Colombia  
The economy of Colombia depends primarily on agriculture and manufacturing.  With its great mountains, mining has become a larger and larger profitable source of income.  Colombia holds over 90% of all the emeralds in the world, as well as major deposits of petroleum, coal, natural gas and iron.  Thus Colombia deals with oil drilling and mining environmental problems. Although mining is a very profitable source of income, often the means of mining out the emeralds and other heavy metals and raw materials are not so profitable to the environment.  Although mining companies claim to be environmentally safe, better and stricter regulations regarding environmentally safe mining need to be put in place to ensure the survival of the enviornment.  

Links:  
Environment: Ecuador and Colombia to seek Regional Dialogue  
http://www.oneworld.org/ips2/aug98/23_38_100.html  
This article explores the issues and decisions which came up out of a conference between environment ministers of Colombia and Ecuador.  They discussed issues such as reforestation, oil drilling and cleaning up polluted rivers.  
  

Image courtesy of Beyond Oil Campaign  
Beyond Oil Campaign  
http://www.ran.org/ran/ran_campaigns/beyond_oil/oil.html  
This site offers information on environmental and indigenous issues dealing with oil drilling in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.  

TED Case Studies: Coca, Trade and Environment  
http://gurukul.ucc.american.edu/TED/COCA.HTM  
This case study deals with the production of cocaine and its environmental and cultural impact in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.  It deals with the fact that were coca production completely eliminated, the poorer indigenous people would be left without a great source of their income.  However, the production of cocaine uses large amounts of pesticides, deforestation occurs to make room for more crops, and toxic chemicals are dumped either onto the ground or into the rivers. The case also explores economic incentives and alternative crop production to make the production of coca less profitable.  
  

Ecuador  
Ecuador in composed of lowlands, the Andes mountains and the Galapagos Islands.  Manufacturing, mining and agriculture are extremely important in the Ecuadorian economy, as is fishing (mainly shrimp).  Ecuador faces problems such as forest destruction and oil drilling issues. Ecuadaor must deal with over-fishing and water contamination which destroy its shrimp population, one of Ecuador's major means of subsistence.  With so much coast, islands and mountains the only economic means for many of its citizens is to either fish (which leads to over-fishing of the population) or work in the mines which are pften harmfiul to the workers due to the mining methods as well as dust and debris which not only pollute the air but also the lungs of the workers. Another means of existence needs to be found to help the people of Ecuador realize how important sustaining the environment is; not only for environment's sake, but for their own well-being.  

Links:  
Ecuadorian Environmentalism  
http://weber.u.washington.edu/~ahalpern/adam.html  
This website looks into oil industry spills and related problems such as forest destruction.  It also looks at the importance of the shrimp industry and the impact it is having on the mangrove ecosystem; and the page explores the deterioration of the Galapagos Islands.  
  

Peru  
Peru consists of a coast, highlands and forests and jungles.  Fishing, farming (either on personal plots of land or on cooperative farms) and mining of copper, silver and zinc.  One of Peru’s major environmental problems arise from the oil drilling and mining industries.  

One such mine in Cajamarca, Peru is a series of gold mines owned by a Colorado-based American mining company, Newmont Mining Corporation.  Newmont, although professing its environment-friendly mining techniques and bringing jobs and money into the area is a facade.  Newmont says it is environmentally friendly because it does not ruin the top-soil of the beautiful Andes mountain chain.  Instead, they remove the trees and topsoil and then commence their mining, thereby creating a topless mountain, an eyesore as you scan the mountains surrounding the valley.  Newmont has created jobs for the people of Cajamarca: true, although they work long hours days at a time with only a fifteen minute break for lunch.  Newmont Corp. uses cyanide gold-mining techniques in its mines in Yanacocha, Peru. This means “washing” the dirt dug up from the mountains with a cyanide mixture to force the tiny pieces of gold out.  The used cyanide is dumped into a basin, the bottom of which is covered by a thick plastic, which they say will never leak and is guaranteed to last for twenty-five years.  But what happens after those twenty-five years are up, you ask?  They will not answer this.  The one thing they are adamant about is the fact that the plastic will never leak, that even when the put the top back on the mountain over the cyanide-filled plastic and it rains, the ground water will be safe.  

  
Image courtesy of Newmont Mining Corporation  

But even now the water is not safe.  The people of Cajamarca say that the water tastes different, that there has been a rise in diseases such as leukemia, which however are not yet determined as related.  One of the environmental laws which mining countries much follow it testing of the ground water by an outside source.  So Newmont, a rich American company gets the water tested – not from the source which runs off the mountain, but from another river which branches off of the sources miles into Cajamarca, and they say that the water is perfectly fine.  However, a group in Cajamarca suspected differently, and tested the water in another stream, not the source, and came up with alarming results: various mineral deposits, heavy metals such as iron and magnesium and the pH of the water were much higher than normal or even safe amounts.  Unfortunately, testing water costs a lot of money, and the people of Cajamarca cannot afford to have their water tested at every site which comes off of the mountain.  The mining company has more leeway with them Peruvian government than the people do because that is where the money is coming from.  And no one knows if the water problem will get worse after the twenty-five  year guarantee or once the top is put back on the mountain.  

For more information, here is Newmont Mining Corporation’s website:  
http://www.newmont.com/  

Shell Oil Under Renewed Attack for Human Rights Abuses  
http://forests.org/gopher/general/shelloil.txt  
This is an article relating the problem Shell Oil is having with Indigenous peoples in Peru and in Nigeria with drilling on lands traditionally used for other purposes.  
  

Bolivia  
Bolivia, a land-locked country located in the middle of South America, is also in the Andes chain.  This country also deals with deforestation, soil erosion, air and water pollution as its major environmental issues.  Factories in Bolivia dupm toxic waste into their water system, contaminating fish habitats and drinking water alike. Although the government has created laws to curb this environmental destruction, much more stringent laws and punishments need to be taken against companies who contaminate the environment.  Obviously the threats already in existence are not doing enough in this country.  

Links:  
Environment – Bolivia: First Lawsuit On Environmental Damages  
http://www.tbwt.com/articles/gin2/gin817.htm  
This page talks about the first case in Bolivia dealing with environmental damages caused in that country.  On August 4, 1998 the Guabira sugar mill went on trial for dumping waste into the Piari river, killing over 80 tons of fish from the pollution.  

Bolivia: Strategy for Danish-Bolivian Development Cooperation  
http://www.um.dk/english/udenrigspolitik/udviklingspolitik/landestrategier/bolivia/bolivia.4.5.htm  
This page discussed the various environmental issues which have recently plagued Bolivia.  It mentions problems with deforestation, soil erosion, water and air pollution.  The author also mentions the Ministry for Sustainable Development and the Environment which was recently adopted in Bolivia.  

  
Image courtesy of: Discovery Channel Online: http://www.discovery.com/exp/bolivia/zooms/980424zoom2.html  

Sources:  

Ecuador  
http://city.net/img/tra/mag/map/ecuado.gif  

The Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection  
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/Libs/PCL/Map_collection/peru.html  

The Lonely Planet  
http://www.lonelyplanet.com.au/dest/sam/graphics/map-bol.htm  

The Lonely Planet  
http://www.lonelyplanet.com.au/dest/sam/graphics/map-col.htm