- Scientists unlock secret of 'Girl With Pearl Earring'
- Dolphins flash friendly grins when they're ready to play
- Facing backlash, EU moves to delay deforestation rules
- US private sector adds more jobs than expected in September: ADP
- Boys out of critical condition after Zurich stabbings
- Spain logs record summer tourism as inflow draws protests
- Hedi Slimane quits as Celine's artistic director
- Oil prices extend rally on Iran attack
- Spain welcomed record number of tourists this summer
- France says coming tax hikes on the wealthy to be 'temporary'
- Why are Thailand's roads so deadly?
- Oracle to invest $6.5 bn in Malaysian cloud services region
- Parkrun marks 20 years of a free weekly jog, run... or walk
- Oil extends rally after Iran attack, Hong Kong soars again
- Prostitutes, prospectors drive spread in DR Congo mpox capital
- Oil extends rally after Iran attack, Hong Kong resumes surge
- Extreme heat another form of death sentence in Texas jails
- Can music help plants grow? Study suggests sound boosts fungus
- Nike earnings drop, says turnaround will take time
- US dockworkers launch mass strike a month before election
- Iron Dome: Israel's key anti-missile shield
- Cranes stand still as US dockworkers fight for 'future'
- GM reports US sales dip, but says EVs grew
- Sheinbaum takes office as Mexico's first woman president
- Webb telescope detects carbon dioxide on Pluto's largest moon
- Stock markets slump, oil jumps on Middle East concerns
- French PM vows more taxes and spending cuts ahead of budget fight
- Germany inaugurates IBM's first European quantum data centre
- Stock markets diverge as eurozone inflation drops further
- France's richest man takes control of Paris Match magazine
- Anger meets tear gas as Nigeria hardship protests fizzle out
- US dockworkers launch mass strike month before election
- Evacuations from Lebanon: what we know
- Feathers fly at Chanel's Paris fashion return
- UAE oil giant ADNOC swoops on German chemicals firm Covestro
- Eurozone inflation falls under 2% for first time since 2021
- Coldplay ticket scalping fiasco sparks backlash in India
- Droughts drive Spanish boom in pistachio farming
- Tokyo recovers some losses to lead Asian markets higher
- Rural schools empty in North Macedonia due to exodus
- US dockworkers launch strike after labor contract expires
- Thousands evacuated as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan
- Kenya airport whistleblower fears for his life
- Sheinbaum to take office as Mexico's first woman president
- Scientists fear underfunded Argentina research on verge of collapse
- US port officials gird for strike despite last-minute bargaining
- With 118 dead from Hurricane Helene, Biden defends US government response
- Breeder who tried to create enormous trophy sheep jailed in US
- Qatar Airways seeking 25% stake in Virgin Australia
- US port officials gird for strike as labor talks stay stuck
RBGPF | -2.18% | 59.5 | $ | |
RYCEF | 1.42% | 7.03 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.04% | 24.76 | $ | |
BCC | 0.41% | 141.97 | $ | |
NGG | -1.32% | 69.135 | $ | |
GSK | -1.75% | 39.605 | $ | |
SCS | -1.03% | 13.065 | $ | |
RIO | 0.45% | 71.48 | $ | |
RELX | 0.11% | 47.39 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.16% | 24.9 | $ | |
VOD | -2.1% | 9.745 | $ | |
JRI | -0.13% | 13.513 | $ | |
AZN | 0.71% | 79.23 | $ | |
BCE | -0.81% | 34.55 | $ | |
BTI | -1.28% | 35.99 | $ | |
BP | 0.67% | 32.305 | $ |
Ecuadoran frogs Rocket and Harlequin taking on mining industry
On the banks of a crystalline waterfall, biologist Andrea Teran lets out a yelp.
She holds in the palm of her hand one of two frog species at the center of a legal battle against Ecuador's mining industry.
Teran, 37, is a specialist in the fragile existence of a creature called the Resistance Rocket Frog, which does not yet have a scientific name, and the Longnose Harlequin (Atelopus longirostris), which was believed extinct for 30 years.
The discovery several years ago of these two tiny frogs measuring no more than four centimeters has become the central argument in opposition to a proposed nearly 5,000 hectare mining project in a native forest in Junin, Imbabura province, around three and a half hours north of Quito.
The Longnose Harlequin reappeared in 2016.
"It was a frog that came back from the dead," said an emotional Teran, whom AFP accompanied on an expedition in this forest area following a two-hour walk.
"If the water is polluted (by mining) the last populations of this frog will be lost," said the biologist from the Jambatu Center dedicated to the study and conservation of amphibians.
The Longnose Harlequin is extinct according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) red list.
But scientists rediscovered traces of life in this forest where the mineral exploitation license was granted to Ecuador's Enami and Chile's Codelco. They are due to begin in 2024 to extract 210,000 tons of copper a year.
In Ecuador, which launched a massive mining exploitation operation in 2019, there are at least 12 projects at advanced stages to mine reserves of 43.7 million ounces of gold, 46 billion pounds of copper and 183 million ounces of silver, according to the Spurrier Group consultancy.
But the 2019 discovery of a new species of rock frog has only intensified the desire to protect its forest habitat.
- Last hope -
In 2020, Teran launched a legal battle to prevent the mining project from going ahead.
Although she succeeded in the first instance, she then lost on appeal.
But the mining concession has also been challenged by a collective of Junin residents pointing to errors in the environmental impact studies, such as the lack of a protection plan for the two frog species.
"There are so many mistakes. They are violating the rights of nature, and on top of that the documents were never correctly communicated to the community and there was no environmental consultation," the file's lawyer Mario Moncayo told AFP.
But a judge rejected the claim of oversights.
Defenders of these two frogs can still appeal, which is perhaps their last hope of halting the mining project.
Contacted by AFP, both the government and the mining companies refused to comment.
- No solutions -
When the Jambatu Center scientists came across the new rocket frog species they initially mistook it for one called the Confusing Rocket Frog (Ectopoglossus confusus).
However, an anatomical difference in its tongue was found, and genetic studies allowed experts to identify it as a completely new Ectopoglossus species that they named "resistance."
"It lives in unique conditions, with the sound of the waterfall we don't know how it communicates, we don't know anything about its reproductive biology," said Teran.
Their skin contains great medicinal potential, and renders them extremely sensitive to environmental changes.
They are thus considered bioindicators, meaning that if the ecosystem is affected, they could disappear.
Protection of nature is enshrined in the constitution of Ecuador, which has 650 known species of frogs, 60 percent of which are in danger of extinction.
But the South American country derives six percent of its GDP from its oil and mining industries, according to the Central Bank.
"We are in a mega-diverse region and the decisions taken have to be mega-responsible," said Teran.
It's an issue that divides opinion in Junin.
"If authorities value the species that live here then they need to halt" the mining project, said farmer Hugo Ramirez, 40.
But for carpenter Pedro Vallejos, 63, environmentalists are offering no solutions to end poverty.
"There's no employment in the countryside, there are no alternatives," he said.
X.Wong--CPN