Peru Project Blog

New Google Earth Conservation Applications

2009-03-31T15:13:00.000-07:00

If you take a look at the Amazon region of the world its interesting to see how the deforestation, biodiversity, tribes, endangered species, and oil spills seem to all converge together in the Amazon. What a great open source tool for monitoring and tracking environmental change.

Check out these new applications for conservation on Google Earth: http://david.tryse.net/googleearth/

Viva la Salsa! Latin Dance Party Fundraising Event

2009-03-25T11:13:00.000-07:00

What: Village Earth is hosting a Latin Dance Party to benefit our work with indigenous communities in Peru. Lots of great music and even a quick dance lesson for those that want to learn to dance salsa! Also, beautiful and unique arts and crafts from indigenous artisans in the Peruvian Amazon. And beer will be provided by Odell's brewing company!

When: Friday, April 24, 2009, 7:30pm

Where: Club Tico in City Park. 1599 City Park Drive, Fort Collins, CO.

Who: Everyone's invited!!

Why: We are trying to raise money for the many projects we are working on to support the self-determination efforts and alternative development plans of the Shipibo people.

How: It's only $5 to get in at the door the night of the event. (We're not doing advanced ticket sales for this event.)

We hope to see you there! It's going to be lots of fun and all proceeds benefit Village Earth!

For more information contact Kristina Pearson at kristina@villageearth.org or 970-491-5754.

Isla creates new 8-week service learning trip to Peru starting June 20, 2009

2009-03-17T14:33:00.000-07:00

Isla (International Service Learning Alliance) is excited to offer you their newest sustainable development and service-learning opportunity in the Ucayali Region of the Central Peruvian Amazon, hosted by Village Earth. People interested in ecotourism, environmental conservation, wildlife species research, and teaching English should apply at
http://isla-serve.org/apply.html

The deadline to apply has been extended to May 1, 2009.

This is a great opportunity to work with Village Earth in the field! Training for all of Isla's programs is provided by Village Earth.

Isla's Peru program is a great opportunity for small groups who want to learn, travel and serve together through sustainable development. Program fees are significantly reduced for groups of 2 to 10 people. Volunteer programs available from 2-8 weeks.

For more information contact Chelsea DeFoort at cdefoort@isla-serve.org or 970.372.9516.

Additional programs are available for the summer and fall of 2009 in Bulgaria, Ghana, and India.

Service-learning builds your professional profile while expanding your perspectives in global development. Isla offers you a unique experience by matching your skill sets and passion with their program partners across the globe. If you have felt the need to learn how to make a difference in your own life and share in the lives of your fellow citizens across oceans, now is your opportunity!

Peru Solidarity Tour

2009-03-10T12:17:00.000-07:00

July 20-29, 2009

Ucayali Region, Central Peruvian Amazon

The purpose of the Peru Solidarity Tour is to connect Village Earth supporters with our Shipibo partner communities. The indigenous organizations and communities with which we work enjoy these tours because it is their chance to form new strategic alliances with supporters like you from around the world. Also, almost the whole entire trip cost goes directly to the local people with whom we work as local guides, staying in local lodging, etc. These tours have also helped these communities to create community-based tourism plans so that the benefits of tourism can be more equitably shared amongst members of the community. This is a great opportunity to travel off the beaten tourist track and support Village Earth's work. So we hope that you will join us and the Shipibo for an adventure of a lifetime!

**This year Village Earth is also offering a special trip to the Andes

Peru Solidarity Tour Schedule:

July 20 - Meet in Lima. The Village Earth guide will be at the airport to meet you when you arrive. The group will stay the night in Miraflores, and if you arrive early enough you can even get to know a bit of Lima with some local guides visiting beach side communities.

July 21 - The group will travel by airplane to Pucallpa in the central Peruvian Amazon department called the Ucayali. This is a great one hour flight over the Andes, and then you drop down into the Amazon Basin where you can see the massive Ucayali River from above. A Shipibo delegation will meet us at the airport and we will then be transported to the port of Yarinacocha where we can stock up on supplies before we get on the boat. We will travel one hour by boat to the Shipibo community of San Francisco de Yarinacocha. The community will greet you with a welcome dance celebration. You will also be situated in your lodging in a new community jungle reserve where we will spend the night listening to the sounds of the jungle.

July 22 - You can really spend this day to get to know the people of this community. We will take a tour of and get to know some of the local animal residents in the jungle reserve. The artisans will also put on an exhibition of their arts and crafts for the group to browse. We will also be able to go on fishing trip to a nearby piranha fishing site, where you can learn to fish with a bow and arrow.

July 23 - This day we will visit with local indigenous leaders from the group ODDPIAP (Organization for the Defense and Development of the Indigenous Peoples of the Peruvian Amazon) who will inform the group about their work and the political struggles of the indigenous movement in the Peruvian Amazon.

July 24 - We will travel to another Shipibo community for lunch and then we will take a hike to a natural kolpa (mineral clay lick) in the jungle where animals and parrots gather to lick the clay for its rich mineral content. (Weather and environment permitting).

July 25 - We will travel to another much more remote Shipibo community where we will be greeted by a community dance welcome party.

July 26 - The community will have many activities planned to showcase their various sustainable development projects. They would also like to take you on a tour of their botanical garden where you can learn about their extensive knowledge of natural medicines. They will also have an artisan exhibition to showcase the arts and crafts of their women's group.

July 27 - We will head back closer to Pucallpa and spend another night in the jungle reserve lodge.

July 28 - We will take a day trip to one more Shipibo community where they will present to us a traditional Shipibo song and dance performance. This community is located on a beautiful lake.

July 29 - We will travel by airplane from Pucallpa to Lima.

For more information about this trip including prices, information on how to find cheap flights, and a packing list please visit the Peru Solidarity Tour website

Andean Spiritual Journey to Cusco & Machu Picchu

July 30 - August 5, 2009

Visit the ancient Incan capital of Cusco, see the archaeological and spiritual treasures of the Incas. Visit Sacsayhuamán, Ollaytaytambo, Pisac, and Machu Picchu. Participate in ceremonies with Andean shamans of the Q'eros tribe. Participate in meditations at Machu Picchu and other spiritual sites all with a very knowledgeable English-speaking local guide.

Declaration of the Coordinator of the Amazon Basin Indigenous Peoples Organization (COICA)

2009-02-13T10:21:00.001-08:00

Reposted from: http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1707/68/

Written by COICA

Tuesday, 10 February 2009

The Amazon Basin Indigenous Peoples Organization (COICA) with our worldview, diversity of languages, history, cultures, spirituality, territory, economy, have existed since before recorded time. We have adopted different forms of organization and identity under the framework of the nation states which have established laws and regulations according to their own interests, not recognizing the ancestral rights of the first inhabitants of the amazon region.

Attempting to arrive at a consensus between 390 ethnic groups, representing a population of 2,779,478 people in the 10,268,471 square kilometer Amazon basin, we gathered in Belem do Para, Brazil from Jan. 27th through Feb. 1st for the World Social Forum. While at the forum we held intense meetings and in-depth debate and analysis about the reality of the indigenous peoples living in the Amazon and those from other biomes, offering our support and leadership in the process of the World Social Forum.

We affirm the rights of Indigenous peoples, considering the principles of the declaration by the U.N. in regards to the rights of indigenous peoples (UNDRIP) and the good faith and follow through on the obligations by the nation states that have adopted said declaration, to be considered different, and to be respected as different, and that we contribute to the richness and diversity of civilizations and cultures that make up humanity.

We condemn all doctrines, policies and practices based in the superiority of a determined people or nationality, and the persons whom perpetuate said doctrines, policies and practices through use of rationality based on national origin and racial, religious, ethnic, or cultural differences which are socially unjust, scientifically false, morally condemnable, judicially invalid and otherwise racist. We affirm that indigenous peoples have the right to self determination over their political condition and must freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.

Therefore:

We demand the immediate zoning and title over our ancestral territory, which has been used as alway by its legitimate inhabitants. We denounce and condemn the violent intimidation through the murders of our leaders for the defense of our territories and rights as indigenous peoples.

We denounce the advance of the agricultural border and agricultural development (agro-industry) responsible for the violation of our rights in reference to discrimination, the plundering of our territories, deforestation, burning of the forest and grasslands, the contamination of soils and rivers, the use of transgenetics and agrochemicals, the expansion of monoculture, bio-piracy, illegal timber traffic, industrial residues and waste, all factors that put at risk our food sovereignty, the lost of ecosystems, and finally the the lost of our cultural values and identity.

Furthermore, these impacts deepen the vulnerability of our sister indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation, living without outside contact or in the early phase of outside contact- we demand, on there behalf, the integral guarantee of there territories by the part of the nation states concerned.

We denounce to the world the genocide of indigenous peoples and the depredation of the amazonian forests by mega-projects of South American Regional Infrastructure Integration Initiative (IIRSA) and PAC, which are operated by the nation states and governments. We demand abolition of these mega-projects.

We reject the levels and processes of policy decisions that obstruct and manipulate the participation of indigenous peoples in regards to the subject of climate change. We demand the broad diffusion of information and critical debate by indigenous peoples in relation to the financial mechanism and negotiations underway relative to the use and marketing of carbon in indigenous territories.

In regards to UN-REDD (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation in Developing Countries) we understand that as principle any and all concer on financial mechanism dealing with the protection of forests in our territories must unconditionally recognize the rights of indigenous peoples, in agreement with the U.N. declaration of indigenous peoples rights (UNDRIP): Our rights are non-negociable. We are currently in the process of information gathering and internal debate with our members in regards to potential negative impacts and risks within our territories of this program (as was the case with MCD, Mechanism of Clean Development, with many of our communities). Furthermore, the experiences and interpretations of climate change by our indigenous peoples, according to our worldview, is that this change interacts with multiple factors, both social and environmental and therefore must be consider in an integral way and not merely reduced to market concerns.

We reject all mining, petroleum and hydrocarbon exploitation, the same way that we denounce the advance of agriculture based fuel (ethanol) production in the Amazon Basin (palm oil, sugarcane, and soy), all of which are highly destructive to our ecosystems. We refute the model of production that is sustained by by the consumerism of the "developed" world and of the elites of the "developing" world in our nation-state which depends on the extracting industries.

We insist that conservation organizations and other n.g.o's dispose of any imposing attitudes and rather we demand that the support be made by the legitimate and institutional representation by our own indigenous organizations.

Finally, we communicate to the entire world that we the indigenous peoples of the Amazon, lead by our spiritual guides, inspired by our history, processes, and experiences, maintain and reinforce societies that respect the collective rights of peoples and diversity, and we have had the wisdom to renew our initiatives to promote, protect, and enforce our rights and by so contribute to the survival of the human race.

By means of this Declaration we enthusiastically express our respect for all the member organizations of COICA, and in particular the COIAB organization for hosting this event, together with the other indigenous organizations from Brazil and all indigenous organizations present here at the World Social Forum, Belém, Brazil, 2009.

Signed by present members of the COICA, on the 1st of Febuary, 2009.

Peru throws out Amazon land laws

2008-08-23T14:30:00.000-07:00

Reposted from BBC News

The Amazon region is home to some of Peru's poorest communities

Peru's Congress has voted to repeal two land laws aimed at opening up Amazonian tribal areas to development, which led to protests by indigenous groups.

Correspondents say the repeal of the laws is a blow to President Alan Garcia, who had approved the legislation by decree.

Mr Garcia had described the initiative as pivotal to the improvement of life in Peru's poorest regions.

A leading indigenous rights campaigner welcomed the repeal of the laws.

Alberto Pizango called it a new dawn for the country's indigenous peoples.

During the protests, which lasted more than 10 days, indigenous groups took several police officers hostage, and took control of both a major natural gas field in southern Peru and an oil pipeline.

'True democracy'

Congress repealed the laws by 66 votes to 29.

Mr Garcia had said repealing the laws would hold up progress

Speaking before the vote, Roger Naja, president of the National Commission for Andean, Amazonian and Afro-Peruvian Peoples, had urged Congress to vote to rescind the laws.

History, he said, would remember Friday as "the day that the disappearance of the indigenous communities in the jungles and mountains was avoided".

Mr Pizango, leader of the Inter-Ethnic Association of the Peruvian Forest (Aidesep), hailed the repeal as "a moment of true democracy and true inclusion".

"This is a new dawn for the people of this country, and for all Peruvians who wish to develop in freedom, not in oppression," he said.

On Wednesday, President Garcia had warned the repeal would be "a very serious, historic mistake".

"If that were to happen out of fear of protesters, fear of unrest, Peru would some day remember it as the moment when change came to a halt and hundreds of thousands of people were condemned to poverty, exclusion and marginalisation," he told reporters.

The laws would have allowed the sale of tribal lands by a simple majority vote in a community assembly, which the protesters say would make it easier for big energy companies to grab their land.

Around 70% of Peru's Amazon is leased for oil and gas exploration and many of its tribal people say they do not want the companies on their land, the BBC's Dan Collyns reports from the Peruvian capital Lima.

A message from ODDPIAP to Village Earth Supporters

2008-08-21T15:39:00.000-07:00

Photos: Courtesy of AIDESEP

Dear Village Earth Supporters,

Protests have ended today after more than a week of armed blockades on roads and energy installations. More than 60 ethnic groups have come together in solidarity leaving behind their political divisions and organizational alliances to form a unified front against the state and the allied oil companies. The President of ODDPIAP (Organization for the Defense and Development of the Indigenous Peoples of the Peruvian Amazon) has said this is a fight for everything.

"We are tired of being silent against the abuses of the government such as recent legislation passed which makes it easier for foreign companies to buy up indigenous lands in the Amazon. And over 70% of Amazon lands are now in the hands of oil companies. Over 1500 police have been deployed to Camisea, Bagua, and Marañon. Government helicopters have been circling locations taken over by indigenous protesters. The government had declared a state of emergency and had given permission for police to shoot protesters on the spot, but we indigenous peoples think this cause is worth dying for and are not scared anymore."

Roads and rivers have been blockaded, oil pipelines were closed, oil operations have been occupied, and major industry was blocked from river travel between, in and around Iquitos and Pucallpa, the two major urban centers of the Peruvian Amazon.

What the indigenous front is asking for is direct dialogue with Alan Garcia, President of Peru, and his administration and the repeal of a number of destructive laws. The President claims that bringing industry and foreign investment into the furthermost reaches of the Amazon will bring people out of poverty. This is a clash between two different development paradigms. Many indigenous peoples have already determined their own development path and it does not include the wide-scale exploitation of resources and the industrial take over of their lands.

Much of the legislation being passed right now in Peru is a direct result of the recently signed Free Trade Agreement with the United States which requires opening up communal indigenous lands to foreign investors.

US citizens can help by contacting your local congressman and make them aware of the human rights abuses Peru's government is perpetrating against the indigenous peoples of the Amazon and the negative affects of the US-Peru Free Trade Agreement.

Just because the protests have ended does not mean the struggle has ended. The government of Peru needs to respect the fundamental human rights of indigenous peoples and international laws that allow for self-determination and rights over land and resources.

In solidarity,
Organization for the Defense and the Development of the Indigenous Peoples of the Peruvian Amazon

Village Earth Peru Study Tour

2008-07-11T12:48:00.000-07:00

Above: Participants in the first annual Village Earth Peru study tour visiting the National Intercultural University of the Amazon to meet with indigenous leaders.

This June 2008 Village Earth offered a 9-day "study tour" to the Peruvian Amazon. The tour visited two Shipibo communities in the Ucayali region with whom Village Earth has a close working relationship. Participants received big welcomes from both communities which included traditional music and dance. The study tour visited reforestation projects, met with local indigenous leaders to learn about the reality of the region, and attended artisan exhibitions of traditional local crafts. Participants were also taken on jungle hikes where indigenous guides shared their knowledge of the forest, and even a jungle cruise where they were taught to fish for piranha and shoot a bow and arrow. This tour employed many local guides in each activity so that participants could learn directly from local people themselves. Participants even had the option to partake in special healing ceremonies with Shipibo shamans.

The purpose of this study tour was to explore and test the potential for community-owned and directed tourism that is not only fun for the tourists but also educational. Shipibo guides educated the participants about both their current and historical reality and the ways they are trying to transform their lives for the future and protect their forest livelihoods.

We made every effort, during the 9-day tour, to ensure that as much money as possible from the tour went directly to Shipibo communities, we hired all local guides, and participants stayed with local families or in communal tourist lodgings built by the community. Plus, the participants purchased many crafts directly from indigenous artisans. The participants got access to Shipibo communities and activities that few people have the privilege to experience. In all it was a great success and we look forward to hosting another tour next year.

If you have a group that is interested in organizing a similar tour you can contact Kristina Pearson at +1-970-491-5754 or kristina@villageearth.org

Above: Sunrise over Yarinacocha Lake in the Peruvian Amazon.

“Living Well,” a development alternative

2008-06-05T13:27:00.000-07:00

Reposted from: Latin America Press

Thursday, June 5, 2008

“Living Well,” a development alternative

Elsa Chanduví. Jun 5, 2008

Proposal is considered legacy of indigenous peoples to humanity

More than 1,000 representatives from indigenous communities across the Americas gathered in Lima, Peru, have agreed on a new social system, known as “Living Well,” focused on reciprocity between people and the Earth.

The participants — delegates of the Quechua, Kichwa, Aymara, Lafquenche, Guambiano, Toba, Colla, Poccra, Ashaninka and other indigenous groups — agreed in the “Declaration of the Children of the Earth” to reject the “planetary suicide of the commoditization of life,” when the document was reached at the end of a two-day National Summit of Indigenous Communities and Peoples of Peru and the International Forum: Indigenous Agenda, the European Union and the Decolonialization of Power and Knowledge held on May 12-13.

A break from market dogmas
“We believe there is a big difference between [living well and] those who believe that living well is to live better than someone else. [The latter] reflects a competition instead of respect and equality. So, ‘living well’ is the exercise of rights, respect, equality, and means a life for everyone,” said Blanca Chancoso, a renowned leader of Ecuador’s Kichwa women, who formerly served as one of the directors of the country’s largest indigenous organization, CONAIE. She is currently part of the Dolores Ulcuango Indigenous School in Ecuador.

“Capitalism is guilty of the depredation of Mother Nature and therefore, of global warming, which is going to have serious consequences for the life of the planet,” said Tomás Huanacu, of Bolivia’s National Council of Ayllus and Markas of Qollasuyo. “So, the indigenous peoples are looking to ‘live well’ but within a planned system, not one of super exploitation, but one of rational exploitation.”

The concept of “living well” is based on respect of the environment and equality. (Photo: William Chico)

Huanacu referred to Bolivian President Evo Morales’ 10 commandments to save the planet — presented during the inauguration of the United Nations’ VII Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York in April — which say that in order to save the planet, the capitalist model that encourages consumerism, individualism and the desire for wealth must be scrapped.

“We want everyone to be able to live well and to understand that this is not the same as living better at someone else’s cost,” states the last of Morales’ commandments.

This concept is currently being used by Ecuador's Constituent Assembly. Members of the body have already approved four articles regarding the development system, the first of which makes reference to the “implementation of living well.”

“Living well requires people, communities, groups and nationalities to exercise their rights and liberties, and to exercise their responsibilities in the framework of respect for diversity and harmonious coexistence with nature,” says the article.

Luis Ángel Saavedra, president of Ecuador’s Regional Foundation for Human Rights Assistance, who was a speaker at the Peoples’ Summit in May, an alternative summit which ran alongside a biennial summit of European Union, Latin American and Caribbean leaders, signaled that the concept of living well is three-tiered: individual, community and nature.

The individual level includes a healthy lifestyle, based on satisfying needs, which implies recognition of economic, social and cultural rights, while avoiding consumerist or lavish tendencies. Living well on the community level relates to how human development indexes play out collectively, the sense that all rights should be for everyone. The nature level — based on the concept of Pachamama, the indigenous notion of Mother Earth — is envisioned not only as the environment, but a source of life and humankind’s only hope for survival.

Saavedra stressed that bestowing certain rights to Mother Nature is impossible within the framework of a free market. He added that in Ecuador, the mention of this issue in the constitution is currently being debated, similar to what was already incorporated in Bolivia’s constitution, which faces approval in a national referendum. Living well marks a break from market dogmas that promote consumerism, competition among individuals and accumulation of wealth as synonymous with power over others, stated Saavedra.

Challenges and obstacles
Ecuadorian Magdalena León, of the Social Forum Committee of the Americas, referred to living well as a new paradigm that meets obstacles like wealth accumulation and competitiveness that impede progress.

“Even in the proposals that appear innovative or alternative, there is the idea to not change [wealth] accumulation, but the form of distribution: we are going to continue accumulating in the same way and later we’ll see how to redistribute a little,” said León.

The idea of competition is also deeply rooted, León explains, “as if economic progress comes naturally because we compete against one another as individuals, as communities, as countries, as regions.” But she maintains that this couldn’t be any further from the notion of living well, which is based on reciprocity, cooperation and complementarity. However, for those who promote new social relationships based on on living well, the fundamental challenge to make it possible is generating harmonious relationships between human beings.

“It is incompatible, for example, that in social relationships there is a gender division in labor, under-estimation and exploitation, a lack of recognition of women’s work,” says León. “It’s absurd that we talk about defending life but at the same time failing to recognize women’s rights to reproductive self-determination.”

Though living well is an indigenous concept, its advocates do not see it as something that can only belong to indigenous peoples, but instead, as the indigenous peoples’ legacy to humanity. “It can only be built in a context of diversity and plurality,” argues León

Training More Peruvian Activators

2008-06-01T13:44:00.000-07:00

Above: Alejandra and Nixon present a map of Peru.

Nixon Yuimachi, a Shipibo artist, and Alejandra, who has been working with Shipibo women craft cooperatives, were both able to attend Village Earth/ the International Institute for Sustainable Development's "Participatory Practices for Sustainable Development" (PPSD) training course. The course was held in May 2008 at Colorado State University, and participants from all over the world attended. Nixon and Alejandra both found the workshop very useful to their future work with communities in Peru. Nixon plans to return home and create a community-based conservation area in order to protect the Amazon ecology, as well as an art school/ museum that will teach young Shipibo traditional Shipibo arts, as well as showcase arts from throughout the region.

Above: Nixon Yuimachi presents with Kristina Pearson from Village Earth about their work in the region to the workshop participants.

Helping Shipibo people to attend our training courses is part of Village Earth's strategy to build up a trained internal catalytic force. Indigenous leaders and change agents receive training in community mobilization and participatory techniques to work with communities toward their own vision for the future. Limber Gomez, a Shipibo leader who attended this training course last year, has been instrumental in forming a grassroots youth environmental organization as well as mobilizing the Ucayali region to work toward indigenous rights and environmental defense through his radio program, community work, and educational workshops using new techniques he learned in the PPSD course.

If you are interested in learning more about this workshop, or sponsoring a Shipibo participant to attend a future training, please visit: http://www.colostate.edu/Orgs/IISD/Seminars.html

Organization of Mothers Craft Cooperative Revisited

2008-04-18T11:16:00.000-07:00

Through their partnership with Village Earth, The Organization of Mothers craft cooperative was able to receive a small materials grant from Aid to Artisans.

The women were able to buy materials in bulk that could be shared between them and also a semi-industrial sewing machine to increase production. They felt that increasing craft production and making it a legitimate business activity is the best way in which they can increase their income but at the same time assert their right to cultural self-determination through their highly symbolic craftwork. The group has not only increased their sales and income, but the group has also doubled in size with many more women seeing the benefit of working together in a cooperative. The women also created a "materials bank" in which they must reinvest 30% of their sales back into their materials fund. Because the women use many natural materials in their art, they have a program of reforestation to cultivate and replant plants that provide natural fibers, dyes, and seeds that they use in their craftwork.

The most important impact the grant had is that the women are really at the point to take off in their business. They just need access to markets and they are ready to start selling and increasing production. They’ve got their cooperative procedures down, a materials fund, and a critical mass of women to really make a big impact in the well-being of the community. Everything is ready; it is just access to markets as the necessary next step.

Village Earth has been connecting the Organization of Mothers little by little to different national and international markets. If you would like to help the women by selling their crafts, please contact kristina@villageearth.org or +1-970-491-5754.

The women can arrange for international shipping of bulk orders.

Latin Dance Party/ Art Show Fundraiser

2008-04-16T15:12:00.000-07:00

Join us for a "Journey to the Amazon: Indigenous Rights and Environmental Justice in Peru"!

A fundraiser to support Village Earth's projects with indigenous communities of the Peruvian Amazon.

Latin Dance Party - Learn to dance salsa and other traditional Peruvian dances!
There will also be speakers, an art show, craft sale, and silent auction with arts and crafts by Shipibo artisans of the Peruvian Amazon. There will be lots of cool art and crafts for sale including hand-made jewelry!

Food and drinks will be provided by the Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant! Their famous margaritas will be available!

Wednesday, April 23
7:00 - 8:30 pm (Dancing & drinks 'til 10:30pm)

Location: Agave Room (Above the Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant in Old Town)
149 W. Mountain Ave.
Fort Collins, CO

Ticket Prices: $15 students; $25 non-students (All proceeds go to support indigenous community initiatives in the Peruvian Amazon!)
(TICKETS IN ADVANCE ONLY)
Available at www.villageearth.org or 970-491-5754

For more information, please contact Kristina Pearson at kristina@villageearth.org

Visit our sponsor - the Rocky Mountain Chronicle

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Kristina Pearson
kristina@villageearth.org
491-5754

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LOCAL NON-PROFIT ALLIES IN THE STRUGGLE TO SAVE THE AMAZON

April 15, 2008. Fort Collins, CO: The Amazon basin in Peru is quickly being sold off to oil companies, industrial-scale agricultural production, and loggers. “We indigenous peoples only want tranquility and happiness this is our development as said by our elders,” said Shipibo leader Limber Gomez who visited Fort Collins last August 2007. One Fort Collins non-profit has allied with indigenous communities in Peru to stop the sale of the Amazon and offer alternatives to the unsustainable path of development pursued by the corporations and the government. Village Earth, founded by long-time CSU professor and Peace Corps developer Dr. Maury Albertson, is making a difference.

Village Earth has been working internationally with indigenous communities to help them determine their own sustainable development initiatives. In Peru, Village Earth is working with native communities on many projects from clean water to opening an indigenous bank where entrepreneurs can take small loans to start businesses. With current concerns about global warming, awareness is increasing that sustainable development initiatives are extremely important in the Amazon since it is an area of global environmental importance for its roles in mitigating climate change.

Village Earth is offering the Northern Colorado community an opportunity to be a part of these important efforts. Wednesday, April 23 7:00-8:30pm Village Earth will have a Latin Dance and art show event “Journey to the Amazon: Indigenous Rights and Environmental Justice in Peru” to raise funds for their various projects in the Peruvian Amazon. The event will be held in the Agave Room above the Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant (149 W. Mountain Ave.). Tickets are $15 students; $25 non-students (Tickets are available in advance only.) For more information, contact Village Earth (491-5754) or www.villageearth.org.

_________________________________________________________________________

April 12, 2008

Dear Friend of Village Earth,

As a supporter of Village Earth YOU have the opportunity to make a difference. Join us for a fun evening of dancing and art in solidarity with Shipibo communities of the Peruvian Amazon. The Peruvian government is increasingly privatizing the land and resources of the Amazon rainforest. Traditionally held communal lands, non-titled indigenous lands, and forest areas of immense biodiversity will be sold to private landowners and foreign corporations under the new Ley de la Selva (Law of the Jungle). Many indigenous peoples and environmentalists are claiming that this law is just a facade to open up the Amazon to logging companies.

Help us stop the sale of the Amazon!

A note from Shipibo leader and Village Earth friend, Limber Gomez (pictured above, a member of the Organization for the Defense and Development of the Indigenous Peoples of the Peruvian Amazon, ODDPIAP):

“Facing the threatening law Nº 840, called the “Law of the Jungle”, the indigenous peoples of the Ucayali region of Peru are in the process of uniting to discuss this turn of events, as well as the new alliance between the regional government and Peru Petro (the state-run oil licensing agency), so that we, the indigenous peoples, can form a regional front in the Ucayali.

Today more than ever before, we the indigenous peoples of the Ucayali are defending our lands and territories. We are not going to permit the contamination of our ecosystem and the environment by transnational corporations. The transnational corporations come with the story that they will give work to indigenous peoples when they enter our territories. Already we have been through this experience of lies and genocide many times before.

First comes our health and second our development. An old Shipibo elder has predicted that if we allow the exploitation of our resources, in time, Peru will convert to a desert as told by our concerned elders.

We indigenous peoples only want tranquility and happiness, this, this is our development as said by our elders.”

How does this concern you?

The destruction of the Amazon and the indigenous communities who call it home affects us all. With current concerns about global warming, awareness is increasing that the Amazon is an area of global environmental importance for its roles in cleaning the air and mitigating climate change. As well, the preservation of the wealth of species and cultures is invaluable to humanity.

“Thank you, Village Earth. You are helping us to make history”

- Cecilio Soria, (pictured above with his grandmothers) Shipibo
leader and host of the renowned radio program Indigenous Voice

Therefore, we invite you to be a part of helping the indigenous peoples of the Amazon determine their own futures and “make history” by attending this fundraising event:

Journey to the Amazon: Indigenous Rights and Environmental Justice

This event will take place Wednesday, April 23 7-8:30 PM (drinks and dancing ‘til 10:30). The funds we raise at this event will be to support the many projects we are working on with indigenous communities in Peru.

For just $10,000, we can accomplish the following project activities this year:

For $1000 - We can facilitate the second annual indigenous tribunal bringing community chiefs and indigenous leaders together to discuss their integrated development plan for the region and the defense of their forests in partnership with the new Shipibo organization ODDPIAP;
For $4000 – We will set up and maintain an indigenous-run service center in Pucallpa, Peru where indigenous community members can get access to resources for their various projects. This service center will also be home to an indigenous bank from which ODDPIAP will begin a micro-loan program to promote small enterprise development;
For $1000 - We can implement a clean water project using a new ceramic sand filter prototype that will be produced locally and will provide clean drinking water to remote indigenous communities in our continued partnership with the Engineers Without Borders Professional Chapter (Fort Collins);
For $2000 – We can set-up and train local leaders in the operation of a community-based radio station in one remote indigenous community in collaboration with local community-based radio station KRFC. They can then broadcast throughout the region news and information in their own language and under their control;
And finally for $2000 - We will bring two Shipibo leaders to attend the PPSD training here in Fort Collins this May 2008.

So please call (491-5754) or go online today (www.villageearth.org) to get your tickets (TICKETS AVAILABLE IN ADVANCE ONLY – Please RSVP by Friday, April 18)! Please invite your friends!

Tickets for students are $15
Tickets for non-students are $25

We hope to see you there! It’s going to be a fun event where you can learn different Latin and traditional Peruvian dances and enjoy food from the Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant. If you have any questions, send me an e-mail at kristina@villageearth.org, or call us here at the office 491-5754. Thanks for your continued support of Village Earth!

Two U.S. Senators Express Concern Over Chevron Lobbying

2008-03-12T12:03:00.000-07:00

Reposted from: Global Exchange

Sens. Leahy and Obama Ask USTR Not To Let Chevron Interfere in Ecuador Trade Talks

Amazon Watch
February 10, 2006

Washington D.C -- Already under fire for its record profits, Chevron is coming under increased scrutiny in the nation‚s capital over its attempts to use U.S. trade negotiations with Ecuador to undermine a historic environmental lawsuit brought against the oil giant by residents of Ecuador‚s rainforest.

Chevron faces a potential liability in the multi-billion dollar case for clean-up in Ecuador of what experts believe is the worst oil-related contamination in the world, affecting an estimated 30,000 people, including the members of five indigenous groups. The tab for personal damages and health costs could double its liability, according to the plaintiff‚s legal team, which has been litigating against the company since 2003.

Now, Senators Barack Obama (D-Ill) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt) have stepped up the pressure on Chevron, sending a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman urging him to ignore company‚s campaign to improperly exclude Ecuador from trade negotiations until the Ecuadorian government shuts down the lawsuit.

The senators write: „We are writing to seek your assurances that the U.S. Trade Representative will not allow negotiations over the Andean Free Trade Agreement to interfere with a case involving Chevron that is under consideration by the Ecuadorian judiciary, particularly one involving environmental, health and human rights issues that have regional importance. While we are not prejudging the outcome of the case, we do believe the 30,000 indigenous residents of Ecuador deserve their day in court.‰

Since the trial began in 2003, the forensic evidence of widespread toxic contamination has steadily mounted; all 22 sites inspected by the court so far have been found to be contaminated, and one site had levels of Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons at 900,000 parts per million, or 9,000 times higher than allowed in most U.S. states.

This staggering potential liability is real. In recent weeks, Chevron has been pulling out all the stops in an attempt to derail the lawsuit, lobbying the U.S. Congress in a shadowy but intense campaign, distributing misleading and inaccurate press releases about the Ecuador trial, and refusing to disclose details of its potential multi-billion loss to shareholders. But Chevron has run into major roadblocks in the beltway.

Texaco, which was bought by Chevron in 2001, operated a concession in Ecuador‚s rainforest from 1964 to 1992. During that time, it dumped more than 18 billion gallons of toxic waste water into the pristine Amazon rainforest and reaped profits of close to $30 billion. Local residents call the contamination the „Rainforest Chernobyl‰ and two of the indigenous tribes say they are nearing extinction.

Chevron‚s lobbying of Congress to undermine the legal case has sparked outrage in Ecuador because Chevron argued for years before a U.S. federal court that the case should be tried in Ecuador, and stipulated it would recognize the jurisdiction of the Ecuador court and abide by any judgment.

„This campaign is morally reprehensible and violates a promise Chevron made to the U.S. court,‰ said Luis Yanza, a representative of the affected communities. „Our people are dying, and they are spending millions to deny us the chance to be heard in court.‰

Steven Donziger, an American attorney on the plaintiffs‚ legal team, added: „Chevron‚s lobbying is a blatant attempt to hijack U.S. foreign policy to serve its petty interests. This trade agreement should be about national interests, not Chevron‚s interests.‰

Other recent roadblocks hit by Chevron in the U.S. include:

A formal complaint filed by Amazon Watch to the Securities and Exchange Commission, accusing Chevron of committing fraud by hiding its multi-billion dollar liability from shareholders. The company has never mentioned the potential liability in its public filings, even though the judgment could be the largest in history against an oil company. (The SEC complaint is available at http://www.chevrontoxico.com/article.php?id=287.)

A letter to members of the House Ways and Means Committee by the plaintiff‚s group, the Amazon Defense Coalition, accusing Chevron of „inappropriate‰ lobbying to undermine the rule of law in Ecuador. (This letter can be found at http://www.chevrontoxico.com/article.php?id=259.)

The filing of three separate resolutions by Chevron‚s shareholders addressing the company‚s environmental and human rights policies, one specifically asking Chevron to report liabilities related to its Ecuador problem so the potential liability does not increase further. In the past, several large institutional shareholders, including public pension funds in New York and California, have supported similar resolutions. The resolutions will be voted on at the annual shareholders meeting, to be held in April.

Studies have found markedly higher rates of cancer in the region in Ecuador where the contamination exists, including rates of leukemia in young children three times higher than in the rest of the country. In addition, rates of birth defects and miscarriages are significantly higher than in other parts of Ecuador.

The pressure against Chevron comes as the company enjoys record profits, raking in $27.5 billion in 2005. This was the highest profit in Chevron's 126-year history, and it comes at a time when Americans are paying record prices at the gas pump.

Water Project Update

2008-03-05T11:51:00.000-08:00

Photo: Meeting with the community authorities to discuss the clean water project.

Village Earth met with Dinamarca's community authorities to begin preparations for the clean water project and territorial demarcation with Engineers Without Borders January 2008. The community is looking forward to having clean water filters and a new well in order to decrease the amount of water borne illness in the community. It is hoped that the system developed in Dinamarca can be replicated in other Shipibo communities that are in need of clean drinking water. EWB, the community leaders, and their many allies (such as IBC) have been hard at work trying to secure Dinamarca's territorial borders before the encroachment of oil companies and as more and more colonists are moving into the area especially with the construction of a new road that cuts across their territory.

To keep updated on EWB's work, visit their website and blogs:
http://www.ewbfortcollins.org/Project/Project.htm
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog/ewbfortcollins/1/tpod.html

Fish Farm Project in San Francisco

2008-03-04T12:48:00.000-08:00

Former Vice President Al Gore, in his writings on global warming, notes that the Chinese character used to write “Crisis” is comprised of components meaning both “Challenge” and “Opportunity.” There is general consensus in the scientific community that reduction of acreage in the South American rainforest represents a major loss to the planet’s ability to process carbon, a leading greenhouse gas responsible for global warming. This represents both a challenge and an opportunity.

The Challenge

Although many organizations are committed to preserving remaining tracts of virgin rainforest, little is being done to address the financial incentive for the “slash-and-burn” agriculture that ranks alongside the lumber, agribusiness and petrochemical industries as a main culprit of deforestation.

Ever since the first humans struck into the rainforest thousands of years ago, the indigenous communities throughout the Amazon basin have mastered the skills of hunting, gathering, gardening and horticulture, as well as aquaculture in this richly biodiverse region. However, as the industrialized world has encroached upon the rainforest, spoiling it by both habitat loss/damage and pollution, the indigenous peoples have had their lifestyle permanently disrupted. Deforestation has drastically reduced the amount of game available for hunting, and over-fishing has severely depleted the more densely populated stretches of rivers such as the Amazon and the Ucayali.

Industrial centers such as Iquitos and Pucallpa (Peru) and Menaus (Brazil) now teem with industry: mining, petrochemical exploration, logging, construction, manufacturing, retail and wholesale distribution, entertainment, hospitality, etc. Populations of mostly “Mestizo” but also indigenous people inhabit these noisy, polluted cities, and most regional economic life is based upon what goes on in these urban centers.

The Opportunity

Fish-farming (aquaculture) has been shown to be an ideal way for indigenous rainforest communities to determine their own futures. Native species, such as Gamitana and Boquichico, are fast-growing, commonly eaten fish that are largely vegetarian in diet and command good prices in local and, in some cases, international markets.

Fish-farming is an ideal economic activity for the following reasons:

· No deforestation (rainforest land has many ponds and lagoons ideal for fish-farming; therefore eliminating the need to cut down large amounts of trees)

· No environmental threat (any fish that escape due to flooding or pond breaches are native to the area and “belong there” anyway)

· Familiarity with fish species (Indigenous people have fished these species for years)

· Minimal materials needed for daily operation (traditional dugout canoes and nets)

· Low-cost fish food (much of the fish food used can be grown or gathered locally)

The Proposition

Create a successful fish-farm operation in an influential Peruvian indigenous community - San Francisco de Yarinacocha. Allow the technology and economic model to spread throughout the region, thus empowering these communities to participate in the economy without the need to disrupt the forest in which they live just to “make a buck.”

The Fish Farm: Progress to Date

In early 2007, Al Polito (Activist/Musician/Writer of Portland, OR), Paola Pomposini (a translation specialist based in Lima, Peru) and Maria Esther Palacios Burbano (Aquaculture Specialist with University of San Marcos, Lima, Peru) met in Lima and San Francisco Yarinacocha with renowned community leader Mateo Arevalo to begin the groundwork for the project.

More than 40 villagers expressed interest in participating in the project.

For two days following the town meeting, Burbano and Polito accompanied a group of Shipibo men in exploring the forests surrounding the village to find a suitable site to begin the first phase of the project. On the second day, the group settled on a small spring-fed lake within a mile of the village (pictured below).

Soon thereafter, Polito accompanied Mateo Arevalo, former village chief, shaman and university-trained botanist to tour the Aquaculture Research Center of University of San Marcos’ IVITA (Instituto Veterinario de Investigaciones Tropicales y de Altura), located one hour outside of Pucallpa. IVITA’s Dr. Guadalupe Contreras explained to Arevalo the steps necessary to complete an effective fish farm.

Burbano has succeeded in assembling a coalition involving IVITA (providing support and facilities), San Marcos University (providing leadership and guidance), with researchers from other organizations who have also expressed interest: including Amazonia Aquaculture Service and Piscicultura Panama of Brazil (two private enterprises) UNAM: Mexico, and National Cheju University of Korea. The additional researchers will help ensure the quality of the research.

What they need:

Currently, this group needs around $10,000 in order to undertake this collaborative fish farm venture.

If you would like to support this effort toward sustainable livelihoods in the Amazon, you can donate through Village Earth by

1- Through Pay Pal to the right side of this blog. Please indicate you would like your contribution to go towards the San Francisco Fish Farm Project

2- By calling 970-491-5754 and donate with your credit card

3- Our by sending a check or money order to:
Village Earth
P.O. Box 797
Fort Collins, CO 80522

All donations for this project are 100% tax-deductible as Village Earth is a 501 c 3 non-profit organization.

Cepsa acquires Peruvian oil exploration blocks in Amazon jungle

2008-02-27T09:55:00.000-08:00

Reposted from: Andina Agencia Peruana de Noticias

Oil exploration in the Amazon jungle.
Photo: Andina/Internet.

Lima, Feb. 27 (ANDINA).- Compania Espanola de Petroleos (Cepsa), Spain's second-largest oil company, bought stakes in two oil and gas exploration blocks from Irish Pan Andean Resources in the Ucayali BAsin south of Pucallpa, in the Peruvian jungle.
Cepsa will eventually assume operatorship of the Blocks and acquire a 60 percent working interest in Block 114 and a 70 percent working interest in Block 131, once it has obtained the required regulatory approvals from Perupetro (the Peruvian government agency responsible for promoting private investment in the hydrocarbons sector).

Activity during the exploration period on Blocks 114 and 131, measuring 7,200 km2 and 10,000 km2, respectively, will include, during the initial phases, the performance of 2D seismic acquisition to identify possible structures existing in the subsoil, and subsequently the drilling of exploration wells.

Cepsa embarked on its exploration activity in Peru last year when it signed an agreement with ConocoPhillips to acquire a 35 percent stake in Block 104 in the Maranon Basin.

Afterwards, the company entered into a farm-in deal with the Canadian firm Loon Energy to acquire a 80 percent working interest in Block 127 in the same basin.

As a result of these last two agreements signed with Pan Andean, Cepsa will expand its upstream portfolio and enhance its presence in Peru.

These new Blocks, which will be operated by Cepsa, are located in Peru's central Amazonian region, an area of considerable ecological value.

The Spanish company holds interests in other acreages with similar features and, in an effort to ensure environmentally-sound and responsible operations, has put into effect in each of them a broad program of measures in conjunction with local authorities and indigenous populations , chiefly targeted at avoiding any adverse impacts on the environment and, consequently, its biodiversity.

As part of its environmental strategy in ecologically-sensitive areas, Cepsa consistently identifies and evaluates the possible effects associated with its activities.

Intercultural Vision Radio Program

2008-02-25T09:47:00.000-08:00

(English Translation by Morgan King; original text by Limber Gomez)
The radio program "Intercultural Vision" is an informative program and is a political, social, cultural and economic analysis, that Limber Gomez started in 2006, but because of the lack of economic resources and sponsors it cannot continue. In the seventh month running we began with a new sponsorship from the National Intercultural University of the Amazon (UNIA), but the sponsorship was only for one month and now it is gone. It is sad that we had such a short time, the indigenous population identifies with Intercultural Vision because they say that it is the voice of the indigenous people.
Intercultural Vision is concerned with political, social, economic and cultural issues, and they have denounced to the regional authorities that they have listened but that the population asks for a real voice and that Intercultural Vision continue.

If any Village Earth supporters are interested in helping keep this Intercultural Vision program alive and running, please contact kristina@villageearth.org

Por Limber Gomez:
EL PROGRMA RADIAL "VISION INTERCULTURAL" ES UN PROGRAMA INFORMATIVO Y DE ANALISIS POLITICO, SOCIAL, CULTURAL Y ECONOMICO, QUE INICIO EN EL AÑO 2006, PERO POR CUESTIONES DE FALTA DE RECURSOS ECONOMICOS Y LA FALTA DE AUSIPICIADORES NO PUEDE TENER CONTINUIDAD. DESDEPUS DE SIETE MESES INICIO NUVAMENTE PERO CON EL AUSPICIO DE LA UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL INTERCULTURAL DE LA AMAZONIA - UNIA, PERO EL AUSPICIO HA SIDO DE TAN SOLO UN MES Y AHORA NO ESTA SALIENDO AL AIRE. PERO APESAR SUS CORTOS TIEMPOS DE SALIDA, OCUPA EN EL PRIMER LUGAR DEL REITIN Y LA POBLACION INDIGENA SE IDENTIFICA CON VISION INTERCULTURAL PORQUE DICEN QUE ES LA VOZ DEL PUEBLO INDIGENA.

VISION INTERCULTURAL VIENE CON TEMAS POLITICOS Y SOCIALES, ASI MISMO ECONOMICOS Y CULTURALES, Y SUS DENUNCIAS A LAS AUTORIDADES REGIONALES HAN SIDO ESCUCHADAS, POR ESO LA POBLACION PIDE A VIVA VOZ QUE VISION INTERCULTURAL CONTINUE.

Oil Spill in the Rio Corrientes

2008-02-15T12:06:00.000-08:00

Check out this video of an oil spill on the Rio Corrientes in the Northern Peruvian Amazon:

The following reposted from: www.servindi.org/
13 Febrero 2008 15:19

Perú: Señores del Estado y de Pluspetrol ¿Esto es o no es contaminación?

Derrame de petróleo el 31 de diciembre de 2007 Foto: FECONACO

La Federación de Comunidades Nativas del río Corrientes (FECONACO) denunció un nuevo derrame de petróleo ocurrido el 31 de diciembre de 2007 el cual contaminó seis kilómetros de la quebrada de Timu Entsu, utilizada por los pobladores para labores de pesca y caza.

La denuncia fue presentada ante la Unidad de Exploración y Explotación del Organismo Supervisor de la Inversión Privada en Energía y Minería (OSINERMING).

La responsable de dicha acción delictiva es la empresa argentina Pluspetrol, responsable de explotar los lotes petroleros 1AB y 8, en la cuenca del río Corrientes, región Loreto.

La denuncia ha sido acompañada de fotos y videos tomados por los monitores ambientales de la mencionada organización indígena responsables desde el 2005 de monitorear y vigilar la calidad ambiental de su territorio.

FECONACO solicita investigar este nuevo derrame de petróleo que afecta no sólo el medio ambiente de los achuar, sino pone en riesgo la salud de los pobladores de las comunidades indígenas próximas a la zona del derrame.

Durante el año 2007 FECONACO denunció a Pluspetrol por los derrames de petróleo ocurridos en las siguientes fechas:

4 y 24 de abril : pozos Shiviyacu 12 y Shiviyacu 16 – 17.
17 de octubre: derrame en poza de seguridad Lote 1AB.
23 de octubre: fuga de petróleo de tubería de diesel.
24 de octubre: derrame de petróleo en el Lote 1AB.
29 de octubre: derrame de petróleo contaminó la quebrada Tseku Entsa.

Para mayor información comunicarse con FECONACO: +511 065-600454 ó +511 065-600455
Jorge Jordán : +511 254-2490 ó +511 952-36701

PERUPETRO Presentation at the Road Show in Houston

2008-02-14T14:51:00.000-08:00

Road Show Houston, February 8, 2008.

This video shows evidence of a speech that Cesar Sarasara from CONAP has said that CONAP is in favor of oil development in the Peruvian Amazon. This video also shows the intervention by Robert Guimaraez, of AIDESEP, during the presentation asking PeruPetro to stay off lands inhabited by uncontacted indigenous groups and environmentally fragile areas of the Amazon. This video also shows the protest at the event.

Amazon Anti-Oil Campaign

2008-02-12T22:04:00.001-08:00

Thank you to all who supported this important campaign!

National and international allies staged an important protest outside the Houston Petroleum Club, while the vice president of AIDESEP (the Inter-ethnic Development Association of the Peruvian Amazon), Robert Guimaraes, took the opportunity to speak to potential investors and let them know the risks of investing in oil development in the Amazon.

Unfortunately, two of the three Shipibo delegates were not able to make the trip because their visas were denied by the US government. In many respects, this symbolizes the obstacles that indigenous people face in participating in global dialogue that are crucial in exercising the right to determine their own "development" path.

The good news is that Robert Guimaraes was able to deliver a powerful message to potential investors and to Perupetro, Peru's hydrocarbon licensing agency. Quoting Robert Guimaraes, "We request that you exclude those blocks that overlap communal indigenous territories. More that 80% of the population in Corrientes river, mostly children, have cadmium and lead in their blood. Just as for you there are things that cannot be negotiated, for us some things, like indigenous land, cannot be negotiated." The cadmium and lead that Robert refers to is the result of over 30 years of Oxy Petroleum operations in Northern Perú, where the Achuar people have been severely affected.

The Peruvian government's latest efforts to place the Amazon region in the hands of oil developers puts the entire Amazon at risk, especially indigenous people in voluntary isolation, and clearly violates international rights benchmarks such as Free, Prior and Informed Consent, contained in the recently approved UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (of which Peru is a signatory). It is precisely the Peruvian government's rather shameful attempt to manipulate, distort, and even suppress indigenous opposition to oil development that makes it so important to support indigenous leaders efforts to make their voices heard at international venues such as Perúpetro's Houston road-show. Otherwise, potential investors not only get a distorted view of indigenous opinion, but local indigenous people are excluded the global decision-making process that directly affect their lives.

Given that two of the delegates weren't able to come to Houston, we would like to continue with our efforts to support these types of crucial interventions. Perupetro is planning another event in August, again designed to divvy up the Amazon for even more oil development. With your continued support, we would like to help these delegates make their presence at this event as well. And hopefully the impact will be even greater.

Letter from AIDESEP to Peruvian Government Officials

2008-02-08T21:58:00.000-08:00

Lima, 08 de Febrero de 2008.

Señores:
Alan García Pérez
Presidente Constitucional

Juan Valdivia Romero
Ministro de Energía y Minas

Daniel Saba de Andrea
Presidente
PERUPETRO S.A.

Presente.-

Las comunidades indígenas de la amazonia peruana a través de nuestras organizaciones representativas, en múltiples oportunidades hemos manifestado nuestra firme posición de rechazar el ingreso de las compañías petroleras en nuestros territorios comunales, por que no queremos contaminar nuestros recursos naturales tales como bosques, ríos, quebradas, biodiversidad; en ella se desarrolla nuestras vidas, es nuestro espacio cultural y espiritual y de las futuras generaciones, queremos conservarla frente a los graves consecuencias tales como el calentamiento global y sus efectos los cambios climáticos.

Recientemente, el congreso ha aprobado la Ley Nº 28736, Según el artículo 4° deben respetar la vida y salud de los pueblos en situación de aislamiento voluntario por encontrarse en situación de alta vulnerabilidad, motivo por el cual se prohíben actividades de aprovechamiento de recursos, como son las actividades hidrocarburíferas, nada esto se está respetando en estos procesos de licitaciones, mal informando a los inversionistas, negando nuestras existencias.
Los pueblos indígenas consideramos que la actividad petrolera no es la única fuente de ingresos para el país, queremos conservar nuestros recursos, comos lo hemos conservado con sabiduría, hoy vemos como se destruyen fácilmente.

Basta ya Señor Alan García, usted no puede calificar a los ciudadanos que los eligieron de “Perros del Hortelano” Somos pueblos con derechos, dignos de ser respetados y escuchados.

Robert Guimaraes Vasquez
Vicepresiodente

Peruvian Amazonian Leaders to Warn Oil Companies: “Don’t Trespass on Our Lands!”

2008-02-07T10:55:00.000-08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

February 7, 2008

Peruvian Government Breaks Promises, International Laws with Plans to Sell Oil Concessions Overlapping Indigenous Reserves

See below for photo op. and media briefing details. Interviews, photos and B-Roll footage from Amazon available on request.

Houston – Indigenous leaders from the Peruvian Amazon will this Friday personally deliver a message to oil companies gathered at a concession road-show organized in Houston by Perupetro, Peru’s hydrocarbon licensing agency: “Don’t trespass on our lands!”

Robert Guimaraes, Vice-President of AIDESEP, Peru’s national federation of native Amazonians, will also be demanding an explanation from Perupetro and the Peruvian government why clear promises to avoid indigenous lands have been broken. The Perupetro road-show is part of the 2008 North American Prospect Expo (NAPE).

The concessions include four highly controversial concessions, 132, 133, 136 and 139, which have each failed to win any bidders in the past as the oil industry became aware that local indigenous communities would oppose any operations there.

The concessions would also violate international indigenous rights laws as well as the international human rights benchmark of Free, Prior and Informed Consent, contained in the recently approved UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. In particular some of the last communities living in voluntary isolation anywhere in the Amazon, inside dedicated Territorial Reserves declared to protect them from contact with outsiders, are highly vulnerable due to their lack of imde munity to diseases.

Of the Amazonian blocks now being offered by Perupetro:

Four overlap titled indigenous lands;
Three intrude on Territorial Reserves for indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation;
Two overlap proposed Territorial Reserves for indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation;
One overlaps a Natural Protected Area.

Mr. Guimaraes said: “Our message to interested companies and their investors could not be clearer; you are not welcome here. We will do everything we can to stop you drilling on our territories and devastating our lands, communities and health. Please, for the good of your own companies, stay away.”

Perupetro’s roadshow comes as international investors grow increasingly concerned about the risks associated with oil extraction in remote areas of the Amazon. Last year, oil major ConocoPhilips voluntarily gave up part of an oil concession in the northern Peruvian Amazon because of unified opposition from the indigenous Achuar people.

Photo op. and media briefing

Featuring Mr. Guimaraes in traditional attire, outside the Petroleum Club, 800 Bell Street, downtown Houston, from 12.30pm to 1.30pm CST, Friday February 8.

Background

The latest sell-off comes despite assurances from Perupetro and the Peruvian government that it would respect indigenous rights and lands. In February 2007, the Peruvian government formally agreed that Perupetro would redraw its proposed oil concessions to avoid official territorial reserves. In April, according to AIDESEP, Perupetro also agreed to inform bidders that the Peruvian state would create the “necessary mechanisms” to ensure that the winning companies would not intrude onto the proposed reserves, until Peru’s indigenous agency INDEPA had completed an evaluation.

Friday’s roadshow is the latest chapter in the Peruvian government’s scramble to concession off the nation’s highly biodiverse Amazonian rainforests, roughly twice the size of California, to the oil industry. In roughly two years, the proportion of the Peruvian Amazon zoned into hydrocarbon blocks has risen from 13 percent to roughly 70 percent, despite the widespread toxic contamination and negative social impacts left by previous oil companies, such as Occidental Petroleum, Hunt Oil and Pluspetrol in Peru’s rainforests.

For background on the campaign to protect the human rights and collective territories of the Peruvian Amazon’s indigenous peoples, visit www.amazonwatch.org.

Risk Profile: Investing in the Amazon

2008-02-06T10:53:00.000-08:00

RISK PROFILE: Oil Concessions in the Peruvian Amazon
February 6, 2008 Perupetro

Overview
This year the Perupetro will attempt to auction the 6 remaining oil and gas concessions in the Amazon region, all of which they were not able auction last January. All of these blocks in the Amazon overlap indigenous reserves, legally titled indigenous lands, naturally protected areas, or lands that have special status. The Peruvian government has consistently failed to consult indigenous communities prior to establishing concessions, as required by Peruvian and International Law. Indigenous communities throughout Peru are calling for a suspension of the current concessioning round and vow to oppose new oil projects. To demonstrate concern, some have shutdown oil operations, such as the recent two-week shutdown of Pluspetrol’s operations in the northern Peruvian Amazon. Oil majors like Occidental Petroleum recently announced withdrawal from Peru after thirty years – citing indigenous opposition as one reason.

Unstable institutional framework for investment
Recent controversies between key state institutions regarding the entire process of defining oil and gas blocks suggest that the institutional and constitutional framework of the entire process is unclear. For example, the National Ombudsman Office issued a report questioning the government’s oil and gas development policy and highlighting the controversy surrounding the legal framework that regulates the exploration and exploitation of oil and gas in naturally protected areas. The report also spells out how investors might be awarded blocks that are located in legally protected areas, complicating operational procedures for years to come.

Financing Risks
Many projects have difficulty breaking ground, given a growing number of private and public sector lenders have adopted strong policies (e.g. Equator Principles adopted by Banks making up over 90 percent of the project finance market) to finance controversial concessions. It may be far more difficult for project sponsors to attract co-sponsors or to secure financing for new projects that are opposed by their host communities or that are located in ecologically sensitive regions. Investors and financiers may delay their involvement, require more lucrative terms as mitigation for the additional risk or may simply decline to participate at all. For example, in 2005 Manhattan Minerals was forced to abandon its plans for a mine in Tambogrande, Peru after intense community opposition prevented the company from bringing a major partner to the venture.

Operational Risks
Determined, local communities often have the power to slow down projects and, in some cases, even shut them down. Through blockades, protests, work stoppages and litigation, community opposition can raise production costs and impede the projects ability to bring product to market. Similarly, complying with national and international safeguards for operating in ecologically sensitive areas of the Amazon involve a series of logistical and engineering challenges that if not met, can result in a variety of collateral risks. For example, the Camisea gas pipeline had five ruptures in the first 18 months of operation, resulting in negative public opinion.

Community Opposition
The case for heeding community opposition is compelling. Gaining community consent for a project involves the internationally-accepted principle of free, prior, informed consent (FPIC). Peruvian law and international conventions mandate that communities be consulted, prior to the creation of oil concessions as well as during the Environmental Impact Assessment process. Yet mere engagement or consultation will not always be sufficient to fully address risks. Consultations that do not resolve a community’s reasons for opposition nor achieve consent will provide little assurance against potentially costly and disruptive conflict. Increasingly, major institutional investors, such as the New York City and New York State pension funs and the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, are voicing grave concerns about the financial risks and poor returns from projects that move ahead on indigenous lands without their prior consent.

Recent examples of community opposition include:
o In June of 2007, indigenous communities categorically rejected the entrance of the Colombian Oil company Hocol to carryout exploration and exploitation activities in block 116, even offering their lives: “ the Wampis People express our opposition to fight with our lives to defend our territories and natural resources which are mediums of life to present and future generations…..”. It is worth noting that while a contract was signed almost two years ago, operations have yet to proceed.
• October 2006 Achuar two-week blockade of Pluspetrol’s installations – resulting in a multi-million dollar agreement and costing $2.4 million/day of lost revenue.
• January 2005 Machiguenga protest of the Camisea gas project – resulting in a four-month delay and an 18-month delay in the InterAmerican Development Bank’s loan disbursement to the project.

Before investing in the Amazon, consider these downside risks due to community opposition:
• Increased costs and delays in project construction and operation;
• Difficulty in securing favorable financing or long term contracts;
• Increased costs in mitigating environmental and social impacts.

Civil Society Opposition
Opposition to oil development in Peru is not limited to indigenous communities as many civil society organizations have also publicly denounced the Garcia administration’s policies. In January of 2007, for example, 40 civil society organizations signed a public statement that expressed concern over government policy regarding the process of awarding of contracts for oil and gas exploration and exploitation specifically on those blocks that overlap territorial reserves for indigenous people in isolation and naturally protected areas. These organizations will continue to support the campaign to prevent oil development in these areas.

Isolated or “Uncontacted” Indigenous Peoples
These impacts include: threat of contact between isolated peoples and oil workers - which could include forced contact (as was the case with Peru's Camisea gas project) or even violent confrontations (as has been the case in Ecuador's Yasuni Park); threat to the life and health of isolated peoples because, for example, they lack the immune defenses to confront illnesses introduced by outsiders - leading to possible death; and impacts to the fragile rainforest environment on which they depend.

Prepared by: Amazon Alliance, Amazon Watch and Save America’s Forests
For more information, email investors@amazonwatch.org

If you're in the Houston area, February 8...

2008-02-05T15:48:00.001-08:00

Letter from AIDESEP to Village Earth Supporters

2008-02-01T13:58:00.000-08:00

In front of the Houston Petroleum Club in 2007, from left, Robert Guimaraes, Washington Bolivar, Maria Ramos of Amazon Watch, an advocacy group based in the United States. (Photo: Bryan Parras)
Photo Credit: Environment News Service (http://www.ens-newswire.com/)

A note from Robert Guimaraes Vasquez, vice president of AIDESEP (the Inter- Ethnic Development Association for the Peruvian Jungle) see http://www.aidesep.org.pe/ (Translated by George Stetson)

Dear Village Earth supporters,

I am writing to ask for your support to help fund a trip to Houston, Texas on Feb. 8th. As you might know the current President of Peru, Alan Garcia, is intent on selling off the entire Amazon region to multinational oil and gas companies as fast as he can. Currently, more than 70% of the Amazon is in the hands of multinationals. We are trying desperately to stop this, but our opponents are well funded, so it is a difficult struggle.

On February 8th, at the Petroleum Club in downtown Houston, the Peruvian government will try and concession-off the remaining oil blocks, almost all of which are located on indigenous territory, territorial reserves for indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation, or environmentally protected areas. The indigenous people of the Peruvian Amazon clearly reject oil development on our territories. Our plan is to make our voices heard on Feb 8th, where we will have the opportunity to share with investors our position. In a recent indigenous congress,120 traditional leaders selected a delegation of two members to travel to Houston, which was considered critical, unfortunately, because our legitimate indigenous organizations were not invited to the meeting.

I apologize for the urgency of this request, but AIDESEP just learned about meeting and we have had little time and resources to prepare. We would greatly appreciate any contribution that might be possible, as we are trying to secure funding for one more plane ticket. The history of oil development for indigenous peoples in Peru has been devastating: environmental destruction, severe health consequences (i.e. high incidences of cancer), and even unwanted contact between oil workers and indigenous peoples. We feel strongly that we have the right to present our position at this meeting. Thanks for any support you can offer.

Sincerely,

Por AIDESEP
Robert Guimaraes V·squez.