Argentina today celebrates a historical victory: the Supreme Court of Justicia de la Nación has ordered the cessation of the oil activity and the environmental remediation in the Calilegua National Park, in the province of Jujuy.
The highest court of the Oaese in fact partially responded to an injunction started in 2014 by Silvia Graciela Saavedra and Ramón Héctor Luna, residing in Lozano and San Salvador de Jujuy, for the environmental damage caused by the exploitation of oil right within the Calilegua National Park.
In his sentence, the Supreme Court ordered the National Government, to the province of Jujuy and two companies to take charge of the abandonment of production and to restore the environmental damage caused
This is a historical sentence that will finally solve something that we have been asking for a long time together with the park rangers, the neighbors, indigenous communities and social organizations: it is absurd, illegal and dangerous that there are oil companies that operate within a national park, we hope that it is remedied for the serious environmental responsibilities “, said Noemí Cruz, coordinator of the forest campaign of Greenpeace.
The Supreme Court sentenced “The province of Jujuy, the Jujuy Energía Y Minería Sociedad companies of Estado (Jemse) and Jujuy Hidrocarburos Sociedad Anónima Unipersonal (JHSAU) to implement and perform a plan to cease and repair the collective environmental damage and the oil activity of the Caimancito and Pozzo Ca.e3 deposits in the CNO-4 area Río Colorado, who meets all the technical and legal requirements established by the Ministry of Energy of the Nation and the administration of national parks, within a period that will have a deadline for its completion on December 31, 2030 “.
View this post on Instagram
In December 2015, Jujuy’s legislator had canceled the concessions of hydrocarbons in the protected area, in response to the request of the guardia, indigenous communities, social organizations, the general auditor, the office of the civic defender and the Greenpeace campaign to stop the installation of new wells and remove the oil companies from the National Park. The organization’s campaign has had several protests and the support of over 270,000 Argentines.
However, with the 576 resolution of 2018, the administration of national parks, in accordance with the Jujuy government, suspended the protection of the area of the caimancito deposit until the completion of its environmental remediation, thus favoring oil companies. In 2019, Greenpeace and the Argentine association of environmental lawyers filed an appeal to the Supreme Court to ask for their unconstitutionality and nullity. The action aimed to prevent the arbitrary revocation of 1,000 hectares of the protected area.
Created in 1979, the Calilegua National Park extends over 76.306 hectares. In it, 123 species of trees live, 103 species of ferns and licofite, 120 of mammals and 24 amphibians. In addition to screws, orchids, shrubs, bromelaies and various forms of insects and invertebrates. Many of the species present are in danger of extinction, such as the Taruca, the jaguar and the eagle Poma. Others are significant rarities such as the Marsupial Rana and the Aurora Suruucuá. Red Scoiattoli, monkeys, roe deer, river wolves, pecars, mountain foxes, Thucani and Cozedu also live.
A unique ecosystem that is worth preserving at all costs.
Don’t you want to lose our news?
