CARE and the World Wildlife Federation were willing to help Goldcorp in its attempt to re-brand a heavily polluted Honduran mine into an ecotourism site. To its credit, CARE did not ultimately participate, but because it explored the possibility of doing so, its name was used in greenwashing. WWF accepted a large grant from Goldcorp to investigate the footprint of gold mining. The human cost of gold mining includes brain, nerve, and internal organ damage to children through lead, mercury and arsenic, as well as destruction of the land from cyanide used in the processing of ore.
Rachel Deutsch of the Canadian progressive group The Dominion reports in Upside Down World on the San Martin gold mine in the Siria Valley of Honduras, operated until 2008 by Goldcorp subsidiary Entremares. The mine caused serious harm to children through cyanide, arsenic, lead, and mercury pollution. Then Entremares decided to re-brand the mine as an ecotourism site:
As production was winding down, Goldcorp, a Vancouver-based mining firm, claimed that the site would be converted into an ecological centre under the name of the San Martin Foundation—an attempt to re-brand the former mine as an ecotourism site. According to Goldcorp, the company has constructed an ecotourism hotel, a training centre for local communities and a sustainable business.In this attempt at greenwashing, Goldcorp was indirectly aided by CARE and the World Wildlife Federation. Although neither organization apparently directly participated in the San Martin mine re-branding, the names of both are used in Goldcorp's corporate literature, and CARE was willing to participate in the greenwashing until local residents made clear their hostility toward Goldcorp. WWF received a large donation from Goldcorp to examine the footprint of mining (though, to be fair, in its reports it does mention the issue of heavy metal pollution):
From the time of its arrival in the Siria Valley, Goldcorp framed mining as development. In its global operations, the company has collaborated with NGOs funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), particularly the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and CARE. Goldcorp boasts of these collaborations in its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reports, but no such projects have been undertaken locally in the Siria Valley.CARE and WWF presumably get a subsidy from the US Treasury through the tax code to assist Goldcorp to pollute the environment and harm children and wildlife.
Goldcorp claims to work with and fund CARE to “refine and expand the sustainable community investment guidelines, and optimize new opportunities to benefit local communities and national economies.” CARE receives CIDA funding for its work in Honduras and elsewhere; CARE received $5 million from CIDA for its water and sanitation projects in Honduras between 2006 and 2012, as well as close to $53,000 for general operations in Honduras, and another $13 million for further projects for 2010 to 2017.
According to the Siria Valley Environmental Committee, CARE representatives explored the possibility of working in the Siria Valley and met with several local officials. However, there was significant community opposition to CARE’s presence because of its affiliation with Goldcorp, and no project was ever realized.
WWF and Goldcorp have also collaborated on projects, including exchanges such as a $50,000 donation by Goldcorp to WWF for research into North American economic dependence on water resources and the provision of a company expert for a WWF study examining gold mining and its water footprint. CIDA has also funded WWF. An ongoing $15 million CIDA project in Mozambique, for example, included a $74,000 contribution to WWF for civil society participation in a CSR debate. The same CIDA project provided technical assistance to the Mozambican Ministry of Mineral Resources (MIREM) for policy development regarding the mining and oil and gas industries.
Back in Honduras, Siria Valley residents say that before the mine opened, company representatives held parties, gave out gifts and offered notebooks and piñatas to the children.
The work of NGOs in collaboration with mining companies can have a coercive effect on prospective or established mining communities since certain projects appear to, and may actually be connected to the presence of the mine, according to Jamie Kneen, communications and outreach coordinator at MiningWatch Canada. NGOs end up covering costs that would otherwise have to be covered by the company and in many cases, at least part of their funding comes from Canadian public funding, through CIDA.
Your tax dollars at work.