With short amulet-covered spears made of blackened chonta palm, GIS mapping phones, walkie-talkies and wearing black and green uniforms, the A’i Cofán seem to merge into the jungle as they march silently down a path through their land. Calling themselves the Indigenous guard, the 27-strong group patrols a territory of 243 sq miles (630 sq km), stretching from more than 2,500 metres above sea level in the Andean foothills down into the Amazon rainforest.
They are on the lookout for alluvial goldminers, who invade their land with heavy machinery and tear up the banks of their sacred river, the Aguarico. High demand has pushed the international price for a troy ounce of gold to about $1,950 (£1,585), and the value has not dropped below $1,500 since the onset of the Covid pandemic. The search for the precious metal has extended into the depths of the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador.
According to a report by the Organization of American States, illegal gold mining and gold exports have markedly increased in Ecuador in recent years, “facilitated by multiple factors, including high levels of informality and poverty, the presence of mineral deposits in remote areas, and the existence of illegal mining networks in neighbouring Colombia and Peru”.
The OAS added: “Corruption of public officials, particularly at the local level, and insufficient government presence in mining areas also contribute to illegal gold-mining activity.”..
After the truth-shower 