Woodpecker
12-16-2003, 09:24 PM
Got this in the mail today... Wpkr
1 December 2003
Dear Colleagues and Friends of the Tiputini Biodiversity Station,
Everyone who has visited TBS over the years has come away knowing that this is truly one of the most special places on the planet – one where nature has produced a spectacular array of species diversity (currently in the process of being documented as THE most diverse site anywhere) and by chance, remoteness has left it essentially intact. It is becoming ever more obvious that our isolation is not enough, in and of itself, to ensure continued protection of our area from oil exploration and possible exploitation.
At the moment, governmental pressure has been augmented for all oil operations in eastern Ecuador to fill the newly finished OCP (trans-Ecuadorian pipeline). This situation means that our lands (about 650ha in the buffer zone of the Yasuni National Park and Biosphere Reserve) and the surrounding region have been slated for intensive studies to determine more details about the presence and distribution of crude oil under ground. Chemical tests on the surface have proven sufficiently promising for the next phase (3-D seismic survey) to proceed. Fortunately, an environmental impact assessment is required before the oil company (EnCana, a large corporation from Canada) can proceed. Most of us here are satisfied that the technological aspects of this seismic testing are fairly well designed and represent a standard strategy that may not be particularly damaging (since this simply involves the establishment of a transect grid, the installation of geophones and a series of underground explosions). What preoccupies us most about this activity is that in practice, at least a few hundred people are required to work in the forest – cutting and then repeatedly walking closely-spaced grid lines, creating localized but serious impacts in a way that will extend to essentially every part of the forest. Tiputini has the wildlife that it does because this area has had and continues to have very low (to no) human impact. Our presence in the area has further minimized impacts from other humans through nearly a decade of vigilance and cooperation with the National Park. Of course, our greater concerns for the future are related to the overwhelming probability that these seismic investigations will confirm the presence of crude oil directly below our lands. Due to directional drilling technologies, we know that such deposits could be accessed from some distance, possibly even completely outside our 6.5 square kilometers. Nonetheless, this kind of access is costly and the distance that EnCana might be willing to drill horizontally will undoubtedly come to be a point of discussion. Also, there is the possibility that access roads might be constructed and these would certainly eventually be used by hunters and/or settlers (indigenous or otherwise) for exploitation of local fauna that is especially abundant and vulnerable because of decades (or more) of no such pressure in this part of eastern Ecuador. Related oil development to the southeast of the station by PetroBras (the Brazilian national company) represents a similar threat due to possible road and pipeline construction to connect that operation to existing infrastructure along the Napo River (which would give direct access to the very heart of the Yasuni National Park and provoke tremendous inevitable secondary impacts).
With this correspondence, I am asking you (as a scientist or conservationist, as a nature lover, or simply as a concerned individual) to become involved in our struggle to protect the world’s greatest concentration of biodiversity from this oncoming wave of (very likely irreparable) destruction. The designation of the Yasuni Biosphere Reserve as a World Natural Heritage Site by the U.N. is completely justified and must be respected. To voice your opinion, simply direct an e-mail to me (kelly@mail.usfq.edu.ec) and/or to David Romo, TBS’ Co-Director (david@mail.usfq.edu.ec). Your letter can be as short or as long as you wish, as formal or as informal as you care to make it; it can be scientifically oriented or purely emotional – but many voices carry greater sway than a few; every grain of sand helps – and of course, the sooner, the better. Please send this along to anyone else you know that might be willing to join our efforts. On behalf of nature, we sincerely thank you.
Kelly Swing, Ph.D.
Director, Tiputini Biodiversity Station
Tree hugger extraordinaire
http://www.usfq.edu.ec/1TIPUTINI/
http://www.latinworld.com/magazine/v1n2en1.htm
http://www.encana.com/
http://www.encana.com/pdfs/World_Energy.pdf :"Applying Canadian Standards to Energy Projects in Ecuador"
(Web links added by N. Horowitz)
1 December 2003
Dear Colleagues and Friends of the Tiputini Biodiversity Station,
Everyone who has visited TBS over the years has come away knowing that this is truly one of the most special places on the planet – one where nature has produced a spectacular array of species diversity (currently in the process of being documented as THE most diverse site anywhere) and by chance, remoteness has left it essentially intact. It is becoming ever more obvious that our isolation is not enough, in and of itself, to ensure continued protection of our area from oil exploration and possible exploitation.
At the moment, governmental pressure has been augmented for all oil operations in eastern Ecuador to fill the newly finished OCP (trans-Ecuadorian pipeline). This situation means that our lands (about 650ha in the buffer zone of the Yasuni National Park and Biosphere Reserve) and the surrounding region have been slated for intensive studies to determine more details about the presence and distribution of crude oil under ground. Chemical tests on the surface have proven sufficiently promising for the next phase (3-D seismic survey) to proceed. Fortunately, an environmental impact assessment is required before the oil company (EnCana, a large corporation from Canada) can proceed. Most of us here are satisfied that the technological aspects of this seismic testing are fairly well designed and represent a standard strategy that may not be particularly damaging (since this simply involves the establishment of a transect grid, the installation of geophones and a series of underground explosions). What preoccupies us most about this activity is that in practice, at least a few hundred people are required to work in the forest – cutting and then repeatedly walking closely-spaced grid lines, creating localized but serious impacts in a way that will extend to essentially every part of the forest. Tiputini has the wildlife that it does because this area has had and continues to have very low (to no) human impact. Our presence in the area has further minimized impacts from other humans through nearly a decade of vigilance and cooperation with the National Park. Of course, our greater concerns for the future are related to the overwhelming probability that these seismic investigations will confirm the presence of crude oil directly below our lands. Due to directional drilling technologies, we know that such deposits could be accessed from some distance, possibly even completely outside our 6.5 square kilometers. Nonetheless, this kind of access is costly and the distance that EnCana might be willing to drill horizontally will undoubtedly come to be a point of discussion. Also, there is the possibility that access roads might be constructed and these would certainly eventually be used by hunters and/or settlers (indigenous or otherwise) for exploitation of local fauna that is especially abundant and vulnerable because of decades (or more) of no such pressure in this part of eastern Ecuador. Related oil development to the southeast of the station by PetroBras (the Brazilian national company) represents a similar threat due to possible road and pipeline construction to connect that operation to existing infrastructure along the Napo River (which would give direct access to the very heart of the Yasuni National Park and provoke tremendous inevitable secondary impacts).
With this correspondence, I am asking you (as a scientist or conservationist, as a nature lover, or simply as a concerned individual) to become involved in our struggle to protect the world’s greatest concentration of biodiversity from this oncoming wave of (very likely irreparable) destruction. The designation of the Yasuni Biosphere Reserve as a World Natural Heritage Site by the U.N. is completely justified and must be respected. To voice your opinion, simply direct an e-mail to me (kelly@mail.usfq.edu.ec) and/or to David Romo, TBS’ Co-Director (david@mail.usfq.edu.ec). Your letter can be as short or as long as you wish, as formal or as informal as you care to make it; it can be scientifically oriented or purely emotional – but many voices carry greater sway than a few; every grain of sand helps – and of course, the sooner, the better. Please send this along to anyone else you know that might be willing to join our efforts. On behalf of nature, we sincerely thank you.
Kelly Swing, Ph.D.
Director, Tiputini Biodiversity Station
Tree hugger extraordinaire
http://www.usfq.edu.ec/1TIPUTINI/
http://www.latinworld.com/magazine/v1n2en1.htm
http://www.encana.com/
http://www.encana.com/pdfs/World_Energy.pdf :"Applying Canadian Standards to Energy Projects in Ecuador"
(Web links added by N. Horowitz)