Chile said no to iron mining, which would have endangered the lives of Humboldt penguins. For once, the economic interests of industry do not prevail over Nature and its inhabitants
Chile said no to iron mining, which would have endangered the lives of the Humboldt penguins. For once, the economic interests of industry do not prevail over Nature and its inhabitants.
Good news comes from South America. Last Monday, the Chilean government rejected a controversial project from 2,5 billions of dollars, proposed by Andes Iron for copper and iron processing. When fully operational, the project, called Dominga, it would produce 12 million tons of iron annually and 150.000 tons of copper.
"(There are) deficiencies in basic information and insufficient mitigation, compensation and remedial measures, we believe that any impacts have not been properly addressed", he said the Chilean Minister of the Environment Marcelo Mena.
The project would have had a significant impact on Humboldt Penguins living in Chile's Humboldt Penguin Reserve.
Dominga has become a symbol of the difficulties that large projects are encountering in Chile, especially when economic interests collide with sensitivity for the environment. An awakened love of Nature is driving Chileans and their political leaders to counter initiatives that put the environment and animals at risk.
Dominga would have been located about 65 km from the city of La Serena. In March, an environmental commission had already rejected the project, sending it to the Ministers for the final decision, which arrived just a few days ago.
The Minister of the Environment said: “I firmly believe in development, but it cannot be achieved at the cost of our environmental heritage and cannot cause health risks or damage unique areas in the world”.
Minister @marcelomena argues the confirmation of the rejection of the mining-port project #Dominga pic.twitter.com/gprpgi3GfO
- Min. Medio Ambiente (@MMAChile) 22 August 2017
Andes Iron, may appeal, but has not yet made it known what his intentions will be.
In fact, 80% of the world's Humboldt penguins live here and other endangered species including blue whales and sea otters.
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A historic piece of news, hopefully the first of a long series.
Francesca Mancuso
