Ecuador is a country in Latin America with great ecological diversity; however the biodiversity and ecosystems in Ecuador have been threatened over the years from several environmental factors. The Galapagos Islands make play a key role in Ecuador’s greatly diverse biomes and the islands contain various species that are endangered or only exist in this region. The Amazon Rainforest also forms a large part of the country and contains and immense number of plant, flower, insect, and animal species that thrive in this unique location and climate. However, the beauty and diversity of Ecuador is constantly threatened by environmental issues that stem from globalization and technology. In this paper I will argue that deforestation, water pollution, and soil contamination are the top three issues that negatively affect the environment in Ecuador. The ranking system given in this paper will utilize evidence from various scholars to in order to provide concrete research and information to support my assertions. This exposition will then conclude with an analysis of the ways in which information technology is being utilized in order to help reduce these adverse environmental impacts.
After investigating various bodies of scholarship and research, it seems clear that the top environmental issue in Ecuador is deforestation. Sven Wunder in his book The Economics of Deforestation discusses in detail the problem of deforestation in the nation of Ecuador. Wunder gives readers data that shows a “yearly forest-loss rate of 1.6 per cent” (Wunder 96) between the years 1990 and 1995. Although this percentage may seem small, it is immense this destruction takes place year after year. He also argues that “collective forest benefits [may] be ignored under individual ownership” (under 189) of land because there are not many incentives for poor Ecuadorians to preserve the forest. Although other Latin American nations have been successful at increasing the sustainability of their land, in Ecuador we see that “large tracts of forests have been converted into cropland and pasture” (Romero and West 253) instead of preserving the natural forest. With the influx of globalization, technology, and modernity, Ecuadorians are faced with the choice of preserving the Amazon, or making a living to support their families. Many of the citizens lack the funds to work toward both goals, and thus they choose the economically beneficial path and convert their land holdings into farms that can yield economic gains. Due to the severity and frequency to which the Amazon is being threatened, I assert that deforestation is the most important environmental issue in Ecuador.
The second most pressing threat to the ecosystems in Ecuador is water pollution and contamination that mainly affects the coast of the country. According to Kevin and Laurie Hillstrom, half of Ecuador’s population lives on the coast and the population of coastal city Guayaquil has doubled in size in the last twenty years. In their book The World’s Environments: Latin America and the Caribbean, they report that problems on the coastline "destroyed mangrove swamps, raw sewage emptying into near-shore waters…and the [growing barrios that have] few or no sanitation services" (Hillstrom 159) which can lead to contamination of local water sources. The growing population within the country, especially near the coast, means that Ecuadorian policy must keep up in order to protect the coastal environment and waters. The Hillstroms also describe the tragic ssoil spill that released three million liters of crude oil into the ocean in 2001 and lead to the death of more than “60 percent of the Galapagos marine iguanas—a species found nowhere else on earth” (Hillstrom 46). Because oil spills are not a common occurrence, I feel that although water contamination is a serious issue, it is not as urgent as deforestation and therefore goes second on the list. The fact that a simple human error could potentially wipe out an entire species is a daunting idea, but it is the reality that many individuals are not ready to accept. Because of the careless actions of human beings, the waters off the Ecuadorian coast and the Galapagos Islands and their ecosystems are being threatened severely.
Although no environmental issue is less important than another, I feel that the soil and sediment contamination in Ecuador is not as much of a pressing matter as is deforestation and water contamination. There are many forms of soil contamination that are occurring in Ecuador, but the common thread between them is that they involve natural resources seeping into the earth as a side effect of mining or drilling the commodity from the ground. Gold mining is common in southern Ecuador and it threatens plants, river water, and biodiversity of the surrounding areas. A study that combined field sampling and leaching experiments found that despite the small scale of the mining in the Portovelo-Zaruma mining district, traces of mercury and cyanide are “severe and geographically extensive” (Wahlberg, Flachier, Lane, Sangfors 259 ) and threaten wildlife in this region. The Puyango River basin is being greatly affected by the process of mercury amalgamation as a result of gold mining, and the soil and water that passes through the affected sediment is being contaminated and polluted immensely. Pamela L. Martin also addresses the deteriorating condition of the soil when she describes that in 2007 the president of Ecuador, in an effort to slow pollution, actually paid Ecuadorians to keep oil underground Martrin 3). Although there is growing awareness that the mining for gold and oil are disrupting the environment, Ecuadorians are not necessarily quick to “go green” and lose potential profits in the mining industry.
With regard to environmental issues in Ecuador, there are various possible solutions that involve utilizing information technology. The extraction of oil for fossil fuels has a detrimental impact on soil quality, water contamination, biodiversity, and overall human life. There are ways in which Ecuadorians can begin to make the switch to more sustainable sources of renewable energy that do not rely on the extraction and possible leakage of fossil fuels such as oil. In an effort to imagine what would happen when Ecuador no longer needed to mine oil, the book Ecuador Post Petrelero explores different steps that Ecuador can begin to take to leave oil in the past.
This book, published in Spanish in Quito, Ecuador provides readers with an inside look at the ways in which Ecuador can begin to move toward a more sustainable future. Alberto Acosta points out that Ecuador has many resources such as sun and water, that can be used to generate energy in a more environmentally friendly and sustainable manor in comparison to the extraction of consumption of fossil fuel. Using systems of information technology such as solar panels, hydroelectricity, mechanisms to capture energy from the wind, and geothermal energy sources would allow for Ecuador to move toward a more sustainable future (Acosta 136). Acosta argues that it is vital to utilize agricultural lands for the purpose of growing food to sustain oneself rather than utilize the land for the purpose of mining or cultivating crops for exportation (Acosta 123). His book highlights the ways in which information technology can aid Ecuador in its struggle against environmental issues, but it also highlights that human action and responsibility are necessary for any significant change to occur. By following Alberto Acosta’s suggestions, Ecuadorians would be able to halt deforestation as well as the contamination of their soil and river water.
Acosta, Alberto. “El petróleo en el Ecuador: Una evaluación crítica del pasado cuarto del siglo.” In El Ecuador Post Petrolero, 3-33. Quito, Ecuador. Acción Ecológica, Idlis, and Oilwatch, 2000. Internet.
Hillstrom, Kevin, and Laurie C. Hillstrom. Latin America and the Caribbean: A Continental Overview of Environmental Issues. Santa Barbara, California, 2004. Print.
Martin, Pamela. Oil in the Soil: The Politics of Paying to Preserve the Amazon. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2011. Print.
Romero, Di´az A, and Sarah E. West. Environmental Issues in Latin America and the Caribbean. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer, 2005. Print.
Tarras-Wahlberg, NH, A Flachier, SN Lane, and O Sangfors. "Environmental Impacts and Metal Exposure of Aquatic Ecosystems in Rivers Contaminated by Small Scale Gold Mining: the Puyango River Basin, Southern Ecuador." The Science of the Total Environment, 2001. Internet.
Wunder, Sven. The Economics of Deforestation: The Example of Ecuador. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2000. Print.