Margot Tjolle studied a MSc in Environment and Development at the University of Copenhagen. For her Master’s thesis, she went on field work in the Serena community with her two research partners, Filippo De Rossi and Marie Eenens. They decided to collaborate and live with Yuturi Warmi to conduct a research project aiming to understand how endangered communities can build alternatives to mining and extractivism.
The scourge of industrial gold mining
In recent years, the Ecuadorian Amazon has been increasingly impacted by the scourge of both illegal and “legal” gold mining. However, the mines operated by official companies are often also considered illegal by the local populations, as they notoriously enter their territories without their prior free and informed consent, and operate without environmental permits.
The negative impacts of industrial gold mining start with the deforestation and contamination of the soil and rivers by the toxic chemicals used in the extraction process, predominantly mercury. In addition to destroying the precious biodiversity of the Amazon rainforest, the contamination brings an array of health issues to the communities that depend on the river water to survive, such as skin diseases and cancer. The soil contamination prevents anything to grow, jeopardizing their agroforestry organic farms, a vital part of their lives and indigenous cultures. Mining also sabotages other more environmentally-friendly sources of income such as tourism, as the contaminated land and rivers are not attractive to the foreigner’s eye anymore. Another important impact to mention is the rise of insecurity and delinquency the mine brings to the communities, as the resulting lack of educational or economic opportunities breed alcoholism, prostitution, and drug abuse and trafficking.
“Yes, sometimes I get angry, because these mining companies want to enter our territory, they want to damage the water, especially water is our life. Water is for children to bathe, for cooking and for us to drink. By entering, the miners want to leave the timber trees well damaged. In our territory to plant cassava, banana, those will also be very damaged, when they throw away chemicals. And that’s why we, the women here, from this Community of Serena, stand hard. We stand hard so they don’t enter. That’s why we became the Yuturi Warmi association.” – Corina from Yuturi Warmi
The resistance of Yuturi Warmi
Yuturi Warmi is the first indigenous women’s led guard of the Napo province, in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Yuturi Warmi translates directly to “conga woman”, “conga” being a certain species of ants which are considered warriors in the Kichwa culture. Conga ants are peaceful until their territory is threatened: if an unwelcome presence gets close to their nest, they unite and bite the individual to defend themselves. More than 40 Kichwa women are dedicating their daily lives to resist mines from entering their land. By using Indigenous Justice – spears, chili peppers, tobacco and nettles – as arms, they stop the miners from entering the Serena community which is one of the last areas that gold mining has not infiltrated and polluted their rivers, soil and bodies. They also regularly patrol the area, and make traditional artisanal products such as beaded jewelry, weaved bags, and ceramics, as an additional source of income. Together with the support of their families, they march in various protests to raise awareness that there is indeed an alternative to the destructive development path that the mining companies promote.
“In other places or in other communities, they tell us that mining brings money. And if there are some families who turn to mining and sell their land it’s due to lack of money, out of necessity.” – Leila from Yuturi Warmi
Unfortunately, the precarious economic conditions in which many communities live, coupled with the lack of opportunities, forces them to accept leasing or selling their land to the mines, for the meager promise of a short-term economic benefit. It is crucial for communities to have the means to build alternative sources of income to the mine, which do not jeopardize their future. In other words, it is vital for communities to practice their right to say no to extractive projects on their territories and their right to say yes to their chosen way of living and relation with their surroundings.
“For the future of the Yuturi Warmi, we have always been talking about focusing on community tourism. Because if we do community tourism we can bring foreigners to know and respect our territory, know our rivers, our waterfalls, our mountains… And also to provide work for students. Here, our high school graduates are not given work unless they have 2-3 years of experience. And if they do not have a third-level education, they do not have a job. So, doing community tourism would help us a lot because our children can be jungle guides, rafting guides, chefs. So there is work here in the territory and they don’t have to emigrate. That is our dream, that is our future. And with that, resist more because there are people who are getting to know us.” – Elsa from Yuturi Warmi
Community-led resistance tourism
As the president of Yuturi Warmi mentions, their dream is to develop a community-led tourism project. The community envisions building a lodge on the bank of the Jatunyacu River, on their communal land. They also wish to create a botanical garden around the lodge, where they would plant different medicinal and traditional plants and label them, in an effort to conserve and share their knowledge. On this land, they already started building a roofed space dedicated to the practice of the Wayusupina, a traditional early-morning tea ceremony important within the Amazonian Kichwa culture. They plan to finish the construction of this site to have a space where they can celebrate and practise different aspects of their culture, as well as simply meet with the guests. Moreover, the lodge would serve as a venue to sell their traditional handmade beaded jewellery and crafts. This project would provide them with an alternative source of income to destructive gold mining, which would not only help them fight extractivism but also share their culture with visitors.
However, this collective dream is no small task to achieve. Once the funds needed to develop the plans, buy the materials, and build the project are collected, efforts need to be continuous to ensure that the lodge thrives. Different challenges appear when introducing tourism as an alternative source of income. Tourism can be seen as an extractive activity that puts stress on the natural environment and can make local communities dependent on another volatile economic sector. Therefore, it is crucial to ensure that the touristic project is sustainable and based on the needs of the community. For example, a small-scale sustainable tourist project means limited numbers which means limited financial gains to support the related activities. It is also important that the women and the community itself retain ownership of the project. Although external investments can help fund the project, it can also shift control to other hands, like travel agencies. A monitoring system could be put in place to ensure the continuous sustainability of the project, and respond to emerging issues in a timely manner. Over-performativity and ‘selling’ one’s Kichwa culture and practices to entertain the foreigner’s eye, can also be viewed from a critical lens. The line is thin between the benefits that sharing and reproducing cultural practices can have for the preservation of indigenous knowledge, and its exaggeration to unrealistic standards which could provide a stereotypical and romanticised image of the community. Finally, as the area is surrounded by illegal mining activities, security concerns need to be evaluated, whether concerning the water contamination or the potential tensions with pro-mining groups in the region.
A financially and informatively well-supported community resistance tourism project can not only allow the women of Yuturi Warmi and the Serena community to achieve their dream of self-subsistence and territorial protection, but also ensure their resilience and adaptivity in the face of such challenges.
The students started an ongoing crowdfunding to support Yuturi Warmi in their first steps towards the development of their dreamed community tourism project. Your contributions will support the organisation in their fight against the mines for the protection of their territory and the Amazon rainforest. The collected funds will support the construction of a tourist lodge, a botanical garden, and a traditional handicrafts shop.
Link to the crowdfunding: https://whydonate.com/en/fundraising/Yuturi-Warmi
For any questions, contact us at: margot.tjolle@hotmail.com