Camisea Gas Field and Pipeline: Project Dangers
Oxfam America’s South America Regional Program shares particular concerns of indigenous peoples’ organizations in Peru regarding the Camisea Gas Field and Pipeline project.
Oxfam America’s South America Regional Program shares particular concerns of indigenous peoples’ organizations in Peru regarding the Camisea Gas Field and Pipeline project.
Immediate concerns are for the safety and livelihoods of titled communities as well as of semi-nomadic and recently settled indigenous peoples living in a State Reserve, and for the integrity of the environment upon which they rely for their survival.
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A 1997 study by the Smithsonian Institute found "extraordinarily high" biological diversity and "virtually no evidence that human activities have had significant impacts" in the Lower Urubamba and Camisea areas. The report identified the biological communities in the area as being "in nearly pristine condition." Building a gas pipeline directly through lands owned by Machiguenga indigenous communities and the likely migration of colonists to the area will cause environmental destruction and social disruption. These outcomes pose the greatest threats yet to the integrity of the land and resources on which the Machiguenga communities depend for hunting, fishing, and cultivating basic crops for their own subsistence.
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After many months of construction, seismic testing, and heavy air and river traffic, a "biodiversity scoping study" has been proposed by the companies involved in the project without taking into account a study the Smithsonian Institution carried out five years ago and its series of recommendations for biodiversity monitoring and conservation. Entrusting the documentation, monitoring and conservation of biodiversity to private companies and their direct subcontractors constitutes a potentially grave conflict of interest.
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The project is operating inside the Nahua-Kugapakori Reserve, an area set aside by the Peruvian government to protect voluntarily isolated indigenous peoples. At least three distinct indigenous groups are known to be living in this reserve, including approximately 450 Nahua people and 950 Nanti. Illnesses contracted by these groups from contact with company workers could be catastrophic. Past incidents of contact between the Nahua people and loggers have proven disastrous; 42% of the Nahua died from diseases contracted from outsiders in the 1980s. These voluntarily isolated peoples have the internationally recognized right to choose the moment and the manner in which they become more integrated into the larger society.
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Through our partner organization the Machiguenga Council of the Urubamba River (COMARU), Oxfam America has received several reports of lack of compliance by the companies with their own regulations regarding contacting isolated peoples, as well as those regarding river traffic. One such violation of the river traffic regulations resulted in the death of a child in the community of Kirigueti, who was swept into the river by large waves created by a passing company barge. In other communities, fresh springs which serve as the source of drinking water have been damaged by construction work. Several different monitoring activities are going on in the area, directly contracted by the consortium companies, the InterAmerican Development Bank, and the Peruvian government. As of yet, there is no independent monitoring system which allows communities and non-governmental organizations to report environmental damage and rights violations to independent third party monitors. There are indications that fears of reprisals, including the possible dismissal of community workers from constructions jobs with the companies, have dissuaded communities from reporting such incidents.
Recommendations:
Oxfam America and COMARU are recommending the following:
Respect for the Nahua-Kugapakori Reserve: To avoid violating the rights of voluntarily isolated people and causing possibly disastrous health crises similar to the one which decimated the Nahua population in the early 1980s, the project should avoid working within the reserve, modify the pipeline route to avoid crossing it, and cease all attempts to contact voluntarily isolated groups.
Establish Independent Monitoring: In order to effectively gauge and redress project impacts in indigenous communities, the State Reserve and natural protected areas, a truly independent monitoring mechanism must be established. This mechanism must be completely independent of control by the project companies and should be comprised of internationally and nationally recognized experts on relevant issues, including the rights and health of indigenous peoples and protection of biodiversity. This mechanism should be agreed to by all stakeholders and must make its monitoring reports publicly available. Community members should be able to directly report their concerns to independent monitors without the mediation of company personnel. In addition, the system must include trustworthy mechanisms for redressing the problems identified and verified.
Unless these measures are taken, international public funders of this project such as the Inter-American Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of the United States should not finance the Camisea Gas Field and Pipeline Project.
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