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Victory: Court ends the “lawful” killing of endangered green sea turtles

Victory: Haven for leatherback sea turtles declared off-limits

Costa Rican Constitutional Chamber Orders the Fisheries Authority to Issue Regulations Within the Next 3 Months

PRESS CONTACT: Gladys Martínez de Lemos, AIDA (506) 83214263 [email protected] Costa Rican Constitutional Chamber Orders the Fisheries Authority to Issue Regulations Within the Next 3 Months  SAN JOSÉ, Costa Rica, May 20, 2009 – The Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of Costa Rica favorably resolved an injunction brought by students from the University of Costa Rica, represented by Attorney Alvaro Sagot and supported by the Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense (AIDA) and other Costa Rican NGOs (APREFLOFAS, CEDARENA, Fundación Keto, Humane Society International, Justicia para la Naturaleza, MARVIVA, PRETOMA and PROMAR)., In its ruling, The Chamber ordered the Executive Authority, within a maximum of 3 months, to administrate the fishery law in a manner that protects the constitutional right to a healthy environment. The Chamber also mandated that this process be carried out with public participation, which is essential to protecting this human right.   “This decision is vital to the protection of coastal marine resources. The Fishery and Aquaculture Law had given the Executive Authority a period of 90 days to promulgate regulations, starting from April 25th, 2005 when the law was first published. However, after more than four years, the Executive Authority, represented by INCOPESCA, had still not issued the regulation,” stated attorney Gladys Martínez. “We understand the complexities of the issue, but these cannot be excuses to continue leaving a legal void that directly affects the conservation of Costa Rican and the planet’s, resources”, added Martínez.   The plaintiffs petitioned the Constitutional Chamber to protect the human right to a healthy environment and balanced ecology and assure compliance with international obligations by carrying out its responsibility to promulgate regulations to implement this law. There are fundamental aspects to marine resource protection, such as aquaculture development, illegal fishing in protected areas, and containment of excessive fishing, the control of which is nonexistent or deficient, making this regulation imperative.   “We at AIDA applaud the Chamber’s decision, as it recognizes the importance of effective protection of marine biodiversity and establishes a precedent of requiring public participation in the process”, commented Anna Cederstav from California, Co-Director of AIDA, “Given the grave situation of the world’s oceans and marine resources, and the necessity to counteract excessive exploitation and avoid impacts to current and future generations, it is urgent that this issue be resolved as soon as possible. Furthermore, Costa Rica has the opportunity to be an example in the conservation of oceans and their resources”, concluded Cederstav.  

Colombian Constitutional Court Admits AIDA's Complaint Against Mining Code (Spanish Text Only)

  CORTE CONSTITUCIONAL ADMITE NUEVA DEMANDA CONTRA CÓDIGO DE MINAS PARA DEFENDER EL PRINCIPIO DE PRECAUCIÓN FRENTE A LAS ACTIVIDADES MINERAS   PARA PUBLICACIÓN INMEDIATA CONTACTOS: Jerónimo Rodríguez, AIDA, Tel. (571) 2681804 Andrés Idarraga, CENSAT, Tel. (571) 2440581 [email protected] [email protected]   BOGOTÁ, 20 de mayo de 2009.- La Corte Constitucional colombiana admitió esta semana la acción de inconstitucionalidad presentada por la Asociación Interamericana para la Defensa del Ambiente (AIDA), CENSAT – Agua Viva, el Observatorio de Conflictos Ambientales de la Universidad de Caldas y la Corporación Gestión por los Intereses Ambientales y Públicos (Iniciativa GESAP) contra los artículos 203 y 213 del Código de Minas, que permiten el uso de los recursos naturales para la exploración minera sin licencia ambiental y limitan las causales por las que las autoridades ambientales pueden negar una licencia ambiental para actividades mineras.   Los artículos del Código de Minas demandados violan la Constitución de Colombia y la legislación ambiental internacional. Estos artículos priorizan la actividad minera sobre la protección ambiental, al punto de limitar las capacidades de las propias autoridades para verificar las condiciones de la explotación, y eventualmente autorizar la exploración y explotación con condiciones que sean ambientalmente sostenibles. Por esto, se violan entre otros, los principios de desarrollo sostenible y el principio de precaución que son parte fundamental de nuestra legislación.   “Reconocemos que la minería es una industria importante para nuestro país, pero también lo es la protección de los recursos naturales, que garantizan la existencia misma de la especie humana en la actualidad y en el futuro. Por esto solicitamos a la Corte que aplique el principio de desarrollo sostenible reconocido en nuestra Constitución para que la minería se implemente sin la generación de daños severos e irreversibles a zonas estratégicas, como los páramos, y de las que dependen muchas comunidades”, señaló Jerónimo Rodríguez, asesor legal de AIDA en Colombia.   Esta demanda se une a la presentada por AIDA y otros contra el artículo 34 del Código de Minas, que está pendiente de sentencia por la Corte Constitucional Colombiana. Ambas demandas recogen e insisten sobre las preocupaciones del Ministerio de Ambiente y de la Procuraduría General de la Nación frente a los efectos de las actividades mineras en el ambiente y la necesidad imperiosa de control, sin debilitar aún más las normas.   “Buscamos con esta demanda de inconstitucionalidad la efectiva protección al ambiente y que el uso ocasional o transitorio de los recursos naturales en las actividades de exploración deba evaluarse por las autoridades ambientales. Además que las licencias ambientales no estén limitadas por causales formales, sino que las autoridades ambientales puedan, cuando sea necesario para protección ambiental y del interés público, negar licencias para la minería en aplicación del principio de precaución y de normas ambientales aplicables”, concluyó Rodríguez.   AIDA es una ONG legal ambiental hemisférica que trabaja para fortalecer la capacidad de las personas para garantizar su derecho individual y colectivo a un ambiente sano por medio del desarrollo, aplicación y cumplimiento efectivo de la legislación nacional e internacional. Entre otros temas, AIDA prioriza la protección del derecho al agua y asegurar recursos de agua dulce adecuados para las comunidades y los ecosistemas.

Costa Rican Court Orders Expropriation Of Land Slated For Tourism Development In The Leatherback Marine National Park

 For immediate release: May 14, 2008 Press contacts: Rolando Castro, Attorney, CEDARENA Gladys Martínez, Attorney, AIDA (506) 2837080, [email protected] (506) 2837080, [email protected]     COSTA RICAN COURT ORDERS EXPROPRIATION OF LAND SLATED FOR TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN THE LEATHERBACK MARINE NATIONAL PARK   SAN JOSÉ— On May 5th, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of Costa Rica ordered the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE) to begin expropriating private lands slated for tourism development within the Leatherback Marine National Park (LMNP) in Guanacaste. This decision follows a lawsuit filed in March 2005 by AIDA and its participating organizations in Costa Rica, the Center for Environmental Law and Natural Resources (CEDARENA), and Justice for Nature (JPN). The complaint alleged that the National Environmental Technical Secretary (SETENA), the Municipality of Santa Cruz, the Ministry of Finance, and MINAE violated the constitutional right to a healthy and ecologically balanced environment by not protecting the LMNP and the nesting sites of the leatherback turtle located therein.   This is a very important precedent in Costa Rica and the hemisphere, given that tourism development is proceeding at an unprecedented pace throughout the Americas. The Municipality of Santa Cruz and SETENA had issued construction permits within the park, ignoring the impacts that tourism development would have upon the leatherback turtles. With this decision, these permits are now invalid.   “We hope that the Municipality and SETENA have received a clear message that they must take extreme caution with regard to national parks, and not approve projects that endanger what the parks were created to protect,” stated Rolando Castro, an attorney for CEDARENA. “Construction and operation of tourist sites within the LMNP would aggravate existing threats to the beach,” he added.   Leatherback turtles are animals from the Jurassic age that have been declared an endangered species on the international level. They require particular nesting conditions that can be easily disturbed by the presence of human beings and construction lights. Hence, the development of tourist sites can severely affect the turtles’ reproduction, and consequently, their survival. The Leatherback Marine National Park has become the most important nesting site for this species in the Western Pacific Ocean.   “MINAE should immediately heed this order to prevent the destruction that has occurred at other Costa Rican nesting beaches, such as Flamingo and Tamarindo,” affirmed Gladys Martinez, AIDA attorney. “All authorities within the Costa Rican government have an obligation to protect this species, which is part of our common patrimony, in addition to being a tourist attraction and hence a valuable economic resource for the country,” she added.    

Constitutional Court Orders Change in Environmental License for Baba Dam, Ecuador

CONSTITUTIONAL COURT ORDERS CHANGE IN ENVIRONMENTAL LICENSE FOR BABA DAM,  ECUADOR FOR IMMEDIATE PUBLICATION: CONTACTS: Silvana Rivadeneira (593 3) 2 459822 Astrid Puentes, AIDA (5255) 5212-0141 [email protected] [email protected]   Quito, January 8, 2009 - The Constitutional Court of Ecuador ordered the country's Ministry of Environment to review and reformulate the environmental authorization granted to Baba's Multi-purpose Project (PMB), and the Attorney-General to audit the procedures and the approval of the environmental impact evaluations.   According to the court's decision, there are risks of severe, irreparable damage to the Ecuatorian biodiversity that weren't properly assessed, in accordance with the conclusions of the Inter-American Development Bank experts. This resolution from Ecuador's highest court is a consequence of the lawsuit promoted by ECOLEX in May, 2007, which was rejected by the initial judge. ECOLEX then appealed to the Constitutional Court, insisting that it consisted in a violation of the human rights to a safe environment, to water, to property, to work, and to food, among others. Last June AIDA and the international organizations International Rivers and FIAN International supported the appeal through an amicus curiae document, denouncing the violations to international environmental standards and human rights, all of those binding the State of Ecuador. In addition to that, experts from the US organization ELAW also had mentioned serious mistakes in the study. The Constitutional Court's decision effectively recognized that the lack of a adequate evaluation violated the previously mentioned rights, as well as the principle of environmental caution. Silvana Rivadeneira, from ECOLEX, stated that "the decision is a great triumph to the affected communities and to the country, since it reinforces that the environmental protection is also a matter of national interest." The PMB would have implied in the flooding of more than 2.500 acres of important ecosystems at the province of Los Rios, affecting the river populations of the Baba Quevedo Vinces river and the habitat of endangered species such as the rascón bird, the small deer and chaleco's ant-eating bear. The project was authorized by the Ministry of Environment in November 2006 and it is being executed by the company Hidronación S.A., which took it over after the Brazilian Odebrecht was expeled from the country by the Ecuatorian government. In September 2008, AIDA, Earthjustice and ECOLEX, FIAN International and International Rivers requested for the international credits from the Clean Development Mechanism (a tool from the Kyoto Protocol to help fight climate change) not to be granted to the PMB. "The Baba project is an example of unclean energy and it could worsen the climate change, the court's decision confirms its lack of sustainability", said Monti Aguirre from International Rivers. "It is very significant that the court issued such decision a few days after the World Conference on Climate Change in Poland" mentioned Astrid Puentes, co-director of AIDA. "Given the negative effects for the environment, the people and the climate change caused by the hydroelectric dams - the very reason for which we supported such demand - the order to completely evaluate Baba's project is outstanding news. We will be following the review closely, and we expect this decision to serve as a precedent for the hundreds of hydroelectric powerplants that are currently ongoing in the Americas with flaws very similar to those present in Baba.  

AIDA Supports Legal Action Against Baba Dam (Spanish Text Only)

  Para publicación inmediata Contactos: Astrid Puentes (México) Natalia Landivar (Quito) Monti Aguirre (Berkeley, EEUU) (5255) 55212-0141 (593) 2 22 24 962 (1-510) 848-1155 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]   Organizaciones Internacionales apoyan amparo contra Proyecto Multipropósito Baba ante Tribunal Constitucional de Ecuadorpara proteger derechos humanos y ambiente   QUITO, MÉXICO, BERKELEY, 19 DE JUNIO DE 2008-- La Asociación Interamericana para la Defensa del Ambiente (AIDA), presentó un amicus curiae (escrito de amigo de la corte) ante el Tribunal Constitucional de Ecuador, suscrito por International Rivers y FoodFirst Information and Action Network (FIAN) International, apoyando la demanda de Amparo Constitucional interpuesta por afectados del Proyecto Multipropósito Baba. Las organizaciones internacionales argumentaron violaciones a los derechos humanos y al ambiente en la aprobación del proyecto, por lo cual se unen a los demandantes para solicitar la suspensión de su ejecución.   “Existen sinnúmero de experiencias donde la implementación inadecuada de mega-represas ha generado daños irreversibles, es necesario aprender de ellas” aseguró Astrid Puentes de AIDA. “La producción de energía no puede implementarse a costa del ambiente y de los derechos humanos, más aún cuando existen alternativas que ni siquiera se han evaluado y que a la larga, podrían evitar mayores costos para los países” puntualizó.   El Proyecto Baba, que incluye la construcción de una represa que inundará más de 1,000 hectáreas, fue aprobado por el Ministerio de Medio Ambiente en noviembre de 2006 sin los estudios de impacto ambiental y sociales integrales que se exigen en la legislación nacional e internacionalmente. Estos estudios son de vital importancia, pues el proyecto afectará importantes zonas y tierras de cultivo, impactando seriamente la vida de cientos de personas que dependen de la pesca y la agricultura. Además, se dañará seriamente el hábitat de biodiversidad endémica y en peligro de extinción, como el ave rascón, el venado pequeño y el oso hormiguero de chaleco.   “Tenemos la confianza que el Tribunal considerará los estándares internacionales en su decisión” mencionó Monti Aguirre de International Rivers. Dentro de los derechos afectados con este proyecto se incluyen el derecho a la calidad de vida, a la alimentación y a la vivienda, al ambiente sano, al debido proceso y a las garantías judiciales, y a la consulta previa, consagrados en la Constitución Ecuatoriana, en la Convención Americana, el Convenio 169 de la OIT, el Pacto Internacional de Derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales y el Protocolo de San Salvador, entre otros.   “Buscamos aportar argumentos ante el Tribunal Constitucional evidenciando que la aprobación del proyecto ignora normas internacionales ambientales y de derechos humanos, lo cual puede generar responsabilidad internacional del gobierno ecuatoriano” aseguró Natalia Landivar de FIAN ECUADOR. “Confiamos en que se fallará de acuerdo a las normas” agregó.  

Costa Rican Court Reinforces Protection of Leatherback National Marine Park: Declares Ruling Allowing Construction in Park Unconstitutional

SAN JOSÉ, Costa Rica, June 2, 2008 – On May 23rd, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of Costa Rica repealed a municipal zoning regulation because of its impacts on the most important nesting zone for the leatherback sea turtle in the Eastern Pacific Ocean: the Leatherback National Marine Park (LNMP). The court resolution confirms that the park is necessary to guarantee protection of the leatherback turtle, an internationally declared endangered species, and therefore development within the park must be prevented. The court ruled in favor of the plaintiff, the Leatherback Trust, which filed suit in July 2006 against the zoning regulation for the Cabo Velas district of the city of Santa Cruz in the province of Guanacaste. In filing this suit, the Trust was advised by the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Center (CEDARENA), with the support the Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense (AIDA) regarding applicable aspects of international law. Only two weeks ago, the same court ordered the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE) to begin expropriating private lands inside the park due to the impact of private developments on the leatherback turtles. This decision resulted from a case brought by CEDARENA, AIDA, and the Costa Rican organization, Justice for Nature (JPN). The zoning regulation that the court annulled in the May 23rd ruling allowed the City of Santa Cruz to issue construction permits inside the park, ignoring the serious impacts that such operations can have on leatherback turtles. “As is well known, leatherbacks require special nesting conditions and thus people’s presence and lights from construction operations on nesting beaches seriously impacts the turtles,” declared Mario Boza, biologist for The Leatherback Trust. The LNMP was created to preserve the conditions necessary for the turtles’ reproduction, but the zoning regulation disregarded this intention. “We are very pleased with the court decision in Costa Rica because it sets a precedent that builds hope for the conservation of this species,” declared Astrid Puentes, Legal Director for AIDA. “We hope that this decision will be replicated in other countries in the region,” added Puentes. The court’s decision is retroactive, so it should cancel all the permits granted and constructions operations initiated under the regulation. “With this decision the court is not only protecting Costa Rica’s ecological balance, as established in article 50 of the Costa Rican Constitution, but also ordering the country to comply with its commitments to international agreements,” declared Rolando Castro, a lawyer with CEDARENA. Press Contacts Rolando Castro, Attorney, (506) 283-7080 [email protected]  CEDARENA Gladys Martínez, Attorney, AIDA: (506) 283-7080 [email protected]    

Doe Run Smelter in La Oroya, Peru, Loses Environmental Certification

FOR IMMEDIATE PUBLICATION: April 9, 2008 Press Contacts: Perry Gottesfeld, Executive Director OK International 415-362-9898 [email protected] Anna Cederstav, Ph.D. AIDA and Earthjustice 510-550-6700 [email protected] DOE RUN SMELTER IN LA OROYA, PERU, LOSES ENVIRONMENTAL CERTIFICATION  Lima, Peru – Doe Run Peru, which operates one of the largest metal-smelters in the hemisphere, has lost its Environmental Certification in a highly unusual move taken by the company’s independent third-party auditors. TUV Rheinland initially granted the certification less than two years ago, but revoked it March 11, 2008 citing non-compliance with Peruvian environmental laws and the lack of adequate pollution prevention measures. The loss of the certification comes on the heels of a $234,000 US fine imposed last year against Doe Run Peru for several serious violations of environmental laws in Peru. This week, Peruvian authorities released a report detailing those violations, including noncompliance with the standards for lead and particulate matter. Doe Run Peru obtained the environmental certification under ISO 14001 in 2006 calling it a “significant milestone in delivering on our commitments to our communities, our employees and the environment." The Doe Run Company’s web site calls the ISO certification an “internationally recognized symbol of a company’s dedication to superior quality, customer satisfaction and continuous improvement.” Nevertheless, a number of studies conducted by the government as well as international health experts have shown that almost all of the children living in the area surrounding Doe Run Peru’s smelter have unacceptably high levels of lead in their bodies. Many are severely exposed and require immediate medical treatment. “TUV Rheinland acted responsibly in taking this unprecedented action to underscore the need for Doe Run Peru to do more to protect public health in La Oroya” said Perry Gottesfeld, Executive Director of Occupational Knowledge International (USA). “Revoking the certification should send a strong message to Doe Run that they have much more work to do,.” said Anna Cederstav, Staff Scientist with AIDA and Earthjustice, and author of the book La Oroya Cannot Wait. “Nevertheless, we are still concerned that, if paid enough, another certifying body will agree to provide Doe Run with a similar certification.” she added. In 2006, several organizations filed a petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States, seeking a recommendation that the Peruvian government implement urgent measures to halt the grave violations against the health and lives of the citizens of La Oroya. Last year, the Commission agreed and requested that the state implement such precautionary measures. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 120 million people are overexposed to lead (approximately three times the number infected by HIV/AIDS) and 99 percent of the most severely affected reside in the developing world. Lead affects both children and adults and causes brain damage, metal retardation, and other learning disabilities in children. In addition to lead, the population of La Oroya is also exposed to extreme levels of other harmful contaminants, including arsenic, cadmium, and sulfur dioxide.