About the project and its impacts
In the La Guajira region of northern Colombia, the Wayúu Indigenous people have faced decades of environmental and social harm linked to the operation of El Cerrejón, one of the largest open-pit coal mines in the world. The mine is operated by Carbones del Cerrejón, which since 2022 has been wholly owned by the Swiss multinational Glencore. The project has been in operation for more than 30 years and continues in the exploitation phase.
Communities in the Provincial Indigenous Reserve (Resguardo Provincial), located in the municipality of Barrancas, live just two kilometers from the largest pit of the mine. Residents have repeatedly denounced severe impacts on their territory and livelihoods, including contamination of water, soil, and air; ecosystem destruction; health problems; loss of cultural and economic practices; and forced displacement. Community leaders have also reported intimidation, threats, and the broader securitization of everyday life in the region.
The Colombian Constitutional Court recognized many of these harms in Sentence T-614, a legal action driven by Indigenous women from the Provincial reserve. However, communities report that environmental oversight by state institutions remains weak. Monitoring of environmental impacts often relies on data provided by the mining company itself, leaving communities without reliable independent information to substantiate their claims or demand accountability.
For the Wayúu people, these impacts represent not only environmental degradation but also a threat to their health, culture, territorial rights, and Buen Vivir (collective well-being).
About the community-led struggle
In response to these harms, Corporación Geoambiental TERRAE works alongside the Wayúu Indigenous community of the Provincial reserve, particularly with a collective of Indigenous women defenders of territory, to strengthen local capacities for environmental defense.
A key strategy has been the development of community-based environmental monitoring. TERRAE supports communities in combining ancestral knowledge with technical tools to independently measure environmental conditions—especially air and water quality—rather than relying solely on company-generated data.
Through participatory workshops and hands-on training processes, TERRAE works with Indigenous women leaders to design and build low-cost monitoring devices, install them in locations identified by the community, and learn how to interpret the data collected. These efforts aim to generate community-owned scientific evidence that can support demands for environmental remediation, accountability, and ultimately the cessation of harmful mining activities.
This work also strengthens the organizational capacity of Wayúu communities, helping women defenders play a leading role in territorial protection, public advocacy, and political engagement. By producing independent environmental data and strengthening collective organizing, the initiative contributes to broader efforts to defend Indigenous rights, protect ecosystems, and challenge the impacts of extractive industries in La Guajira.
Further resources
- ABColombia profound concerns regarding Cerrejon’s lack of compliance with Court Rulings
- Colombia: Resumen de hallazgos de Evaluación geoambiental independiente del proyecto minero Quebradona, de AngloGold Ashanti (Summary of findings from the independent geo-environmental assessment of AngloGold Ashanti’s Quebradona mining project)