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 The Pastaza River originates in the humid valleys of the eastern slopes
of Ecuador’s Cordillera Central. As it descends from the Andes, it
traverses remote rainforests along the border between Ecuador and Peru,
flowing through one of the region’s most important petroleum producing
areas and then into one of its most biodiverse wetlands complexes, the
Abanico del Pastaza. These wetlands support an extremely abundant and
diverse aquatic fauna that provides the main food source for several
indigenous communities in the region. On the Peruvian side, the lower
Pastaza basin is home to three major indigenous groups (Achuar,
Kandozi, and Quechua) with roughly 21,500 inhabitants.
The mainstem Pastaza is a turbid, white-water river, but its watershed
comprises a unique mixture of interconnected black and white-water
systems with variable physical and chemical characteristics. This
spatial heterogeneity of aquatic environments and the seasonal
variation of water conditions between wet and dry periods, has helped
to create extremely productive aquatic ecosystems in the Pastaza. One
such ecosystem is Lake Rimachi, the largest lake in the Peruvian
Amazon, located near the confluence of the Pastaza with two black water
rivers, the Chuunda and Chapuri. The lake harbors a distinct assemblage
of fishes and other aquatic biota.
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The most serious issues affecting freshwater biodiversity and the
livelihoods of native communities in the lower Pastaza are
environmentally unsound practices such as overfishing, illegal
commercial fishing, and oil exploration and exploitation. Overfishing
adversely affects several bodies of water, including Lake Rimachi, and
has led to a reduction in the populations of several key aquatic
species. This reduction has resulted in diminished livelihood
opportunities and increased poverty in indigenous communities. The
unregulated entrance of commercial fishing fleets into the Pastaza
basin also threatens natural resources and the communities that depend
on them. Commercial fishing interests strike informal agreements with
native communities to extract large quantities of fish or purchase fish
from indigenous fishermen at prices well below market value.
The Pastaza basin is the site of extensive petroleum exploration and
extraction on both sides of the Ecuador/Peru border. In fact, oil
extracted in the vicinity of the Pastaza River on the Peruvian side of
the border amounts to 65% of all oil production in the country. Several
bodies of water adjacent to petroleum activities have been polluted by
spills, in some cases requiring removal and appropriate disposal of
contaminated soils and severe restoration measures. The use of outdated
infrastructure and technology, coupled with the government’s reluctance
to impose stronger environmental regulations and the oil companies’
incomplete cooperation in observing internationally recognized
environmental practices, exacerbates the problem of direct disposal of
effluents into rivers and contribute to harmful pollution of bodies of
water in the area. Such practices adversely affect local indigenous
communities, in particular their health and livelihoods. Current
Peruvian legislation permits the concession of untitled indigenous
territories to petroleum companies, or other extractive industries,
without proper consultation or compensation.
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Countries: Ecuador & Peru
Catchment Area: ~ 40,000 km2
Rainfall: 2-3 m/year, depending on location
Elevation Range: 6310 m asl (Chimborazo Volcano) to ~180 m asl
Length: ~500 km
Source: Cordillera Central of the Ecuadorian Andes
Outlet: Marañon River in Peru, tributary of the Amazon River
Main Tributaries:
Huasaga River,
Huitoyacu River,
Bobonaza River,
Capahuari River
Larger Basins:
Marañon Basin,
Amazon Basin
Land Uses
Humid tropical forest; Indigenous community settlements; Conservation areas: Abanico del Pastaza Ramsar Site; Petroleum concessions region: Loreto, Peru
Cultures:
Kandozi: 25 communities, 2,500 inhabitants; Achuar: 65 communities,
13,000 inhabitants; Quechua: 18 communities, 6,000 inhabitants
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