami EP and Chilean state-owned company Codelco, who have started exploring for copper with the aim of building an open-pit copper mine, called Llurimagua. Local communities have taken the companies to court, where the case is being heard by the Imbabura Provincial Court.

The legal team representing local communities in Intag Valley argues that the companies failed to conduct a comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment that considered all of the threatened species within the project site, and that the mining concession violates the constitutional rights of local communities to consultation.

• The judges of the Imbabura Provincial Court to visit Intag Valley to hear testimony from the people who live there, visit the proposed site to see the forests and waterfalls that mining exploration has already impacted and that the open-pit mine would destroy, and experience the beauty of Intag’s unique wildlife. 

• The Imbabura Provincial Court to rule to protect: 

  • the rights of the communities of Intag Valley, who should have been previously consulted in good faith, and the rights of nature as outlined in the Ecuadorian constitution. 

  • Ecuadorian state-owned company Enami EP and Chilean state-owned company Codelco to cancel the Llurimagua mining project and retire the mining concession.

• The companies to pay full reparations for the damages caused by their mining activities within the Llurimagua mining project site to-date.