"Tapirs, hummingbirds and a billion-dollar bedrock of gold: the Ecuador reserve that is now a battlefield over a new mine", 04 August 2025

...Unesco designated the Cajas a biosphere reserve in 2013, but the title offers scant protection. Mining companies now hold more than 100,000 hectares (247,000 acres) of concessions in the Cajas, with more than 15,000 of those hectares in the páramo.

Authorities say that the government has given the most important segments of ecosystems protected or national park status. But scientists argue that the zoning is arbitrary...

So far, large-scale mining activity in the páramos has been limited to exploration – in part, thanks to local resistance, inside and outside the courtroom. But now, new battle lines are being drawn in the Cajas.

On 23 June, the Canadian mining multinational Dundee Precious Metals was granted its environmental licence for exploitation of the Loma Larga project, which sits on the Quimsacocha páramo and surrounds the protected area...

Activists and ecologists, however, allege that the mine could cause enormous environmental damage, that the government has failed to properly consult local communities, and that they are subject to intimidation and surveillance for protesting against the mine. Dundee rejects the claims...

The road to Loma Larga is public, and cuts through the Quimsacocha recreation area. Yet, it’s lined with private security personnel who peer out from booths guarding the offices and buildings of Dundee Precious Metals...

“They always follow us when we go up here,” says Remache, who believes this is an intimidation technique. “They’ll openly photograph us … you have to wonder, what are those photos for?”

In a letter to the Guardian, Dundee representatives denied these allegations, noting that all Loma Larga security personnel “have undergone human rights training and behave with full respect”. They said that the project’s fence had been frequently vandalised, and guards took action to prevent trespassing, but that Dundee “regularly welcomes visitors to the project area”...

Scientists warn that mining in Cajas could irreversibly destroy fragile ecosystems and poison the water supply that hundreds of thousands of people depend on...