Indigenous communities in Pando create defense committees
By Erbol, multiple authors
Thursday, September 18th, 2026
Dredges operating in the Madre de Dios River, territory of TIM II. Photo: CEJIS.
The lack of a resolution to the preventive environmental action presented by the Multiethnic Indigenous Territory TIM II and the Tacana, Kabineña and Ese Ejja captaincies in the face of mining pollution led the Central Indigenous of the Original Peoples of the Amazon of Pando (CIPOAP) to declare a state of emergency and give a deadline until September 30 for mining operations to abandon the banks of the Madre de Dios and Beni rivers; otherwise, they will proceed to the eviction of the rafts that remain in the place.
The decision was made during an Extraordinary Assembly in the community of Trinidadcito, where the organizations denounced that, in the absence of a constitutional ruling, “illegal mining companies continue to exploit and contaminate our rivers, streams and crops with mercury, lead, zinc, arsenic…, oils and greases, affecting our livelihoods,” according to information published by CEJIS.
The resolution is also based on studies, carried out between 2023 and 2025, which show the presence of mercury in the bodies of women, men and children in riverside communities above the limits (between 1.90 and 5.10 parts per million) established by the World Health Organization (1 ppm).
According to indigenous organizations, these results confirm the serious impact of mining activity on water sources and the environmental balance in territories inhabited by the Tacana, Kabineño, Ese Ejja, Yaminawa, Machineri peoples and Pacahuara families in voluntary isolation.
Defense Committees
As part of the approved measures, the riverside communities of the TIM II project will form community defense committees and, once the allotted time has expired, will proceed with the removal of any remaining mining operations and rafts in the area. Furthermore, they expressly rejected a mining permit application submitted by the company BALTILLAN SRL in the 6 de Agosto community, calling it a provocation and a threat to their territorial integrity.
Indigenous organizations maintain that this is not merely a dispute over natural resources, but a defense of the right to life, health, and the continued presence of Indigenous peoples in their ancestral territories. In this regard, they reaffirmed their commitment to continue using mechanisms of territorial organization, mobilization, and legal defense to halt the advancement of activities they deem incompatible with the protection of rivers and the survival of future generations, the document states.
While the resolution on the preventive environmental action presented by TIM II—to demand urgent protection measures against pollution caused by mining activities—is still pending, indigenous organizations have already obtained favorable judicial responses for Amazonian rivers and collective rights against mining expansion, as happened with the legal protection obtained by CPILAP (Central of Indigenous Peoples of La Paz) for the immediate halt of all illegal gold mining activity in the Beni and Madre de Dios rivers, as well as their main tributaries: Tuichi, Quiquibey, Alto Beni, Kaka and Tequeje.
Translated from the original in Spanish
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