Around 13 per cent of original forest area deforested by 2014, according to a new report
As Peru hosts the UN climate change conference in Lima, representatives of indigenous people have called attention to the country’s own policies related to development and deforestation in Peruvian Amazon forests. A report titled “Revealing The Hidden”, by AIDESEP (Interethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Amazon) and the Forest Peoples’ Programme, highlights the main underlying drivers of deforestation and the indigenous people’s struggle for land rights.
The report cites large-scale investments in agribusiness including palm oil, logging, mining, dams, oil and gas and roads as the reason for massive deforestation of the Amazon forests. It goes on to explain that the region thus degraded by oil, gas and logging operations would emit a greater amount of carbon than from deforestation itself in these areas. This degradation could generate greenhouse gas emissions greater than those caused by the next ten years of deforestation, says the report.
“Oil palm is not discussed much in these debates about deforestation,” says Alberto Pizango, president of AIDESEP, in the report. “It is ‘invisible’, just like the massive oil spills, the multiple dams that are planned, the super highways, the gold rush or the timber mafia. This explains the need for this study, the need to make visible what is not spoken and to expose what is hidden to try and divert our attentions.”
The report also blames corruption, weak governance in the forestry and mining sectors, lack of environmental assessment processes and weak legal and regulatory frameworks as other reasons responsible for deforestation.
It recommends that no large-scale projects must be cleared if there is risk of serious harm to the environment. It also asks for a review of national laws and policies promoting agribusiness, energy and transport sectors to ensure coherence with the Peru government’s commitment to achieve zero net deforestation by 2020.
The Amazon basin in transition
We are a voice to you; you have been a support to us. Together we build journalism that is independent, credible and fearless. You can further help us by making a donation. This will mean a lot for our ability to bring you news, perspectives and analysis from the ground so that we can make change together.
.png)
Comments are moderated and will be published only after the site moderator’s approval. Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name. Selected comments may also be used in the ‘Letters’ section of the Down To Earth print edition.