Amazon drilling 'will harm indigenous people'
Reposted from totalcatholic.com
As Peru opens up a large swath of Amazon rain forest to oil and gas drilling, a church official has expressed concern over its consequences on indigenous communities and the environment.
“It’s going to have a tremendous impact on the Amazon and on the cultural life of indigenous communities,” said Adda Chuecas, director of the Amazon Center for Anthropology and Practical Application, an organisation founded in 1974 by the bishops of Peru’s Amazon dioceses to defend the rights of indigenous peoples. “One of the strongest impacts is the destruction of natural resources” on which indigenous communities depend for sustenance.“This will result in greater exclusion of these people,” Chuecas said.
Much of Peru’s Amazon rain forest is believed to lie above oil and gas deposits.More than a dozen companies are already drilling for hydrocarbons, and the Peruvian government is offering 12 new concessions in the Amazon, with bids to open in July.Environmentalists are concerned because some of the concessions overlap protected areas, while indigenous leaders worry about lots that include areas inhabited by nomadic peoples, who live much as their ancestors did and shun contact with the outside world.
As Peru opens up a large swath of Amazon rain forest to oil and gas drilling, a church official has expressed concern over its consequences on indigenous communities and the environment.
“It’s going to have a tremendous impact on the Amazon and on the cultural life of indigenous communities,” said Adda Chuecas, director of the Amazon Center for Anthropology and Practical Application, an organisation founded in 1974 by the bishops of Peru’s Amazon dioceses to defend the rights of indigenous peoples. “One of the strongest impacts is the destruction of natural resources” on which indigenous communities depend for sustenance.“This will result in greater exclusion of these people,” Chuecas said.
Much of Peru’s Amazon rain forest is believed to lie above oil and gas deposits.More than a dozen companies are already drilling for hydrocarbons, and the Peruvian government is offering 12 new concessions in the Amazon, with bids to open in July.Environmentalists are concerned because some of the concessions overlap protected areas, while indigenous leaders worry about lots that include areas inhabited by nomadic peoples, who live much as their ancestors did and shun contact with the outside world.
Labels: amazon drilling, indigenous, oil
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