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Viewing cable 09BOGOTA732, DISPUTE OVER MINING IN NATIONAL PARKS HEATS UP

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
09BOGOTA732 2009-03-04 13:51 2011-08-25 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Bogota
VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBO #0732/01 0631351
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 041351Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7508
INFO RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 8703
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 1757
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA 7075
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ MAR QUITO 7802
RUEHZP/AMEMBASSY PANAMA 3136
UNCLAS BOGOTA 000732 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EMIN SENV PGOV CO
SUBJECT: DISPUTE OVER MINING IN NATIONAL PARKS HEATS UP 
 
1. (SBU) SUMMARY: A long-running internal GOC dispute over 
mining within/around Colombia's national parks and forest 
reserves boiled over into public after the Ministry of 
Environment (MOE) alleged February 22 that industrial mining 
occurs in or near 15 parks, threatening critical 
biodiversity.  The Ministry of Mines and Energy's Institute 
for Geology and Mining (Ingeominas) insists it issues 
licenses consistent with Colombia's Mining Code and that the 
MOE overstates the environmental effects of mining while 
ignoring the activity's vital role in Colombia's economic 
development.  Many local experts hope the upcoming GOC 
decision on a major AngloGold Ashanti gold mining concession, 
which is located in a forest reserve, provides clarity on how 
the GOC will reconcile this debate between mining and 
environment.  However, until vague park boundaries and 
licensing language that have fueled confusion among investors 
and environmental officials are resolved, a long-term 
solution appears unlikely.  END SUMMARY. 
 
Mining Code: No Operations Within Parks, But Outskirts Okay 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
2. (SBU) Colombia's 2001 mining code declared mining within 
national parks illegal, while permitting mining on the 
outskirts of parks, and mining within forest reserves illegal 
without MOE authorization.  According to Mario Ballesteros, 
the director of Colombia's mine licensing agency, over the 
last few decades Ingeominas and authorized regional 
authorities have issued 35 licenses near parks or forest 
reserves.  He reiterated to us that such permits are legal 
and that he is frustrated with "completely false" media 
reports suggesting that mining occurs inside parks.  However, 
according to the Director of Technical Operations of National 
Parks Emilio Rodriguez, 3 mining licenses (two in Antioquia 
and one in Boyaca) authorize operations within parks and 12 
directly on park borders.  He noted, though, that Ingeominas 
issued most of those licenses several years ago, and in error 
due to confusion over park limits.  He said much of the 
debate is based upon lack of clarity on park limits, and that 
he does not think Ingeominas purposely violated the mining 
code. 
 
Legislation To Protect Other Environmental Areas? 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
3. (U) Maria Isabel Vieira, a biodiversity researcher from 
the GOC's Humboldt Institute, characterized mining as one of 
the most destructive activities to Colombia's parks and 
forest reserves, but also to strategically important 
environmental areas such as wetlands.  She said such 
strategic areas should be protected by legislation, 
highlighting that water and soil contamination caused by 
mining threatens 50 percent of Colombia's wetlands.  The 
Minister of Environment Juan Lozano, publicly stated that 
environmentally strategic areas should have the same legal 
protections afforded to parks and forest reserves. 
Ballesteros responded to us, however, that the MOE overstates 
the environmental effects of mining and fails to acknowledge 
that the activity annually contributes USD 6 billion to 
Colombia's GDP, providing essential resources for economic 
development. 
 
AngloGold Dispute As Litmus Test 
-------------------------------- 
 
4. (SBU) Local experts, such as the World Wildlife 
Foundation's (WWF) Environmental Policy Officer Juan 
Espinosa, highlight a pending AngloGold Ashanti license case 
as a litmus test for broader GOC efforts to reconcile mining 
and environment priorities.  In February 2008, the MOE 
suspended AngloGold's La Colosa project, as it did not have 
MOE authorization to operate in a forest reserve, as the 
mining code requires.  (NOTE: La Colosa is located in a 
Tolima department forest reserve and experts believe that it 
may contain as much as 12.8 million ounces of gold. 
AngloGold, the world's third-largest gold miner, plans to 
spend USD 2.5 billion on the La Colosa mine in the next 2-3 
years. END NOTE.)  AngloGold representatives publicly claim 
that legislation from the MOE is not consistent, stating that 
they were not required to have MOE authorization when the 
company first began to explore.  Rodriguez said AngloGold 
knew all along that it needed MOE authorization.  He said the 
question now is whether political support behind the 
operation and the expected economic benefit will cause the 
GOC to overlook the legal inconsistencies. (NOTE:  President 
Uribe announced the finding of the reserve in 2008 and has 
publicly supported AngloGold's operation.  END NOTE.) 
 
COMMENT: Knowing the Boundaries 
------------------------------- 
 
5. (U) With improving security opening greater swathes of 
Colombia's richly biodiverse territory to exploration, the 
local debate between economic progress and environmental 
protection is growing and will intensify.  The MOE's ultimate 
aim of prohibiting mining near any area that it deems of 
strategic environmental importance is unrealistic given how 
much of the country could theoretically fall into that 
category.  Tough economic times also place strain on those 
who value biodiversity protection over economic development. 
It is now incumbent on the GOC to clearly delineate park and 
forest reserve boundaries, as well as clarify the 
bureaucratic conflicts in its mining licensing process. 
 
BROWNFIELD