location: Peru

location: Peru

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Amazon’s Boiling River gives scientists a window into the rainforest’s future
- Scientists studying Peru’s Boiling River found 11% fewer tree species for every 1°C (1.8°F) increase in temperature, offering insights into how climate change might affect the Amazon Rainforest.
- The research team discovered that hotter areas not only had fewer species overall but were dominated by heat-tolerant trees that typically grow in the warmest parts of South America.
- The study site is protected by Indigenous Asháninka people as sacred land, but the forest still faces threats from nearby deforestation and fires, reflecting broader challenges across the Amazon.
- The Amazon is experiencing climate pressures, with fire-affected areas in the Brazilian Amazon increasing 18-fold in September 2024, covering a combined area nearly the size of the Netherlands.

Most large banks failing to consider Indigenous rights
- A new report by finance watchdog BankTrack evaluated the policies and practices of 50 major banks and found that most are failing to fully implement adequate safeguards in line with U.N. human rights principles.
- The 2024 report included three new criteria centered around the rights of human rights defenders and Indigenous peoples and the right to a healthy environment; the majority of banks did not explicitly acknowledge environmental rights are human rights and all failed in due diligence around Indigenous peoples’ free, prior and informed consent.
- The report found that small progress has been made in the last two years as banks improve policies and processes for managing human rights.
- The authors say stronger human rights due diligence laws could be a game changer in driving corporate respect for human rights.

High-flying concessions: Clandestine airstrips, coca crops invade Ucayali’s forests
- An investigation by Mongabay Latam and Earth Genome identified 45 clandestine airstrips in the rainforest in Peru’s Ucayali department.
- Ten of these airstrips, most likely built for narcotrafficking activity, are located inside nine forest logging concessions.
- Peru’s forest and wildlife monitoring agency, OSINFOR, says only four of these logging concessions are still active.
- Complaints made by concession holders to environmental authorities about the airstrips, as well as associated deforestation and coca cultivation, have been shelved.

Peru’s modern history of migration and settlement
- Four roads with an enormous impact on rural Peru were built starting in the 1970s, incentivizing migration in the second half of the 20th century to the Amazonian lowlands from the Andean foothills.
- The largest single migratory destination in the Peruvian Amazon is landlocked Iquitos; immigrants arrived there in search of jobs in the oil industry. Currently counting more than 500,000 inhabitants, Iquitos is now the largest city in the Western Amazon.
- The cultivation of coca has had major impacts on the development of Peru’s Amazonian regions. Violent clashes between armed groups searching to dominate the activity have pushed as many as 450,000 people out of their homes.

Narco airstrips beset Indigenous communities in Peruvian Amazon
- An investigation by Mongabay Latam and Earth Genome identified 45 clandestine airstrips in the rainforest in Peru’s Ucayali department.
- Thirty-one of these airstrips are located in Atalaya province, and of these, 26 are in or near Indigenous communities and reserves.
- These airstrips and the associated expansion of illicit coca cultivation began to increase in Atalaya 10 years ago, mirroring a rise in violence against Ucayali’s Indigenous communities and their leaders.
- Mongabay Latam spent five days exploring the areas most affected by drug trafficking in Atalaya, including the airstrips, and documenting the critical and alarming situation currently faced by communities in the region.

‘Bear’s-eye camera’ reveals elusive Andean bear cannibalism and treetop mating
- Scientists captured the first-ever camera collar footage of wild Andean bears, revealing unprecedented behaviors, including canopy mating and cannibalism.
- The research team, led by Indigenous researcher Ruthmery Pillco Huarcaya, successfully tracked a male bear for four months in Peru’s challenging cloud forest terrain.
- The footage challenges previous assumptions about Andean bears being solitary vegetarians and shows them behaving more like other bear species.
- While the bears face mounting threats from climate change and human conflict, researchers are combining scientific study with community education to protect them.

Gaps in Peru’s peatland policies harm conservation and Indigenous Shipibo: Study
- Significant inconsistencies and gaps in science and policies for peatland protection in Peru’s Imiría Regional Conservation Area have led to long-standing conflicts with Indigenous Shipibo residents who argue the regulations restrict their livelihoods.
- According to researchers, the current local conservation policies inadvertently impose adverse effects on Indigenous livelihoods and negatively impact Indigenous sovereignty, therefore exacerbating existing tensions and mistrust between conservation authorities and communities.
- The absence of scientific data and lack of mention of peatlands in the area’s master plan means locals and policymakers are unaware of the importance of the critical ecosystem and policies aren’t well-informed, the researchers warn.
- Researchers and the conservation area’s management underline the importance of scientific support and the creation of participatory and effective governance frameworks that incorporate Indigenous perspectives and a more strategic approach to conservation.

Severe drought in Peruvian Amazon isolated more than 130 Indigenous communities
- A severe drought that spread over recent months in Peru’s Loreto and Ucayali regions led to the isolation of more than 130 communities.
- Record low river levels affected the navigation of boats that deliver food and supplies as well as the health and livelihoods of communities that rely on fish for food and trade.
- Indigenous leaders from isolated communities have criticized the state for failing to deliver emergency assistance, such as drinking water and medical supplies.
- The frequency and intensity of extreme drought in the Amazon will continue to increase substantially due to climate change, experts warn.

Traditional fishers in Peru guard the coast from illegal fishing
- In Chimbote, north of Lima in Peru, fishers have been working for years to protect the Peruvian grunt (Anisotremus scapularis), a fish species in high demand for its meat, along a 1.5-kilometer (almost 1-mile) stretch of coast.
- Illegal fishing methods such as explosives have become common in this area, and the authorities have failed to deter them.
- The fishers, who use traditional methods to catch the grunt from shore, keep watch for illegal activities in the area in hopes that the species will not disappear.

15 illegal narco-trafficking airstrips found near Peru Indigenous communities
- With the help of an artificial intelligence visual search algorithm, Mongabay Latam has identified 15 illegal airstrips.
- These airstrips are being used by drug traffickers to transport narcotics produced in the central rainforests of Peru, which are mostly bound for Bolivia.
- A team of journalists visited these areas and saw firsthand the fear gripping local Indigenous residents. Here, people avoid discussing the issue openly, as they struggle to survive amid an economy overshadowed by drug trafficking.

The illegal runways exposing the Kakataibo people to drug violence in Peru
- Mongabay Latam has identified six secret runways in and around Indigenous reserves in the regions of Ucayali, Huánuco and Pasco in the Peruvian Amazon. One was found inside the Kakataibo reserve and one in its surroundings.
- These findings came from an algorithm created with artificial intelligence, which was jointly developed by Mongabay Latam and Earth Genome. It uses satellite images to detect traces of runways hidden in forests.
- Official and local sources confirmed that the runways are used to unload drug shipments.
- The territory has become extremely dangerous due to drug trafficking, which has changed the social dynamic of some Indigenous communities. Since the pandemic in 2020, six Kakataibo leaders have been murdered for protecting their communities.

The calm before the storm: The first half of the 20th century in the Pan Amazon
- The progressive decline of the rubber boom gave way to new extractivist interests. In the case of Brazil, a new boom was led by the Brazilian nut commerce. However, rubber became again essential for tire manufacturing during World War II.
- While in 1941, the Vargas administration maintained neutrality, selling Amazon rubber to Nazi Germany, once it became a US ally in 1942, Brazil guaranteed Americans the provision of rubber, in part by subsidizing the recruitment of rubber tappers and financing infrastructure, including both airfields and road networks.
- After Peru’s rubber boom had passed, successive governments promoted European migration. In Pasco, European settlers from Germany and Austria established the first coffee production landscapes in the country.

Peruvian fishers help red sea urchins recover from overfishing
- For 20 years, fishers from the district of Marcona, on Peru’s southern coast, have been recovering populations of red sea urchin, thanks to an alliance with the government.
- According to a monitoring study by the Peruvian Institute of the Sea, there are more urchins in the area where Marcona fishers work than in other areas.
- Part of the success is rooted in the spatial management of coastal areas that the artisanal fishers’ associations are applying; they are pioneers of this practice in the country.

The rubber boom and its legacy in Brazil, Peru, Bolivia and Colombia
- In the Amazon, the rubber boom was facilitated by new technological developments, industrialization and political change.
- While in Brazil the rubber barons used a form of debt slavery with their workers, in Bolivia the rubber boom was dominated by pioneers from Santa Cruz who had established cattle ranches in the Beni during the nineteenth century.
- In Peru, the boom was based on the exploitation of Castilla species rather than Hevea, resulting into a much more destructive process, which developed a particularly cruel and exploitive slave-labor system.

Evolution of the Pan Amazon in the post-Jesuit era
- Once the economy fostered by the Jesuits withered away, the population, now much diminished, reverted to the subsistence livelihoods that had always been a mainstay of the region.
- The pace of colonization in the Portuguese Amazon accelerated following the Jesuits’ expulsion. The Companhia de Comércio do Grão-Pará e Maranhão’s primary business model was to accelerate the African slave trade in the coastal provinces of Maranhão, but it also radically changed the economics and demographics of the Amazon floodplain.
- In the case of Suriname, Guyana and French Guiana, after the abolition of slavery, the countries imported labor from India (under the rule of the British Empire) and from the Dutch East Indies. Their shared history is more similar to that of the Caribbean than that of the Amazon.

Carbon markets must recognize Indigenous ‘high forest, low deforestation’ areas (commentary)
- “We have lived in and safeguarded our forests for generations, helping maintain biodiverse ecosystems designated as high forest, low deforestation (HFLD) areas, which are regions with historically low deforestation,” two Indigenous leaders write in a new op-ed.
- Carbon markets have mostly focused on areas with pre-existing deforestation, but communities like these with historically low deforestation need financing to support their conservation work, too, so shouldn’t HFLD regions get better access to the voluntary carbon market?
- “For too long, Indigenous and local communities who have preserved forests without compensation have been excluded from financial benefits linked to forest conservation. This is not just an environmental issue, but a matter of climate justice,” they argue.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

Impacts and legacies of migration across the Pan Amazon
- Although represented by only a few thousand people across 150 years, the Jesuits left a major social and cultural impact on native communities across the Pan Amazon. Their aim was to create autonomous communities based on early Renaissance concepts of equality and a spiritual vision based on the Christian Gospels. But in practice, they worked closely for the political and military interests of the colonies.
- Jesuits settled in remote places and border areas after being invited by colonial authorities interested in taking advantage of the native population’s labor force. But their arrival triggered the collapse of the Indigenous populations of the Western Amazon. Only in the late 17th century, more than 140,000 people died because of diseases brought by the outsiders.
- The success of the Jesuits and the religious colonialism that characterized the Catholic Church in the 17th century motivated other religious orders to follow similar missionary programs.

China’s Pacific fleet reportedly using squid ship as hospital to evade scrutiny
- The Chinese vessel Zhe Pu Yuan 98 functions as a hospital ship for the Chinese squid-fishing fleet operating in the Pacific Ocean, according to an investigation by the Peruvian organization Artisonal.
- In the last three years, 37 sick and injured and one deceased crew member were disembarked from Chinese vessels in the Port of Callao, in Peru. Of these, 15 were dropped off by the Zhe Pu Yuan 98, having been transferred from other squid vessels that remained at sea.
- Experts Mongabay spoke with expressed concern that there’s no regulatory framework governing ships that operate as both hospitals and fishing vessels and that fishing vessels cannot provide the sanitary conditions necessary to treat patients.
- They also said such an arrangement could serve as a cover for illegal fishing, as vessels that don’t have their permits in order can attempt to attend to sick crew members without taking them to land where they might be discovered.

Rural-urban migration across the Amazon Basin
- After 2000, migration from rural to urban areas across the Pan Amazon intensified, as people started moving to either main urban centers or cities in the highlands or on coastlines.
- In Brazil, already by 2000, about 70% of the population was in urban centers. Most of the small and medium-size cities developed alongside extractive or agricultural activities doubled their population between 2000-2010.
- From the early 1990s to early 2000s, in the Colombian Amazon, civil violence boosted the movement of millions of people into cities, while the country’s peace agreement slowed down migration. But land grabbing and incoming rural investors could kickstart another urban population boom.

Hotel built without permits on disputed land riles neighboring Paracas reserve in Peru
- A controversial hotel opened its doors to the public in 2023 in the Paracas National Reserve’s buffer zone, which acts as a protective strip around the reserve to minimize any impact on the protected area.
- The Hotel Boutique Atenas is owned by a former police officer with a history of land ownership conflicts. The hotel does not appear to have the required permits from Peru’s National Service of Natural Protected Areas, Mongabay Latam found.
- It was also built on a property currently subject to a land dispute. Marine farmers who work there claim to have been forcefully displaced from this area.

The people who make up the Pan-Amazonian melting pot: regional demographics
- Based on current trends, the Pan Amazon should have a total population of about sixty million by 2050 and stabilize at about 65 million by 2100.
- Currently, the Pan Amazon is home to approximately 43 million people. Of these, 80% are represented by immigrants or their descendants.
- Although there was a major population growth in the 1970s and 19880s, birth rates have been gradually decreasing and stabilzing.

CHAPTER 6. Culture and demographics defines the Pan Amazon’s present
- The dynamics unfolding across the Pan Amazon have been centuries in the making, with drivers of deforestation and ecosystem degradation evolving as a result of social and economic change.
- A colonial focus on resource exploitation, development policies and migration as well as the resistance of Indigenous peoples have transformed the Amazon.
- Latin America’s repeated failure to capitalize on the inherent advantages of its natural and human capital has been blamed on economic mismanagement, endemic corruption, entrenched inequality, legal insecurity and market cycles that undermine periodic attempts at reform.

Wildcat miners: will cyanide displace mercury?
- Although wildcat miners might be expelled from Indigenous territories and areas with high levels of protection, unallocated public lands and waterways will remain exposed to their harmful practices, as well as unregulated mining operations on private landholdings.
- Formalization of the sector should be accompanied by migration from mercury-based extraction technologies to other chemical and physical technologies, alongside incentives for illegal miners to adopt those practices.
- Existing oil and gas fields will continue to operate over the medium-term, with new production wells and feeder pipelines being established on landscapes adjacent to existing production fields. At the same time resistance from Indigenous and local communities against extractive projects – including for extracting gas resources underneath the Amazon Basin – will likely continue.

Report links killings to environmental crimes in Peru’s Amazon
- A new report from the Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project (MAAP) says the Peruvian Amazon is experiencing a rise in murders against environmental defenders, most of which are related to illegal activities such as mining, logging and coca cultivation.
- Between 2010 and 2022, an estimated 29 environmental defenders were killed in the region.
- The frequency of killings has increased in recent years, with almost half taking place after 2020.
- Indigenous leaders and researchers said many of these killings remain unsolved while the state remains largely absent in protecting communities in these remote regions.

Record number of Indigenous land titles granted in Peru via innovative process (commentary)
- Land titles have proven to be the most effective way to protect Indigenous peoples’ land from deforestation, with such territories experiencing a 66% decrease in deforestation, and therefore protecting these forests for generations to come.
- Recently, 37 land titles were secured in the Peruvian Amazon in record time, between June 2023 to May 2024, via a partnership between two NGOs and the Peruvian government, using an innovative, low-cost, high-impact model to expedite the process.
- “We believe this model can be replicated in other regions of the Amazon and perhaps even beyond,” the authors of a new op-ed write.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

The future of extractive industries in the Pan Amazon
- In Brazil, Peru and Ecuador, reliance on extractive industries for local livelihoods and state revenue could indicate that mining will remain the dominant economic activity for decades to come or, perhaps, more.
- Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) requirements will also play an increasing role in the industry’s decision making and project approval, especially in the case of publicly-traded companies.
- As the application of free, prior and informed consultation concept evolves, it will also play a key role in deciding on the future of mining projects.

Peruvian logger loses FSC label after latest clash with isolated Mashco Piro
- The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has suspended the certification of Maderera Canales Tahuamanu (MCT), a logging company whose concession borders Madre de Dios Territorial Reserve in the Peruvian Amazon.
- The company is accused of encroaching on the traditional territory of the Mashco Piro, an Indigenous group that lives in voluntary isolation and went viral after video captured the tribe on a beach.
- The suspension follows an incident in which at least two loggers were shot dead with arrows, one injured and several others are missing during a confrontation with the Mashco Piro.
- The FSC suspension takes effect Sept. 13 and will last eight months — a move Indigenous rights advocates say is welcome but short of the full cancelation they deem necessary to protect the isolated tribe.

The challenge of the next oil and gas investments further in the Pan Amazon
- The expansion of Camisea, a hydrocarbon development in the tropical landscapes of Cusco region in Peru, faces opposition by Indigenous groups and environmental advocates for its proximity to isolated tribes and for the authorities’ failure to run a free, prior and informed consent process with communities involved.
- The risk of social conflicts, environmental liabilities, and the increased competitiveness of solar energy in the coastal desert have caused the hydrocarbon sector to reduce its concessions in Peru over the last decade.
- The development of hydrocarbons in Suriname and Guyana has broad civil society support, largely because these countries are short of development options. A similar exploration boom is occurring off the coast of Amapá, Brazil, in the Foz de Amazonas sedimentary sub-basin known, but environmental authorities are worried about potential impacts on marine ecosystems.

China accepts U.N. recommendations to improve environmental conflicts in Latin America
- China was up for a Universal Periodic Review with the U.N. Human Rights Council, in which other member countries analyzed its actions abroad and provided recommendations to improve.
- Some of the most popular concerns were connected to the environmental and social conflicts affecting Latin America, including violence against activists, rushed impact studies and weak oversight of projects ranging from dams and highways to mines and bridges.
- China accepted a record ten out of 11 recommendations, giving hope to some that the country will change how it handles future projects in the region. But some critics are concerned that the country won’t keep its word.

How a fun women’s gathering led to small wildcat conservation in Peru’s Andes
- Habitat loss due to deforestation of Polylepis forests is increasing the incidence of human-wildlife conflict between communities and threatened feline species such as the Andean cat (Leopardus jacobita), puma (Puma concolor) and pampas or Peruvian desert cat (Leopardus garleppi) in the central Andes of Peru.
- A pioneering new Indigenous women-led citizen science conservation project in the Ayacucho region of Central Peru aims to obtain baseline data on wildcats and mitigate human-wildlife conflict.
- At first, local women were quite bemused by the project, but they’ve slowly began to weave it into their lives, and find it enjoyable community space they can claim ownership over where men do not dominate.
- Since the start of the project, there’s been a reduction in puma and wildcat attacks on livestock and attitudes toward the animals are changing within the community.

The indelible traces of oil and gas in the Peruvian, Ecuadorian and Colombian Amazon
- This section focuses on the first exploratory discoveries in Peru, Ecuador and Colombia, where the abundance of oil and gas has had a great impact on the forests and those who depend on their existence.
- In Ecuador, to this day, a lawsuit has been filed against Texaco (now Chevron) for the numerous abandoned oil wells contaminating rivers and previously forested lands. In Peru, a similar situation exists in the case of oil Blocks 8 and 192.
- Although Colombia has invested less in oil exploration compared to its two neighboring countries, the potential for hydrocarbon exploitation in the Putumayo and Caquetá river basins is enormous. There, dozens of Indigenous communities have long been pointing out the problems associated with extractive industries that afflict their livelihoods.

Petroperú’s financial troubles could mean no oil spill remediation, communities fear
- State-owned Peruvian oil company Petroperú, has plunged into massive debt to complete the rehabilitation of its Talara refinery, estimated to have cost $6.5 billion.
- Crisis hit in 2022, when the company lost its investment-grade rating from credit agencies; in 2023, its financial report revealed losses of more than $822 million that year.
- Petroperú has received three capital injections from the government, the last one amounting to $1.3 billion, raising concerns among NGOs and Indigenous communities about what might happen to all its sites pending remediation if it were to collapse.
- Since 2020, the company has been hit with 154 fines from Peru’s energy regulator and 61 administrative measures by the environmental regulator, a new report shows.

The Andes are a key supplier of gold for the Amazon Basin
- In recent decades, gold mining in Peru is no longer only taking place in the Andean areas but also in the Amazon. There, illegal miners are increasingly exploiting the precious metal found in alluvial deposits.
- A similar situation can be observed in the Bolivian Yungas, very close to the Peruvian border in the Madre de Dios region. Despite operations against illegal mining, the activity persists.
- On the border of Ecuador and Peru, much of the area comprising the mineral-rich Cordillera del Condor has been set aside as a protected area or Indigenous territory, but there are still large areas open to mining, particularly in Ecuador where multinational corporate miners are investing in both copper and gold mines.

New datasets identify which crops deforest the Amazon, and where
- Spatial Production Allocation Model (SPAM), the Atlas of Pastures and Amazon Mining Watch have released or updated satellite data and visualization tools this year that show what crops are grown in the Amazon, where cattle ranching overlaps with other kinds of land use and how much of the rainforest is being cleared for mining.
- Amazon Conservation’s Monitoring of the Amazon Project (MAAP) compiled the data into one report this month, creating an “overall estimate” of land use across the nine Amazon countries.
- Some of the crops are well-known drivers of deforestation, such as soy, but lesser-discussed crops are also present in the region, such as rice and sorghum.

No plans, no progress make Peru’s energy transition uncertain
- In Peru, greenhouse gas emissions come primarily from land use change, followed by oil and gas-fired power generation.
- Renewable wind, solar and biomass energy accounts for 6% of the country’s power, although the goal is to reach 20% by 2030.
- According to experts that spoke to Mongabay Latam, the Peruvian energy policy is not fit for purpose and the country lacks a direction of travel for its energy transition.

Tía María copper mine set to open in Peru despite community backlash
- The Tía María copper mine in Valle del Tambo, in southern Peru, could begin operations before the end of this year despite concerns from local communities that the project will pollute rivers and destroy agriculture.
- Communities in the valley have been fighting the project for over a decade, and say that it still lacks environmental impact studies and the approval of residents.
- The Tía María copper mine is expected to produce 120,000 tons of copper per year and help Peru recover from an economic crisis.

New Indigenous reserve in the Amazon among first steps to protect peoples in isolation
- The Sierra del Divisor Occidental Indigenous Reserve, created in May 2024, spans over half a million hectares (over 1.2 million acres) in the Peruvian departments of Ucayali and Loreto.
- The Indigenous People’s Regional Organization of the Eastern Amazon (ORPIO) described the creation of the reserve as a victory — not only for the Indigenous people who call it home, but also for those who defend human rights and the environment in Peru.
- Indigenous activists say the government must now create a protection plan for the reserve in order to guarantee not only the protection of Indigenous people living in isolation and initial contact, but also to support the communities surrounding the reserve in fulfilling their basic needs.

New relatives of the cacao tree uncovered in old plant collections
- Scientists have described three new species of plants closely related to the cacao tree, highlighting the importance of dried herbarium collections in uncovering hidden biodiversity.
- The newly described species, native to the Amazon Basin, are already facing conservation challenges, with two potentially qualifying as vulnerable to extinction.
- While these new species could potentially offer genetic resources for developing more climate-resilient cacao varieties, some say it’s too soon to predict practical impacts for chocolate production.
- The findings underscore the urgency of conservation efforts in the Amazon region, not only for these newly described species but for countless others still unknown to science.

After isolated tribes’ rare appearance in Peruvian Amazon, big questions remain for their future
- Viral images and videos in mid-July showed dozens of isolated Indigenous Mashco Piro people on a beach in the Peruvian Amazon asking for food from a nearby village.
- Campaigners and anthropologists point to the continued pressures of large forestry concessions overlapping with their ancestral territory in the Madre de Dios Territorial Reserve where they live.
- The Ministry of Culture, which is responsible for protecting Indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation, tells Mongabay they have no authority to suspend logging operations and there are no immediate plans to revise the concessions.
- No agreement on the issue or the proposal to create an Indigenous reserve has yet been reached in talks between the regional government, the forestry and wildlife service SERFOR and Indigenous federations.

The Amazon’s most fertile forests are also most vulnerable to drought: Study
- Researchers at the University of Arizona analyzed 20 years of satellite data to understand how different Amazon forest ecosystems respond to drought. They found that variations in water-table depth, soil fertility and tree height influence forests’ response to droughts.
- In the southern Amazon, experts observed a strong relationship between groundwater availability and the forests’ drought resilience. But the situation was more complex in the northern Amazon, where drought vulnerability depended on a combination of factors, including water availability, soil fertility and tree height.
- The study suggests scientists may have overestimated the risk of drought-related tree death — and the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere as a result — in the southern Amazon. However, long droughts, like the current one across the Amazon, can push these forests to the brink of collapse.
- The researchers created a map of drought resilience across the Amazon Basin, which shows that forests at high risk of deforestation are also most vulnerable to drought. These forests also play a key role in regional weather patterns by feeding the “atmospheric river” that brings rainfall to major agricultural areas.

Peruvian bills could imperil marine biodiversity & artisanal fishing, experts say
- Two legislative proposals seek to amend a law the Peruvian Congress passed unanimously in 2023 that recognizes artisanal fishers and promotes the protection of the sea within 5 nautical miles of shore, an area crucial for the reproduction of marine species.
- The proposals are being debated in Congress even as approval of the 2023 law’s regulations remains in limbo.
- Proponents of the proposals say they will strengthen fishing law in favor of artisanal fishers.
- But many artisanal fishers and conservation groups oppose the proposals, which would allow fishing boats carrying mechanized and nonselective gear to fish within 3 miles of the coast.

In Peru, conservationists and archaeologists unite to save a threatened gecko
- The Lima leaf-toed gecko (Phyllodactylus sentosus) today occurs mostly in archaeological sites in Peru’s capital, where it has become critically endangered.
- A unique cross-disciplinary conservation project, has brought together biologists and archaeologists since 2018 to save the species from extinction.
- The project involves in-situ and ex-situ conservation, environmental education and, soon, plans to translocate individuals between the archaeological sites to boost genetic diversity.

Brasil, Venezuela and Peru: the geography of industrial metals
- Industrial metals ores occur across the Amazon basin; this article offers an overview of their geological origins in the region and their economic importance.
- In Brazil, in Carajás and Pará, large deposits are focused on iron ore production, which has grown by 50% in recent years. Copper is also being exploited and recently the expansion and diversification towards strategic metals necessary for the transition to renewable energies has begun.
- In Venezuela and Peru there are other similar examples of mines that provide mineral inputs for the manufacture of steel and iron.

Study says 40% of Amazon region is potentially conserved — more than officially recorded
- A new study reveals that more than 40% of land across nine Amazonian countries is under some form of conservation management, significantly higher than the 28% reported in official records.
- The research highlights the crucial role of Indigenous peoples and local communities in conservation, with Indigenous territories covering 16% of the total land area of the nine Amazonian countries and community-managed conservation areas adding another 3.5%.
- Despite these findings, the Amazon still faces serious threats from deforestation, fire and climate change, leading some experts to question whether the global “30×30” conservation target is adequate.
- The study’s authors propose a new inventory approach to conservation planning, emphasizing the need to understand existing conservation efforts and governance structures before creating new protected areas or allocating resources.

The most prominent mining companies in the Pan Amazon – a review
- Following on from the previous section, Killeen explains the particularities of the extractive industries in Brazil and Peru.
- In both countries, mining operations, despite being backed by large international companies, still face various difficulties ranging from social grievances to the effects of deforestation on their own business model.
- Communities accuse companies of not applying on the ground the ESG and sustainability principles in their strategies.

Peru puts endemic fog oasis under protection
- The Peruvian government has formally granted conservation status to the 6,449-hectare (16,000-acre) desert oasis site Lomas y Tillandsiales de Amara y Ullujalla on the coast of Peru.
- Lomas are unique ecosystems relying on marine fog that host rare and endemic plants and animal species. But they have become threatened by driving, land trafficking, urban development and mining.
- The site, the first of its kind to become protected after more than 15 years of scientific and advocacy efforts, will help scientists understand climatic and marine cycles in the area.

In Peru’s Madre de Dios, deforestation from mining brings huge economic losses
- Amazon Conservation’s Monitoring of the Amazon Project (MAAP) analyzed the environmental and economic impact of three local communities in the Madre Dios region of the Peruvian Amazon, where gold mining has torn apart the rainforest and created a public health crisis for residents.
- Results showed that across just three native communities, deforestation from mining and pollution caused a total economic loss of $593,786,943 only between August 2022 and 2023.
- The project was carried out using the Mining Impacts Calculator, a tool created by the Conservation Strategy Fund (CSF) to quantify the economic impact of environmental damage.

Solutions to avoid loss of environmental, social and governance investment
- ESG strategies pro-actively support the planet and societal well-being in order to maximize profits over the short and long term. The goal is to align a company’s strategies and operations with the growing demand for the sustainable production of goods and services.
- Critics on the left brand ESG investing as greenwashing, arguing that corporations view it through a public relations lens rather than as a true reform of business models.
- Supporters contend the emerging ESG schemes are different in both scope and scale from previous sustainability initiatives, where the power of consumers was dispersed via complex supply chains and political processes.
- A very large company may have a good ESG score overall, but a poorly conceived project in the Pan Amazon. Moreover, the global corporations that participate in ESG initiatives are not representative of the dozens of domestic mining companies that operate in the Pan Amazon.

Weak banking regulations leave two-thirds of Amazon vulnerable to oil and gas
- A joint investigation by several conservation groups looked at more than 560 financial transactions involving more than 280 banks and 80 oil and gas companies with activities in the Amazon.
- It concluded that what the banks claim to be doing for the environment is far different from the “true impacts of their policies.”
- Some of the biggest bankrollers of oil and gas (Citibank, JPMorgan Chase, Itaú Unibanco, Santander, Bank of America) only apply their policies to about a third of the rainforest, leaving the rest vulnerable to potential environmental destruction.
- The report said banks need to end their relationships with all oil and gas companies in the Amazon if countries in the region are going to protect 80% of the rainforest by 2025.

In the Pan Amazon, environmental liabilities of old mining have become economic liabilities
- The ‘legacy’ of older mines translates into environmental liabilities, as failures can cause leakages of toxic sludge or fuel into river systems, rapidly spreading over tens of thousands of hectares and contaminating ecosystems.
- By changing name or owner, companies often manage to escape responsibility for those liabilities, as legally that entity initially owning polluting mines might not exist anymore.
- The inability to make a defunct corporation pay for remediation forces the state to assume the full cost of remediation. But tight budgets often allow contamination to persist without any remedial action.

Peru approves the creation of long-awaited marine protected area
- Experts have called the creation of the Grau Tropical Sea National Reserve, which took more than 10 years to be approved, a milestone as it is rich in biodiversity.
- Observers expect the reserve to allow for greater control and monitoring of the area to prevent illegal fishing.
- However, some industrial fishing, including trawling, is permitted in the new reserve, a decision criticized by marine conservation experts who say Peru needs “no-fishing areas.”

An ancestral solution ensures water for Peruvian alpaca farmers, but is it enough?
- A community of alpaca farmers in the high Peruvian Andes is witnessing the loss of its mountain glaciers as a result of a warming climate and unseasonal droughts.
- In response, community members have turned to an ancestral practice of harvesting rainwater runoff and snowmelt, caching it in artificial lagoons that they can then tap to irrigate their alpaca pastures.
- Today, the community of Santa Fe, on the slopes of Mount Rit’ipata, has 41 of these lagoons, or qocha, but increasingly prolonged droughts mean it will need many more.
- Other communities across Peru have launched similar water harvesting initiatives, and while the government backs these projects, communities like Santa Fe are ineligible for state funding under a 2022 regulation.

In Amazon’s tri-border Javari region, teens fall prey to drug gangs’ lure
- Residents of the tri-border region between Brazil, Colombia and Peru have reported an increase in the recruitment of teenagers to work in illegal logging and coca farms.
- Although no official data exist for the human trafficking problem, sources in the three countries say hundreds of young Indigenous and riverine teens are being recruited by drug traffickers and threatened with death if they try to leave.
- The rising recruitment has gone hand in hand with an increase in coca production and deforestation in the region, which in some provinces has grown exponentially.
- This report is the result of an investigative partnership between Mongabay and Peruvian outlet La Mula.

Global markets and their effects on resource exploitation in the Pan Amazon
- Extractive companies operate to maximize their profits as global demand is highly fluctuating. Prior to 2000, the prices of industrial minerals were at historical lows, but jumped through the next two decades as China began its infrastructure boom.
- As of January 2023, another commodity boom appears to be underway. In part, this is due to the war in Ukraine and the (as yet unknown) dimensions and duration of the sanctions regime imposed on Russia by the United States, the European Union and their allies in Asia-Pacific.
- As minerals required by the energy transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy are plentiful in the Pan Amazon, there will be significant economic pressure to develop those resources.
- Governments in the Pan Amazon are predisposed to support the mining and hydrocarbon industries because they are export-oriented and generate revenues for the state.

Photos confirm narcotraffickers operating in Peru’s Kakataibo Indigenous Reserve
- During a flyover on March 15 this year, Indigenous organizations and Ministry of Culture officials observed evidence of drug production and trafficking activity inside the Kakataibo Indigenous Reserve.
- They found three clandestine landing strips, one of them located in the center of the reserve, as well as large patches of deforested areas in the middle of the rainforest, some of them planted with illegal coca crops.
- The reserve was established in 2021 to protect Indigenous groups living in isolation, but has already lost more than 1,500 hectares (3,700 acres) through illegal deforestation since then.

Extractive industries look at degraded land to avoid further deforestation in the Pan Amazon
- Mining and power generation companies invest in the Amazon because it is profitable. But their development is costly, so before setting up, the companies evaluate not only the richness of the mineral deposit but also the volume of the geological formation. In this way they estimate the return on such investment before disbursing the financial capital.
- At the same time, investors tend to mismanage social and environmental risks associated with projects, with opposition from civil society frequently delaying extractive initiatives.
- Large expanses of the Amazon are still considered wilderness and any sort of development will trigger robust opposition from local, national and international organizations. Various factors influence whether an extractive company will pursue a greenfield development (exploring virgin land) or brownfield development (an area already used by the industry).

Is the extractive sector really favorable for the Pan Amazon’s economy?
- The Pan Amazon is an important source for several key industrial raw materials. Although financially, its minerals sector is minor within the world economy, the economy of Amazonian countries is highly dependent on extractive activities.
- Extractive industries in the region play a strategic role. Without them, Brazil would suffer a major economic disruption from mineral revenues, and the impact would be catastrophic for Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia.
- Most other countries in the Pan Amazon region return only a portion of royalties from revenues to local jurisdictions, while corporate income taxes go to the central government. However, despite criticism on lack of investment in Amazonian hinterlands, local governments continue to support extractive industries.
- None of the money from royalties is allocated to conservation, nor is any allocated to the remediation of the environmental impacts linked to its exploitation.

Indonesian palm oil, Brazilian beef top contributors to U.S. deforestation exposure
- A new report reveals that the United States imported palm oil, cattle products, soybeans, cocoa, rubber, coffee and corn linked to an area of tropical deforestation the size of Los Angeles between October 2021 and November 2023.
- Palm oil from Indonesia was the largest contributor to deforestation, followed by Brazil due to cattle grazing.
- The report by Trase, commissioned by Global Witness, found that the U.S. continues to import deforestation-linked commodities while awaiting the passage of the FOREST Act, which aims to prohibit imports of products linked to illegal deforestation.
- Experts emphasize the need for action from companies, governments, financial institutions and citizens to stop commodity-driven forest loss, urging support for smallholders, increased transparency in supply chains, and the passage of the FOREST Act in the U.S.

CITES halts Ecuador’s shark trade; trafficking persists amid lack of transparency
- Ecuador is one of the top exporters of sharks in the world.
- In February, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) suspended commercial trade in sharks and rays from Ecuador, after the country had failed to take measures to guarantee sharks were being fished sustainably.
- Protected species from Ecuador enter Peru through the cities of Tumbes and Piura. The fins are then sent to Asia, but the meat is sold in local markets.
- A lack of transparency has made it difficult to stem this criminal trade, according to experts consulted by Mongabay Latam.

State management and regulation of extractive industries in the Pan Amazon
- Extractive industries have become economic and political pillars across all Pan Amazon countries. Relationships between states and private companies in the region are managed via three main models: concessions, production sharing agreements, and service contracts, with the usage of those models varying across the region.
- In all cases, corruption, bad governance and adverse social conditions prevent the exploitation of resources in the Pan Amazon from being sustainable and generating real wealth.
- States capture revenues from extractive industries in different ways: via royalties, corporate income taxes and profits from state-owned companies. These are complimented by licensing fees, property taxes and signing bonuses as well as windfall-profit taxes.

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