65 Tatiana López Piedrahita and Carlos Heiler Mosquera
Photo: Tatiana López
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Working day in artisanal mining. ‘Los socios del cerro’ mine, Luis Américo Mosquera.
benefits.4 This community process was
certified by the Alliance for Responsible
Mining (ARM) as fairtrade and fairmined
gold, due to its environmentally friendly
process.
Traditional mining is an example of
sustainable local development and is linked
with traditional use and knowledge related
to all aspects of biodiversity (flora, fauna,
soil, lunar calendar, among others). Mining
is a big priority as far as the government of
Colombia is concerned, but other productive systems and cultural mechanisms
which are important for endogenous development processes must be recognised and
considered when actions are planned and
implemented in the territory. As Carlos H.
Mosquera, co-author of this article, resident of the Playa de Oro area and
representative of ASOCASAN says:
We will continue to talk about local development so that outsiders understand our
4
See: www.greengold-oroverde.org/loved_gold/
reality and help strengthen our traditions
and processes.
The biocultural community protocol
The Alto San Juan BCP is a management
tool put together by the community. It
encapsulates the ancestral nature of its
occupation by the Afro-Pacific communities, who have achieved a harmonious
coexistence with other indigenous groups
in the region, coming to an agreement on
the territorial limits of each ethnic group
and on access to resources for hunting and
forest extraction.
The protocol expresses the community’s values and its relationship with
natural resources. It proposes guidelines
for dialogue with external actors to
develop appropriate processes, setting out
its commitments to the environment and
to future generations.
To outsiders, the protocol communi-