Oro Verde: Green Gold
The Ore Verde programme was established in 2000 to support artisanal and small-scale mining by Afro-Colombian communities in the Chocó region of Colombia. Afro-Colombian communities are descended from African slaves brought to the country by the Spanish and are amongst the most marginalised in Colombia. The communities are organised and represented by community councils that govern collective lands within different municipalities.
Oro Verde miners are working towards protecting the Chocó bioregion, one of the most culturally rich and biologically diverse ecosystems in the world. Through the production of socially and environmentally responsible Oro Verde, it provides Afro-Colombian communities with additional income to support their families and the opportunity to drive their own social progress.
The type of mining carried out by the Ore Verde miners is alluvial, involving gold panning in rivers and streams and diving for sediment. No mercury or cyanide is used to process the gold; instead the communities employ a range of traditional mining techniques inherited from their ancestors allowing them to claim the additional ecological premium for their gold. Care is taken to restore vegetation after mining to encourage full recovery of the forest terrain.
The Ore Verde programme has been highly successful in offering Afro-Colombian communities an alternative to renting land for illegal and uncontrolled large-scale mining, which has had devastating impacts on the local environment. However, Afro-Colombian communities still face major challenges in protecting their land rights against outside applications to explore the region and extract its minerals.
Miners in family units sell the gold they produce into the Oro Verde programme through two community councils, Tado and Condoto. The programme has managed to attain customers from around the world who demand ecological and fair trade jewellery that provides an economic incentive for miners to use environmentally and socially responsible methods.