Deforestation
Peru is home to 65 million hectares of tropical rainforest. Currently, the rate of deforestation is 0.4% per year, or 260,000 hectares per year. If you average that over a year and convert to acres that is 1,760 acres everyday are destroyed. Not all forest is cleared for logging purposes, but also for industrial-scale agriculture (such as papayas), mining and oil extraction, and infrastructure and road development.
Above: Shipibo-managed hunting grounds.
Below: Traditional Shipibo hunting grounds decimated by a foreign company. Traditionally part of Shipibo territory, this land was sold by the Peruvian government to a US-based corporation called Amazon Herb Company (which claims to be helping indigenous communities and the environment): http://www.amazonherb.net/Corporate/our-rainforest.aspx
Logging has many effects on both the environment and for the people who inhabit this area. Logging leads to increased sedimentation in the rivers and lakes, which leads to declining fish populations. Once an area of rainforest is logged it is very difficult for anything to grow because of the poor, acidic soils. The Shipibo also mention the loss of many plant and animal species due to logging.
Many Shipibo communities have protected forest areas within their allotted territories where they practice sustainable forestry, reforestation programs, and also have community-managed botanical gardens to protect important endangered species of medicinal plants.
Environmental destruction is tied into loss of culture and poor health. Traditionally, Shipibo men provided for their communities and families by subsistence hunting and fishing. However, because of the current rates of deforestation, finding the fish, plant, and animal species that have played such a huge role in their culture is leading to a breakdown in these traditional practices. Also, when certain plants, animals, and fish populations decline that were a part of traditional Shipibo diets this also leads toward poorer nutrition and other health problems. When the men are no longer able to provide for their families it forces them to turn to wage labor such as migrating to nearby Pucallpa or working in tourist ventures. Communities complain about the loss of the paiche fish which plays an instrumental role in their cultural traditions. Paiche can grow to up to 6 feet (2 meters) in length and when caught were shared with the whole community and usually accompanied by a community celebration. Now, only small fish can be found in the rivers and lakes and this is leading to community breakdown and increased individualism as people no longer come together to share food.
Above: Shipibo-managed hunting grounds.
Below: Traditional Shipibo hunting grounds decimated by a foreign company. Traditionally part of Shipibo territory, this land was sold by the Peruvian government to a US-based corporation called Amazon Herb Company (which claims to be helping indigenous communities and the environment): http://www.amazonherb.net/Corporate/our-rainforest.aspx
Logging has many effects on both the environment and for the people who inhabit this area. Logging leads to increased sedimentation in the rivers and lakes, which leads to declining fish populations. Once an area of rainforest is logged it is very difficult for anything to grow because of the poor, acidic soils. The Shipibo also mention the loss of many plant and animal species due to logging.
Many Shipibo communities have protected forest areas within their allotted territories where they practice sustainable forestry, reforestation programs, and also have community-managed botanical gardens to protect important endangered species of medicinal plants.
Environmental destruction is tied into loss of culture and poor health. Traditionally, Shipibo men provided for their communities and families by subsistence hunting and fishing. However, because of the current rates of deforestation, finding the fish, plant, and animal species that have played such a huge role in their culture is leading to a breakdown in these traditional practices. Also, when certain plants, animals, and fish populations decline that were a part of traditional Shipibo diets this also leads toward poorer nutrition and other health problems. When the men are no longer able to provide for their families it forces them to turn to wage labor such as migrating to nearby Pucallpa or working in tourist ventures. Communities complain about the loss of the paiche fish which plays an instrumental role in their cultural traditions. Paiche can grow to up to 6 feet (2 meters) in length and when caught were shared with the whole community and usually accompanied by a community celebration. Now, only small fish can be found in the rivers and lakes and this is leading to community breakdown and increased individualism as people no longer come together to share food.
posted by Village Earth2 at
2:11 PM
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