Creation and Worship are
Not For Sale

Take Action to Support
the Citizens of Rosia Montana

On 15 November 2003 Romania's Orthodox Church Council (Sfantul Sinod) will hold its annual meeting in Bucharest. The fate of the Orthodox Church properties in Rosia Montana and Corna will be decided during this meeting. Andrei Andreicut - the Archbishop with jurisdiction over the Rosia Montana area - in spring 2003 tentatively agreed to the sale of the Orthodox Church properties to Rosia Montana Gold Corporation (RMGC).

If realized, RMGC's gold mining project foresees the so-called 'relocation' (destruction) of a total of ten churches and nine cemeteries. Until now the Orthodox Church has refrained from taking an official position regarding the Orthodox churches (3) and cemeteries (4).

On the other hand, the Bishops and Archbishops of the Historic Hungarian churches in July 2003 declared that their church properties in Rosia Montana are not for sale and that the mining project will have disastrous consequences for the people and the environment.

The deciding moment over Rosia Montana's churches and cemeteries is near. It is therefore of the utmost urgency to encourage the Orthodox Church leaders to act with integrity and take the right decision for Rosia Montana. It is necessary for them to know that a firm and uncompromising decision not to sell their church properties to RMGC enjoys a wide support and is the righteous thing to do.

To read the complete alert and to take action, click here.

Legal Showdown over Mining and Community Rights in Ecuador

The case of Junín and Cotacachi County vs the Government and Mining Interests

The Constitutional Tribunal of Ecuador, the highest court of the land dealing with constitutional issues, is about to make a decision that will either set a precedent in favor of community rights and the conservation of the environment, or "bend" the constitution to favor the ruling elites, transnational mining interests and extractive industries.

The lower court ruled in favor of the County and communities at the provincial level. The defendants, a very wealthy Ecuadorian and the Ministry of Energy and Mines are now appealing that decision.

The area in question is on the western slopes of the Western Andes and within two of the Earths 25 Biological Hotspots; the Tropical Andes and the Choco-Darien- Western Ecuadorian Hotspot. The area is populated by small farmers, but still is very rich in primary cloud forests, protecting dozens of pristine watersheds. The forests are also the home to many endangered species of mammals and birds. This is the same area where in the early 1990s Mitsubishi found a massive copper-molybdenum deposit, and where communities, backed by DECOIN, a local grass-roots NGO, with critical national and international support, rejected the mining project, and shut down the project in May of 1997 when they burned the Mitsubishi mining camp to the ground.

To take action, and for more information, please visit the DECOIN website.

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