Aurania’s Project area is located in a mountain range, the Cordillera de Cutucu, that lies on the western margin on the Amazon Basin. It is one of the most ecologically diverse parts of the planet. Aurania’s exploration is fully cognizant of the responsibility that we have as a company, and as individuals, to minimize our impact and protect this amazingly diverse environment. There is already pressure on the environment from the people who live there, seeking economic opportunities to improve their standard of living through logging and agriculture, among other activities that have a significant impact on the environment. Aurania’s activities in the area provide an unusual opportunity to live with the local people in our exploration fly-camps and our drill camps, to listen to their aspirations and to learn from their profound knowledge of their land, and together, to find a way of meeting the aspirations of the people for a better standard of living while respecting and protecting the biodiversity of the region.
Aurania’s staff are constantly undertaking detailed studies of the fauna and flora in the areas in which drill camps, heliports and drill platforms are planned, which allows us to build an unparalleled study of the diversity of this region – baseline data that can be fed back to the Ministry of the Environment and Water for planning purposes. In 2020, our Environmental teams completed detailed, pin-point surveys of fauna, flora and soil composition at 52 locations that cover a combined area of 285 hectares.
In 2020, twenty-five drill platforms, measuring 6m by 6m, were constructed and revegetated. The restoration and revegetation of the drill platforms is done to the standards of Aurania’s ISO14001 environmental registration. The Ministry of Environment and Water has reviewed twenty-four restored platforms and has concluded that the restoration has met or exceeded their standards. Review of the other platforms is planned for 2021.
Looking ahead, there is an amazing opportunity to, not only learn about the environment from the Shuar people, but to help them to minimize their impact on the environment through exposure to the care that we take in minimizing our footprint and our care in restoration of areas that we have impacted.
Aurania is working with the Ministry of Environment and Water in setting up an animal refuge centre and quarantine facility in which animals hit by vehicles, or otherwise wounded, or that are confiscated from people involved in illicit animal trafficking, can be restored to health and, when fully recovered, can be returned to the wild.
