Robert MacFarlane, British author, recently visited the Los Cedros Reserve to see it for himself after having followed the Ecuadorian court’s decision to defend the rights of nature (RoN) banning mining there, almost a year ago.
He is best known for his books on landscape, nature, place, people and language, which include The Old Ways, Landmarks, The Lost Words and Underland. He has announced he will be publishing a new book which also touches on a journey to Ecuador’s cloudforests, so we look forward to seeing that when it is ready.
Jose DeCoux, Administrator of the Los Cedros Research Station, has been in contact with Robert since the RoN based decision made by the Constitutional Court that saved this incredible reserve from the jaws of mining company greed.
Robert came along with a brilliant team, including Cesar Rodriguez from NY University, an expert on environmental law who put him in touch with the Ecuadorian judges from the case, Chilean mycologist Giuliana Furci and composer Cosmo Sheldrake , who was interested in recording the many sounds of the Los Cedros forest, including the sound between roots!
Robert's visit was the catalyst for the Constitutional Court judges, Augustin Grijalva and Ramiro Avila, also coming to Los Cedros, to enjoy all the wonders of the reserve and see the fruits of their momentous decision. They are still instrumental in ensuring the implementation of the RON decision, so it was fantastic that they came to see it in person.
Robert and team ventured into the forest to camp and carry out some research for a few days and they returned inspired to come back and run workshops at the reserve hosting legal and cultural leaders.
See also this article written about the visit by Ramiro Avila Santamaria.
