Uncontacted tribes’ land: ‘most biodiverse’ in South America and threatened by oil

2010-02-03T10:50:29+00:00

5505

New research by scientists has found that a vast region of the Ecuadorian and Peruvian Amazon is the most biodiverse in South America. But this region, home to some of the world’s last "uncontacted tribes":http://www.survivalinternational.org/uncontactedtribes, is gravely threatened by oil exploration and drilling. The research, "published in PLoS ONE":http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0008767, found parts of eastern Ecuador and northern Peru to be uniquely rich in amphibians, birds, mammals and plants. But the scientists also say that oil companies are working, or due to work, in a massive 79% of the region. ‘Unfortunately, the most biodiverse area in South America is included in oil lots 39, 67, 121, 123 and 129,’ says Dr Matt Finer from "Save America’s Forests":http://www.saveamericasforests.org/, one of the authors of the report. "Repsol-YPF":http://www.survivalinternational.org/about/repsol is working in Lot 39 and "Perenco":http://www.survivalinternational.org/about/perenco in Lots 67 and 121. Perenco has already discovered vast oil deposits, but Repsol is still exploring. ‘These findings form the scientific basis for policy recommendations, including stopping any new oil activities and road construction in Yasuní (in Ecuador) and creating areas off-limits to large-scale development in adjacent northern Peru,’ says the report. Peru’s national Amazon indigenous organisation, "AIDESEP":http://www.aidesep.org.pe/, has appealed to Peru’s courts to stop oil work in the region. It has also filed a complaint with Latin America’s top human rights body, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

Crossed spears left by an uncontacted tribe in Peru where Perenco and Repsol YPF are working.

272

2010-02-04T17:58:00+00:00

New research by scientists has found that a vast region of the Ecuadorian and Peruvian Amazon is the most biodiverse in South America.

http://bit.ly/ajrSSu

published

Uncontacted tribes’ land: ‘most biodiverse’ in South America and threatened by oil

2010-02-05T12:16:29+00:00

2010-01-08T18:04:47+00:00

5408

Peru’s government has announced it will hold an auction for oil and gas concessions towards the end of April. The auction was announced by Daniel Saba, head of Perupetro, the government body responsible for promoting oil and gas exploration in the country and negotiating contracts with companies. According to the government’s news agency, Perupetro is hoping to attract major oil companies like Total and Exxon Mobil to bid in the auction. Many of the concessions are expected to be in the Amazon, although their exact location remains unclear. Survival is urging Peru’s government not to permit any oil and gas exploration on land inhabited by "uncontacted tribes":http://www.survivalinternational.org/tribes/isolatedperu, or any area where it has not obtained the free, prior and informed consent of the people who live there. The auction was originally intended to be held last August, but has been suspended on at least two occasions. Perupetro’s promotional work for the auction will begin in Houston on 10 February. In the 1990s Mobil, now part of Exxon Mobil, controversially explored for oil in a region of south-east Peru inhabited by uncontacted tribes. After an international campaign by organisations such as Survival and "FENAMAD":http://www.fenamad.org/home.htm, Mobil abandoned the project.

Perupetro negotiates with oil and gas companies working in Peru.

224

2010-01-09T09:00:00+00:00

Peru’s government has announced it will hold an auction for oil and gas concessions towards the end of April.

http://bit.ly/85CJWr

Peru will hold ‘Amazon auction’ in April

2010-01-11T10:33:44+00:00

2009-12-11T13:03:45+00:00

5356

Amnesty International (AI) is ‘urgently’ pressing the Peruvian government to suspend companies whose work could affect the rights of indigenous people. AI makes the recommendation in a new report, "‘Peru: Bagua, six months on’":http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/report/victims-peru-amazon-violence-deserve-justice-without-discrimination-20091, published six months after armed police attacked a peaceful indigenous protest at Bagua, northern Peru. The report urges Peru’s government ‘to review urgently all concessions that have been granted to extractive industries in areas where such activity could affect the rights of Indigenous Peoples, with a view to taking appropriate action to respect and protect human rights; no activity should take place in these concession areas until the review is complete; the review must include a clear process of consultation with affected communities.’ AI’s call comes after the government has granted more than 70% of the Peruvian Amazon to oil and gas companies, and has announced plans to increase that figure early in 2010. It echoes a recommendation made by the "United Nations":http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/4916 earlier this year when it told Peru it should not allow oil and gas drilling on indigenous peoples’ land without their ‘informed consent’. Companies potentially affected include those working on land inhabited by uncontacted tribes, such as "Perenco":http://www.survivalinternational.org/about/perenco and "Repsol-YPF":http://www.survivalinternational.org/about/repsol. Many indigenous communities in Peru reject the presence of companies working in extractive industries, such as oil, gas, mining or timber, on their land. Survival’s director, Stephen Corry, said today, ‘It’s critical that Peru’s government hears what Amnesty is saying. The tragic events at Bagua happened because the government tried to give away indigenous land without the consent of the people who have lived there for hundreds of years. The government is still trying to do this and does not appear to have learnt its lesson.’

Armed police attack indigenous protesters at Bagua.

310

2009-12-12T09:00:00+00:00

Amnesty International (AI) is ‘urgently’ pressing the Peruvian government to suspend companies whose work could affect the rights of indigenous people.

http://bit.ly/8dcHxW

Amnesty: Peru should suspend oil companies working on indigenous land

2009-12-11T13:03:51+00:00

2009-11-25T17:35:50+00:00

5281

More than a thousand people voted for Anglo-French company Perenco in a spoof Friends of the Earth award for human rights. Perenco was "nominated for the award":http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/5266, the ‘Pinocchio Prize 2009’, for its billion dollar project in a part of the Peruvian Amazon inhabited by at least two "uncontacted tribes":http://www.survivalinternational.org/uncontactedtribes. The company’s work in the area violates the tribes’ rights under international law, and could decimate them if contact is made. The winner of the award, Bolloré, was announced in a "statement":http://www.amisdelaterre.org/Et-les-laureats-des-Prix-Pinocchio,4499.html by Friends of the Earth (France) yesterday. Perenco came third with 22% of the vote. The ‘Pinocchio Prize’ is intended to raise awareness of, and condemn, French businesses who ‘perpetrate the most serious human rights violations.’ Perenco’s chairman, Francois Perrodo, met Peru’s president, Alan Garcia, earlier this year while indigenous people in the Amazon were protesting against his company.

Crossed spears left by an uncontacted tribe in the Amazon where Perenco is working

202

2009-11-25T17:35:50+00:00

More than a thousand people voted for Anglo-French company Perenco in a spoof Friends of the Earth award for human rights.

http://bit.ly/5okCKF

Perenco comes third in spoof Friends of the Earth award for human rights

Perenco comes third in spoof Friends of the Earth award

2009-11-25T17:36:01+00:00

2009-11-13T17:09:18+00:00

5266

An Anglo-French company has been nominated for a spoof "Friends of the Earth":http://www.foe.co.uk/ (FoE) award for its billion dollar project in a part of the Amazon inhabited by two of the world’s last "uncontacted tribes":/uncontactedtribes. The company, Perenco, is one of four nominees in the human rights category for Friends of the Earth France’s ‘Pinocchio Prize 2009’. The prize is intended to raise awareness of, and condemn, French businesses who ‘perpetrate the most serious human rights violations.’ Perenco has been nominated for its project in the Peruvian Amazon where it plans to drill for millions of barrels of oil on land belonging to uncontacted tribes, according to FoE. In doing so, Perenco is contravening a "recent recommendation from the UN to Peru’s government":/news/4916, and is being sued by Peru’s national indigenous peoples’ organisation, AIDESEP. Perenco denies the tribes exist. FoE says that in June there was a ‘massacre’ following indigenous protests against government plans to open up their land to oil companies without their consent. ‘Peru's president, Alan Garcia, has recognised publicly that the government failed to consult adequately with indigenous people about oil concessions. But Perenco doesn't seem ready to learn from this, and is aggravating what is an extremely tense situation following the massacre,’ says FoE. Perenco’s chairman, Francois Perrodo, met Alan Garcia earlier this year and promised to invest two billion dollars in the project. At the same time, "indigenous people in the Amazon were protesting against the company"://news/4514 and preventing their boats from traveling on a major Amazon tributary. Survival Director, Stephen Corry, said today, ‘This is a major embarrassment for Perenco. One way of guaranteeing they don’t win the Pinocchio prize would be to abandon this project tomorrow.’ Voting for the Pinocchio prize can be done on-line: "http://www.prix-pinocchio.org/nomines.php":http://www.prix-pinocchio.org/nomines.php. The winner will be announced on 24 November.

Perenco is exploring for oil inside uncontacted Indians' land.

215

2009-11-16T10:21:00+00:00

An Anglo-French company has been nominated for a spoof Friends of the Earth (FoE) award for its billion dollar project in a part of the Amazon inhabited by two of the world’s last uncontacted tribes.

http://bit.ly/eajEU

Anglo-French company nominated for spoof Friends of the Earth award

2009-11-24T16:20:22+00:00

2009-09-25T11:50:08+01:00

4970

Peru’s indigenous affairs department, INDEPA, has announced it will carry out an overflight of an uncontacted tribes’ reserve in the remote Amazon. The announcement came after the publication of "photos":http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/4847 showing an illegal logging camp in the reserve, which were taken by the US-based organisation Round River Conservation Studies and released worldwide by Survival. INDEPA said it would take action immediately after the publication of the photos, but until the recent announcement it was not clear what that action would consist of. ‘If we find evidence of loggers or others engaged in illegal activities, we will take the relevant course of action to stop it,’ said INDEPA’s president, Mayta Capac Alatrista. The logging camp was spotted in the Murunahua Reserve, inhabited by at least one uncontacted tribe known as the Murunahua or Chitonahua. The reserve was created in 1997, but loggers have regularly entered it looking for valuable timber such as mahogany and cedar. Some Murunahua have already been contacted – a catastrophic experience that led to an estimated 50% of them dying. Brazil’s state oil company, Petrobras, has a contract to explore in the reserve. Survival has written to the company urging it not to work there.

One of the photos of logging camps in the Murunahua Reserve, released by Survival earlier this year.

348

2009-10-03T09:00:00+01:00

Peru’s indigenous affairs department, INDEPA, has announced it will carry out an overflight of an uncontacted tribes’ reserve in the remote Amazon.

http://bit.ly/3IRLbC

Peru's government to do overflight of uncontacted tribes' land

Overflight of uncontacted tribes' land by Peru's government

2009-11-04T10:25:10+00:00

Government discovers evidence of an uncontacted tribe

2009-09-17T01:00:00+01:00

1253142000

4952

en_en

Peru’s Indigenous Affairs Department, INDEPA, has discovered evidence of an <a href="../../../../../tribes/isolatedperu">uncontacted tribe</a> in the remote Peruvian Amazon.   The evidence, including thirty-eight abandoned fishing huts, fires, and food remains, was collected during a visit to the Las Piedras River in south-east Peru by an INDEPA team in mid-August.   Peru’s president, Alan Garcia, has denied the existence of such tribes, saying they have been ‘invented’ by environmentalists opposed to oil exploration.   INDEPA’s president, Mayta Cápac Alatrista, called it ‘one of the most important discoveries in recent years’, although the existence of uncontacted tribes in that region of Peru is already well-known. A number of people, including a Survival researcher and others from the local indigenous organisation FENAMAD, have visited the region and collected a great deal of evidence, including video footage, proving the Indians’ existence.   INDEPA estimates the number of uncontacted people who had been living in the huts to be between 130 and 150. The tribe, often known as the Mashco-Piro, is nomadic and one of an estimated fifteen uncontacted Indian groups in Peru.   Survival is lobbying INDEPA, Garcia and Peru’s government to recognise the existence of all Peru’s uncontacted tribes, grant them land rights, and respect their wish to live without contact. <a href="http://www.andina.com.pe/Espanol/Noticia.aspx?id=hZ4aP7AlcRs=" target="_blank">See a photo of the fishing huts and watch a video (in Spanish) of the discovery.</a>

1253193930

2009-09-17T01:00:00+01:00

Peru’s Indigenous Affairs Department, INDEPA, has discovered evidence of an uncontacted tribe in the remote Peruvian Amazon.

http://bit.ly/127Nch

Government discovers evidence of an uncontacted tribe

4952

2009-09-21T14:30:15+01:00

100 days after the 'Amazon's Tiananmen', pressure mounts on

2009-09-10T01:00:00+01:00

1252537200

4932

en_en

One hundred days after the ‘<a href="../../../../../news/4687">Amazon’s Tiananmen</a>’, international pressure on Peru’s government to overhaul its relationship with the country’s indigenous population is mounting. Survival, Amnesty International, and the United Nations have all urged the government to gain the consent of indigenous people before oil, gas or mineral exploration takes place on their land. Until that is guaranteed, ‘the government should not give any more concessions for the exploration and exploitation of natural resources and [should] suspend any concessions already made that could affect indigenous peoples’ rights,’ an Amnesty statement reads. In the hundred days since the ‘Amazon’s Tiananmen’, on 5 June, the government has failed to investigate what happened that day, or to halt its persecution of Peru’s indigenous leaders, three of whom have sought asylum in Nicaragua. The government has also announced plans to auction new oil and gas exploration rights, slated to include large parts of the Amazon, and has given the green light to Anglo-French oil company Perenco to drill for oil on land inhabited by two of the <a href="../../../../../campaigns/uncontactedtribes">world’s last uncontacted tribes.</a> These developments have taken place despite a televised admission by President Garcia that his government had failed to consult with the country’s indigenous population about exploration on their land. The ‘Amazon’s Tiananmen’ refers to the conflict which took place on 5 June when armed police attacked a peaceful indigenous protest in Bagua, northern Peru. Violence broke out in several locations in the region, leading to more than thirty policemen and civilians being killed and at least two hundred injured. Survival’s director, Stephen Corry, said today, ‘Peru’s government must not wait any longer to heed the demands of the country’s indigenous inhabitants and respect their land rights.’

1252573939

The protest at Bagua, Peru.

321

2009-09-10T01:00:00+01:00

One hundred days after the ‘Amazon’s Tiananmen’, international pressure on Peru’s government to overhaul its relationship with the country’s indigenous population is mounting.

100 days after the 'Amazon's Tiananmen', pressure mounts on government

4932

2009-09-10T01:00:00+01:00

Anglo-French oil company threatened with eviction by Amazon

2009-09-07T01:00:00+01:00

1252278000

4923

en_en

A giant Anglo-French oil project in Peru’s Amazon is at risk after the country’s Indians launched a court bid to stop it. AIDESEP, the umbrella organisation of Peru’s Amazon Indians, has lodged an urgent appeal with the country’s Constitutional Tribunal to halt the project, in a part of the Peruvian Amazon known as ‘Block 67’. The project is owned by Anglo-French company <a href="../../../../../about/perenco">Perenco</a>, who have promised to invest $2billion in the find. But AIDESEP fears that the project could have catastrophic consequences for the <a href="../../../../../campaigns/uncontactedtribes">uncontacted tribes</a> living in the area. Spanish company Repsol-YPF is also covered by the application – it is exploring nearby. Perenco was given the green light to start work in Block 67 just thirteen days after the ‘<a href="../../../../../news/4687">Amazon’s Tiananmen</a>’, when armed police violently broke up an indigenous protest near the town of Bagua. More than thirty policemen and civilians were killed. Perenco, chaired by Oxford University graduate Francois Perrodo, denies the uncontacted tribes exist inside Block 67. <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jul/04/peru-amazon-rainforest-conservation">A recent exposé</a> in a British newspaper alleged that a company contracted by Perenco withheld evidence of their existence. Perenco’s project has aroused huge anger amongst Indian communities in northern Peru. Largescale protests have been held, and the River Napo was blockaded for several weeks to stop Perenco’s boats from entering Block 67. Survival director, Stephen Corry, said today, ‘How shameful that Peru’s Indians are having to resort to the courts to try to get Perenco and the government to listen to them. After the Bagua tragedy, the authorities promised to consult with indigenous people before pushing ahead with these massive projects, but yet again they’re simply ploughing on against local people’s wishes.’

1252313302

Crossed spears inside Block 67: uncontacted Indians' warning to stay out.

202

2009-09-07T01:00:00+01:00

A giant Anglo-French oil project in Peru’s Amazon is at risk after the country’s Indians launched a court bid to stop it.

http://bit.ly/Rho7k

Anglo-French oil company threatened with eviction by Amazon tribes

4923

2009-09-08T12:24:27+01:00

'No oil drilling without tribes' consent', UN tells Peru

2009-09-02T01:00:00+01:00

1251846000

4916

en_en

The UN has told Peru’s government it should not allow oil and gas drilling on indigenous peoples’ land without their ‘informed consent’. If the government agrees to the UN’s call, it would mean that no drilling could take place in rainforest inhabited by <a href="../../../../../campaigns/uncontactedtribes">uncontacted Indians</a>, as they are unable to give their consent. This is something that indigenous organisations, Survival and many others have long been calling for. The call was made in a statement by the UN’s Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), published on Monday. Delegations from Peru’s government and several Peruvian organisations have appeared before CERD in recent weeks. CERD expressed its concern at the ‘serious tension in the country, which has even triggered violence, and has been generated by the exploitation of the sub-soil resources traditionally belonging to indigenous peoples.’ The Committee also urged Peru’s government to investigate the <a href="../../../../../news/4687">conflict in Bagua</a>, northern Peru, in which more than thirty policemen and civilians died. ‘The government should urgently form an Independent Commission, including indigenous representation, to carry out a definitive, objective and impartial investigation,’ CERD’s statement said. The government’s appearance before CERD was heavily criticised by organisations in Peru. CERD had asked the government to provide information about a number of issues that it ignored, including efforts to protect the rights of uncontacted tribes and controversial comments made by Peru’s president Alan Garcia in a Peruvian newspaper. Survival director, Stephen Corry, said today, ‘We urge President Garcia to put an end, once and for all, to its policy of carving up the Amazon without the consent of the people who actually live there.’<a href="http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/cerds75.htm"> Download the report </a>

1251883592

An Indian blockade at Bagua.

322

2009-09-02T01:00:00+01:00

The UN has told Peru’s government it should not allow oil and gas drilling on indigenous peoples’ land without their ‘informed consent’.

http://bit.ly/PBZAb

'No oil drilling without tribes' consent', UN tells Peru

4916

2009-09-08T12:20:21+01:00