Christian Cheeseman joined a BBC panel, which included Leo Johnston, to discuss Oro Verde and CRED's support for ethical sourcing.
View the debate online at http://www.theworldchallenge.co.uk/down-to-business.php
Oro Verde Mine Visit 2010 - Day Four
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| Americo |
There are rumours of a transport strike so we leave Candoto early and catch a bus at 5am to go to Tado. I am half asleep but aware that we seem to be making good progress, until I am jolted awake as the bus stops suddenly. We discover that there has been a landslide caused by the previous nights rain and the road is impassable. From nowhere people in high visibility jackets appear and within an hour the road is cleared by hand and we get underway again.
We pull up at a small town outside Tado that I recognise from previous visits. Behind the row of houses there is a bridge that leads to Americos mine. As I get off the bus I hear “Hola Christian, com esta?” and see Americo smiling warmly. Where Candoto is political the communities in Tado are much warmer, more of an extended family and it feels like visiting friends. After fuelling up with the most incredible coffee we cross the river and head in to the forest towards Americo’s mine.
We pass the rush mine site that was actively being mined on my last visit, the 50 acres of land that was cleared is now covered in shrubs and grasses. I am impressed by the virulence of the forest and the speed of its recovery. I ask Alfredo, our guide and Oro Verde coordinator how long it will take for the land to recover fully. He tells me that it will become grassland quickly but will take over a generation for the trees to return and longer for them to mature. The rainforest is so majestic and important to all of our lives it is depressing that more and more of this land clearance and lack of management is being undertaken for short- term gain.
We pull up at a small town outside Tado that I recognise from previous visits. Behind the row of houses there is a bridge that leads to Americos mine. As I get off the bus I hear “Hola Christian, com esta?” and see Americo smiling warmly. Where Candoto is political the communities in Tado are much warmer, more of an extended family and it feels like visiting friends. After fuelling up with the most incredible coffee we cross the river and head in to the forest towards Americo’s mine.
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| The first glimpse of Americo's mine |
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| The hard work of mining |
We follow the small rivers deep into the forest with Alfredo pointing out useful plants and an array of birds, bugs and spiders. The more you look in the forest the more life you see. I spot the stone terraces through the undergrowth and recognise that we are on the edge of Americos’ mine, it looks like an ancient Mayan city structure. Americo and his family are working a seam of gold, washing the soil with a new jet hose and clearing the rocks as they come across them. As the stones and rocks are cleared, they are sorted by size and used to build the terraces, which provide the beds for the saplings they plant for the reforestation programme. After talking to Americo for a while we leave him and his family to work and make our way to the community farm, where we have been invited to stay the night.
CRED launches a ring fit for a princess!
https://store.credjewellery.com/product/322
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