More than 70% of the Peruvian Amazon has been allocated for oil and gas extraction, and the current government of Alan Garcia has been pushing for more. Unfortunately, as usual, these policies are promoted by and only benefit a handful of people, but negatively impact the lives of many. However, Garcia’s government did not foresee the potential consequences of their actions.

The excellent paper by Dr. Matt Finer and collaborators [1] predicted that “environmental and social impacts are likely to intensify without improved policies” regarding the way that Amazonian governments conduct resource extraction. On June 5th, 2009, we witnessed the authors’ predictions come true when a number of indigenous civilians and police died as a result of violent clashes over oil and human rights in northern Peru [2-3]. Indigenous people in Peru have been protesting the Garcia government’s newly created laws that favor and facilitate rapid oil and natural gas extraction in Amazonian Peru. Many of the oil and gas concessions that the government has granted overlap with areas already protected for wildlife and indigenous groups (see [1] for a detailed account). A number of international news agencies are reporting on this violent conflict, though the victims and perpetrators of the clash change depending on the source. Regardless of exactly who did what, we know that indigenous people of Peru and other Amazonian countries, in addition to the incredible biodiversity of western Amazonia, are facing huge threats on many fronts. The incident that transpired on June 5th foreshadows the occurrence of increasingly violent and large-scaled confrontations that will plague all nations as they battle to preserve their own cultures and feed their own mouths, while extracting the Earth’s remaining resources to then sell to the rich.

We urge people to read the article by Finer and collaborators [1] and follow the events occurring in Peru and other neighboring countries.

Written by Jennifer Jacobs, Rudolf von May, Alessandro Catenazzi


References

1. Finer M, Jenkins CN, Pimm SL, Keane B, Ross C (2008) Oil and Gas Projects in the Western Amazona: Threats to Wilderness, Biodiversity and Indigenous Peoples. PLoS ONE 3(8): e2932. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0002932

2. Amazon Watch (2009) Police Open Fire on Indigenous Blockade in the Peruvian Amazon - 25 Civilians and 9 Police Dead, 150 Injured http://www.amazonwatch.or... Accessed 2009 June 6.

3. New York Times (2009) Fatal Clashes in Peru Erupt at Roadblock http://www.nytimes.com/20... Accessed 2009 June 6.