Infrastructure
Peru is one of the most active member countries in the IIRSA initiative. Encompassing 4 project hubs and parts of the Amazon and the Andes, and providing a gateway to Asian and Pacific markets, Peru is poised to play a major role in the physical integration of South American infrastructure.
Currently some 78 IIRSA projects, including a number of trans-border projects, are slated for implementation in Peru. Together these projects require an estimated investment of $6.7 billion. Nearly all of them fall within 4 of the 10 integration hubs: Amazonian, Andean, Central Interoceanic, and Bolivia-Brazil-Peru. The majority of projects correspond to the border crossings and transportation sectors (where there is a roughly even division among air, maritime, and multi-modal transport projects).
The current political climate in Peru is heavily in favor of IIRSA. The Toledo Administration has passed laws to facilitate privatization for the implementation of IIRSA projects and formed a governmental agency (ProInversión) tasked with attracting investments for the projects from the private sector. At the same time, public controversy has erupted over the Administration’s ramrod approval of the Peruvian segments of the Transoceanic Highway project, and over Peru’s role in the South American Gas Pipeline, a 5-country gas pipeline project.
Forests
Peru also possesses the second largest forest ecosystem in Latin America and fourth in the World. The country has embarked on a project to address deforestation and forest degradation which in that country are the main cause of greenhouse gas emissions. The project is called Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD). However, indigenous leaders argue that Peru must commit to address massive unresolved land demarcation, legalization, and titling problems, in order for this project to be effective. As noted in the mitigation and management of forest ecosystems from infrastructure project, Peru lacks adequate planning in the Amazon.