Shipibo Nation, Peruvian Amazon

"We are opposed to a development model that destroys the rainforest for profit of a few individuals and companies. We seek development in harmony with the environment, where all indigenous peoples can participate and benefit," says Pizango Chota, President of AIDESEP.

Introduction

The Shipibo people live in the Ucayali region of the central Peruvian Amazon.  There are approximately 120 Shipibo communities with a population of around 40,000 scattered throughout this remote region.  The region, and especially the capital port city of Pucallpa, is important as the industrial center of the Peruvian Amazon, has one of the highest rates of deforestation, and has recently been opened up for oil exploitation by foreign oil companies with around 70% of the Amazon in the hands of oil companies. The economy of this region is completely dependent upon the extraction of resources for international consumption. This region is ecologically important as a biodiversity hot spot, home to millions of endemic species, and plays an essential role in climate and biogeochemistry systems such as water cycling and carbon sequestering (the region is a carbon sink that moderates global temperature and cleans the air).

The history of the Shipibo parallels other indigenous groups in the Americas as far as colonial oppression, marginalization, and impoverishment through conquest of their lands and resources.  Over the past 50 years, many missionary groups, the government, and non-governmental organizations have come and gone leaving a trail of unfinished or unsustainable projects, mistrust, and divisions within communities.  Village Earth has spent the time necessary to establish relationships built on trust and mutual obligation (an alliance as opposed to 'project managers' and 'beneficiaries') and we also work within their local forms of social organization so as to not divide communities and cause internal community problems.  Village Earth is carefully bridging the divide between regional advocacy efforts and local community-based livelihood initiatives, an important facet of a truly sustainable process for indigenous self-determination.  Village Earth’s methodology and structure permit this type of flexibility and allow us to be responsive to the needs of communities. 

The Ucayali River, one the tributaries to the Amazon, is the main transportation route in this roadless region.

The Beginning

Community Mobilization

In January 2007, Village Earth held a regional workshop where indigenous leaders came together to decide their collective vision for the future and determine their own alternative development plan.  As part of their 7-step action plan, they decided to organize an indigenous tribunal that would bring community leaders from throughout the region together to discuss the government’s plan to open up the region to oil development and other pressing issues.  Village Earth was honored to be invited by the Tribunal organizing committee to co-facilitate this remarkable event.  During the Tribunal, held June 2007, Shipibo leaders decided to form their own organization to facilitate the process of working toward their collective vision for the region. 

The Shipibo expressed seven areas of great importance for regional sustainable development:

• Protecting Shipibo territory was the number one concern of all participants. Although most communities have the native titles to their lands many are in need of physical demarcation on the ground, amplification of territory in order to maintain self-sufficiency, and also protecting their land from outside colonizers, large-scale industrial agriculture, logging, and oil exploitation.
• Regional Shipibo Organization made up of leaders from all 120 communities
• Revitalizing Shipibo culture through education in the arts, song, and dance and by tapping into the wisdom of Shipibo elders
• Increased communication resources beginning with Shipibo-run community-based radio stations throughout the region where programming can be in the Shipibo language and with Shipibo music
• Scholarships for Shipibo youth so that more youth can have the opportunity to study in the necessary professional fields of medicine, engineering, and law.
• Promoting indigenous foods and a traditional diet.
• Indigenous Bank to be managed by the Shipibo themselves to provide small loans to promote the creation of micro-enterprises.

Village Earth is helping to build a trained internal catalytic force of indigenous leaders versed in the Village Earth methodologies that can act as internal activators in partnership with community leaders.  Limber Gomez, a respected Shipibo activist, attended the PPSD workshop held in Fort Collins August 2007.  Limber then returned to Peru to offer similar short courses in Village Earth methodologies to university students and community leaders.

Appropriate Technology Generation

In the past two years, Village Earth has helped to build the capacity of Shipibo women’s’ craft cooperatives by connecting them with funding, access to markets, and training opportunities. 

We have also held community-based geographic technology workshops, created maps using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and satellite imagery, and donated Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment so the Shipibo can monitor community boundaries and manage their lands, an important task in protecting land rights. Satellite imagery can also act as an important baseline to monitor environmental change over time. We have been working closely with Shipibo communities on the processes of titling and demarcation of their lands. This is more important now than ever as oil companies move into the region, loggers, agribusiness, and non-indigenous colonists vie for indigenous lands and the Amazon's natural resources. We continue to act as an ally in their meetings with government officials as an international witness and have connected communities surveyors who can help in the physical demarcation process. Protecting communities' lands are essential to communities maintaining their self-reliance.

Community-based geographic technology workshops.

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In 2009, Village Earth, with the help of Project Tupa, held a four-day radio workshop with participants from four Shipibo communities representing four districts learned to build FM radio transmitters and antennas by hand. They recieved all of the equipment to set up four community-based radio stations in their communities. The radios are all successfully broadcasting over the air. Indigenous language radio stations were an important part of the Shipibo's plan for self-determined development, because currently there are restrictions on indigenous language programs in the city. Radio is the main form of communication in the region. Community members already have developed a number of news and educational programs. With the support of the local government, these communities are receiving further support to install radio towers in their community and to receive materials to build a radio station building.

Village Earth has also partnered with the Engineers Without Borders Professional Chapter in Fort Collins to develop a water well prototype that can be easily maintained by the communities.  We then hope to replicate this design in other communities throughout the region with a need for clean water. 

Network Extension

Village Earth has held internet technology workshops helping communities and organizations to make their own connection to resources and allies around the world.  Community leaders have learned to operate the internet, use e-mail, create community web logs, use digital photography, and they have even created a collaborative website for the Shipibo Nation.  The http://shipibonation.org/ website, it is hoped, will eventually have news and podcasts from throughout the region feeding into this one site. 

Village Earth also was recently invited by indigenous leaders to attend a meeting of many important indigenous political organizations such as AIDESEP and FECONAU.  At this meeting, they asked Village Earth to support their efforts to stop the sale of the Amazon to oil companies.  Village Earth, in partnership with Amazon Watch and international allies, brought a renowned Shipibo leader to speak to potential oil investors at an important meeting sponsored by PeruPetro, the Peruvian government agency in charge of leasing oil lots, at the Houston Petroleum Club.  The Shipibo leader was able to give investors information about the risks of investing in oil development in the Amazon and asked them to stay off of indigenous lands, as well as allow his voice to be heard by high-level Peruvian government officials.  We hope that this helped to halt, or at least slow, the oil exploitation in the Amazon as the government tries to sell off the remaining 30%.

The long-term vision is that this project will become an alternative model of development for other indigenous groups in the region and around the world.

We are always in need of financial and technical resources if you are interested or for further information, please contact kristina@villageearth.org or call the Village Earth office,
(970) 491-5754.