As the sun sets over the Colombian Amazon, construction worker Pablo Portillo observes the canopy. Titi monkeys swing in the treetops as the Mocoa River roars nearby. For four years, he and his family have lived quietly in this biodiverse “gateway to the Amazon”, where the Andes descend into the rainforest, home to mountain tapirs, spectacled bears and vital rivers.
But Portillo, 46, fears this peaceful landscape is at risk. Canadian company Copper Giant Resources has been exploring nearby mountains with a view to opening one of Colombia’s largest copper mines. Beneath Mocoa lie an estimated 2m tonnes of copper, a transition metal vital for clean energy in wind turbines and batteries.
