28 January 2010
Book Launch: Jan. 26 & 27, 2009 - Lima, Peru: Peruvian Amazon in 2021-Infrastructure and the Exploitation of Natural Resources: What is happening and what does it mean for the future? by Marc Dourojeanni, Alberto Barandiarán y Diego Dourojeanni is a publication in which the authors fill a informational gap that exists for Peruvian citizens regarding what the government and private investors plan to do in the coming decade in the Peruvian Amazon.
Press Release
Book Presentation by Marc Dourojeanni, Alberto Barandiarán y Diego Dourojeanni
Wednesday January 27 - Public Book Launch by Marc Dourojeanni
Wednesday, January 27th was the public launch of Marc Dourojeanni's new book “Infrastructure and the Exploitation of Natural Resources: What is happening and what does it mean for the future?" in Lima. The presentation of the book featured panelists Carlos Herrera Descalzi, ex-Minister of Energy and Mines, Diego de la Torre, CONFIEP; Carlos Amat y Leon, ex-Minister Agriculture; Lidia Rengifo, ARPI; Carlos Loret de Mala, ex presidente del CONAM; Gustavo Guerra Garcia, CDE; and Jorge Caillauxa, SPDA.
Executive summary in english:
Peruvian Amazon in 2021 (PDF, 108KB)
For a digital copy of the book in spanish:
Infrastructure and the Exploitation of Natural Resources: What is happening and what does it mean for the future? by Marc Dourojeanni, Alberto Barandiarán y Diego Dourojeanni is a publication in which the authors fill a informational gap that exists for Peruvian citizens regarding what the government and private investors plan to do in the coming decade in the Peruvian Amazon.
The book reveals a series of projects for which little has been disclosed but are intended to exploit that vast natural resources of the Amazon region, including the planning of infrastructure mega-projects designed to facilitate this activity.
Hydroelectric dams that will cut the flow of rivers to generate energy for export; highways, industrial canalas, railway that crisscross the lowlands with inadequate planning; and the unprecedented extraction of oil, gas, timber and minerals that together will produce untold social and environmental impacts that change Peruvian Amazon forever.
More than a closed minded defense of nature and a critique of the social and environmental costs of these infrastructure projects, the authors concentrate on a specific problem. Based on the available information, everything indicates that the costs Peru will pay with respect to the social and environmental threats appear to be considerably higher than the modest benefits foreseen.
The chart below (24) from the study reveals that deforestation and the affected areas, summed with forest degradation covers 43.6 million hectares (or (56% of the Peruvian Amazon) in the most favorable scenario and 70.3 million ha (or91% ) in the worst case scenario. This result can appear to be exaggerated but despite the admittedly rough and debatible estimation, these scenarios coincide with other cited research. In this way, the best case scenario leaves only 33.9 million ha of Peruvian Amazon forest free from severe intervention, including in this figure are the National Protected Areas and indigenous territorial reserves. In the worst case scenario, only 7.2 million hectares are left undisturbed, which is much less than the area of forest actually protected and less than the area within National Parks. Most troubling is the evidence that tends to point to the higher probability of the worst case scenario.
|
Table 24. Prospectives of accumulated deforestation and forest degradation by 2041 (in millions of hectares) |
|
Principal causes of deforestation and/or degradation |
Best-case scenario |
Worst-case scenario |
|
Deforestation |
Current (in 2009) |
8.0 |
8.0 |
|
Areas impacted by deforestation
(more than 30%) |
Highways: Agriculture, fishing and areas already impacted and/or abandoned
Other highways unforeseen to date* |
17.1
1.5 |
25.1
3.0 |
|
Others: mining, hydrodams, urban expansion, hydrocarbons |
1.0 |
3.0 |
|
|
Forest degradation |
Timber exploitation outside of concessions |
10.0 |
**14.0 |
|
Timber exploitation in forestation, reforesation and native community concessions |
***6.0 |
****17.2 |
|
|
Total |
43.6 |
70.3 |
|
Notes: * Believing that from 2010 to 2041 is built over 1,000 km of new roads that are not currently planned (1.000 km x 15 km and up to 30 km of influence) in this time span. ** Considering that it has granted additional 2.7 mm of hectares in the form of forestry contracts. *** Considering that 60% of logging will occour in not permitted sites (concessions, communities ).**** Considering that 123% of logging will be in not permitted sites. |
Table 24 shows that deforestation and area impacted by infrastructure megaprojects and production calculated in the study, as well as forest degradation would amount to 43.6 mm ha (56% of the Jungle) in the best-case scenario and as much as 70.3 mm ha (91% of the Jungle) in the worst-case scenario. This may seem a large estimate, but these results, although admittedly rough and debatable, coincide with those obtained in similar studies mentioned. Thus, in the best of scenarios, 33.9 mm ha of the Jungle would remain free of severe interventions, with ANPs and indigenous territorial reserves included in the figure. In the worst case scenario, barely 7.2 mm ha would remain undisturbed, far less than the area currently protected in the Jungle and even less than the area covered by national parks. Even more worrying is that the evidence points more toward the worst-case scenario than the best-case scenario.
Press:
Especialistas recomiendan suspender negociaciones con Brasil, Adital
Alertan que explotación desenfrenada puede devastar a la Amazonia peruana en 2041, EFE
Explotación desenfrenada puede devastar Amazonía en 2041 La Republica
Partidos políticos deben debatir sobre creación de Instituto Nacional de Planificación, Info Region
O fim da Amazônia em 10 anos Andreia Fanzeres- O Eco
Perú no cuenta con Plan de Desarrollo Amazónico- Info Region
Afirman que no existe sistema de planificación nacional- Coordinadora Nacional de Radio