August 9, 2024

New maps show fossil fuel concessions overlapping the territories of "Peoples in Isolation and Initial Contact" (PIACI), threatening not only global climate and biodiversity but an entire way of life.

🌐 Available in: ESPAÑOL

  • New maps and analysis by Earth Insight show current and proposed oil and gas blocks overlap with 20% or 1.6 million hectares of reserves for isolated Indigenous peoples in Peru — the country with the second-highest population of these peoples in the Amazon, following Brazil
  • In the last ten years, over 450 oil spills occurred in the Peruvian Amazon. It has been estimated that thirty-two areas contain enough contaminated material to fill 231 national stadiums.
  • Last year, a legislative proposal aimed to place 31 oil blocks overlapping with  435 Indigenous communities, compromising the protections for dozens of Indigenous communities living in voluntary isolation.

Lima (August 8th, 2024) —  A new analysis shows existential threats to Peoples in Isolation and Initial Contact (PIACI) in Peru. This term, denoted by the Spanish acronym, describes Indigenous peoples either living in voluntary isolation or in early stages of contact with the globalized world.

The International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples is observed annually on August 9. This year, the theme is "Protecting the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Voluntary Isolation and Initial Contact." Peru, home to one of the world’s largest populations of uncontacted peoples, is the focus of this report published by Indigenous-led and allied organizations, released on August 9 to coincide with the observance. The report not only identifies the threats to Indigenous Peoples in Isolation and Initial Contact (PIACI) but also recommends support in protecting existing reserves, recognizing and safeguarding cross-border territorial corridors, and ensuring all parties adhere to international conventions based on the principle of ‘no contact.’

Read the report — www.earth-insight.org/insight/piaci-threats-oil-and-gas-peru/

Adding fossil fuel infrastructure to fossil fuel impacts

Industrial extraction activities pose an existential threat to PIACI communities and threaten their rights to life, integrity, health, self determination, cultural practices, and traditional livelihoods. The report and geospatial analysis show the extent of threats to PIACI communities, as well as proposing solutions for the protection of these people and lands, in Peru and beyond.

The United Nations recognizes that Indigenous people Indigenous peoples “have the right to the lands, territories and resources which they have traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used or acquired,” and that “States shall give legal recognition and protection to these lands, territories and resources, and such recognition shall be conducted with due respect to the customs, traditions and land tenure systems of the indigenous peoples concerned.”

Peru's legal system currently protects PIACI rights and territories, creating “intangible” Indigenous Territorial Reserves in order to guarantee their fundamental rights to life and dignity. Eighty percent of the world’s remaining biodiversity is in Indigenous territories, and in Peru, PIACI territories comprise some of the most intact pieces of the Amazon — those that act as reservoirs of biological diversity to help regenerate parts of the forest which are already teetering on the brink of an ecological tipping point from rainforest to savannah, owing to fossil-fuel driven climate change and other human pressures.

Extractivism in Amazonia

  • An estimated 65 million hectares or nearly 13% of undisturbed tropical forests now overlap with existing or planned oil and gas blocks in the Amazon Basin.
  • Over 500 distinct Indigenous nationalities call the Amazon Basin home and more than 31 million hectares of Indigenous Territories are now in oil and gas blocks designated for production or exploration.
  • More than 13,000 villages, towns, etc. — or more than 23% of populated places in Amazonia — are now in oil and gas production or exploration blocks.

Key context in Peru

  • Last year in Peru, a legislative proposal led by the political party Fuerza Popular, the Regional Government of Loreto (GOREL) and business associations in Loreto, would have given regional governments the power to “extinguish” all existing Indigenous reserves, as well as to decide the future of all those in the process of being established. The bill would have allowed regional governments to “annul” official recognition of the very existence of the isolated Indigenous peoples. Although the proposal, widely criticized as the 'genocide bill,' did not pass, the expansion of oil and gas exploration and other extractive activities, such as mining and logging, continues to pose significant risks to both the environment and the communities who depend on these forests.
  • Another proposal led by state agency PeruPetro and the Peruvian Ministry of Energy and Mines would overlay at least 31 “promotional” oil blocks on 435 Indigenous communities and multiple PIACI reserves.
  • Oil activities have significantly impacted Indigenous territories, affecting 41 out of 65 recognized Indigenous tribes in Peru. While Peru established a process of “Previous Consultation” (not to be confused with “Free, Prior, and Informed Consent”), Indigenous communities do not have the power to veto a project on their lands. Over the past decade, 143 cases were filed against 16 oil companies for environmental violations.

Quotes and Interview Opportunities

“Everywhere in the Amazon — even as the forest edges closer to an ecological tipping point — Indigenous peoples are being killed for being in the way of extractive industries. For PIACI, these risks are even more dire, and threaten an entire way of life that has much to teach the world about living in harmony with nature, at a time when we need that wisdom the most.”

- Fany Kuiru Castro, General Coordinator of COICA

"In Peru our brothers, the Indigenous Peoples in Isolation and Initial Contact (PIACI), are under serious risk of genocide due to the great invasion of licit and illicit extractive activities in their survival territories and the excessive and unjustified delay in the creation of reserves to protect their territories, also because the State is totally reluctant to designate an adequate budget and take concrete and timely actions for the effective protection of their rights and territories. We therefore make a firm call to the Peruvian State and international organizations to protect the traditional territories of our PIACI brothers and sisters and to free their territories from all extractive activities that represent a serious threat of extermination of these extremely vulnerable peoples."

- Apu Julio Cusurichi, Member of Directive Council and
Political Coordinator of the PIACI Program, AIDESEP

“The Amazon forests, which are home to the PIACI, are one of the last refuges of water, air, and biodiversity in the world, and are essential to the planet's climate balance. Their destruction poses a risk to all of humanity."

- Atenor Vaz, Investigator for GTI PIACI

“Adding fossil fuel infrastructure to these territories is adding tinder to an Amazonia that is already on fire. The forest has a vital role in climate regulation, and it requires immediate protection if we want a stable climate for future generations. Supporting Indigenous stewardship and their rights to self-determination of the land must also be a part of this conversation.”

- Edith Espejo, Program Manager, Earth Insight

Maps

Download maps for this story here (English/Español).

Additional resources

About AIDESEP

The Interethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Amazon (AIDESEP) represents Indigenous peoples of the Peruvian Amazon, defends their collective rights, and offers alternative models of development.

About COICA

The Coordination of Indigenous Organisations of the Amazon Basin (COICA) is the umbrella organization of Indigenous federations of countries in the Amazon Basin. It  advocates for the rights of the 511 nationalities and groups that live in the basin – including the nearly 100 uncontacted communities.

About GTI PIACI

The International Working Group for the Protection of Indigenous Peoples in Isolation and Initial Contact - GTI-PIACI is a collaborative initiative of 21 indigenous and allied organizations from 8 South American countries that ensures respect for the rights of Indigenous Peoples in Isolation and Initial Contact (PIACI).

About Earth Insight

Earth Insight maps and analyzes fossil fuel and extractive industry concessions in key ecosystems to spotlight urgent future threats before they happen.

Our research, communications, and engagement work is central to supporting policy interventions that key political and financial actors can make to protect critical ecosystems as a vital step towards addressing both the biodiversity and climate crises.Our work creates urgency and clarity to accelerate policy interventions in support of nature and climate agendas.

www.earth-insight.org