Centuries ago, the Kofán people moved down from the foothills of the Andes Mountains to inhabit a large territory between the Aguarico River in the northern Ecuadorian Amazon and the Guamués River in southern Colombia. It is estimated that the Kofán numbered between 15,000 and 20,000 before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors. The invasion of extractive industry, colonization, and forced religious conversion took its toll on the Kofán, and they now number approximately 2,100 people living in a significantly reduced territory. Oil extraction has contaminated much of the Kofán’s lands and rivers, and oil-related health problems are prevalent in Kofán communities.
The river is the source of life for the Kofán people, but in 2017 became the site of conflict and potential ecocide when illegal miners started crossing into their territory to prospect for gold, and then in 2018, when the Ecuadorian State created mining concessions all the way down the River Aguarico, with large machinery and companies moving in fast.
The Kofán community of Sinangoe was the first community to start piloting Mapeo Mobile in 2018, after being involved in a design workshop the year before. The river is the source of life for the Kofán people, but in 2017 became the site of conflict and potential ecocide when illegal miners started crossing into their territory to prospect for gold, and then in 2018 when the Ecuadorian State created mining concessions all the way down the River Aguarico, with large machinery and companies moving in fast.
Sinangoe, a small Kofán community of only 200 people, with support from Alianza Ceibo, Amazon Frontlines and Digital Democracy, sprang into action, first creating a local ‘guardia’ team to patrol their territory, collect evidence with GPS, drones and camera traps, and confront and evict the illegal miners. In partnership with the State Ombudsman, the Kofán took the Ecuadorian Government to court for the creation of mining concessions that would put their lives, culture and future at risk without adequate consultation. The Kofán won this case, and the appeal, in landmark rulings in 2018. The community is now using Mapeo to continuously monitor mining and other territorial invasions and to map the important resources and historical sites on their land.
