oil frontiers in the peruvian amazonicta.uab.cat/etnoecologia/docs/[355]-orta thesis.pdfs’ha...
TRANSCRIPT
Oil frontiers in the Peruvian Amazon
Impacts of oil extraction for the Achuar of Río Corrientes
PhD Thesis
Martí Orta Martínez
May 2010
Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
PhD Programme in Environmental Science
Supervision:
Dr. Joan Martínez‐Alier Dept. d’Economia i d’Història Econòmica Facultat de Ciències Socials, UAB
Dr. Agustín Lobo Aleu Institut de Ciències de la Terra Jaume Almera, CSIC
A la memòria de Román Hualinga i de tots els Achuar que han sofert les conseqüències del petroli. A totes aquelles dones i a tots aquells homes que són, i volen ser, conscients de les conseqüències dels seus actes, i treballen i s’esforcen per imaginar i construir un món més just i sostenible.
Abstract
This work deals with environmental, social, and cultural damage caused by oil exploration
and exploitation at indigenous territories in the tropical rainforest. The thesis applies an
environmental justice framework to assess oil impacts at two different scales. Firstly, it
addresses oil impacts at a local scale, studying oil exploration and exploitation impacts on the
Achuar territory of Rio Corrientes, in the northern Peruvian Amazon. Secondly, it addresses
impacts at regional scale, scrutinizing the damages done by the oil industry in the Peruvian
Amazon. Together the results presented here improve our understanding of socio‐
environmental consequences of the human patterns of consumption and production in an oil‐
based world economy.
Oil has been extracted from Achuar territory since the 1970s. In spite of early identification
of negative impacts on the environment and repeated attempts by the Achuar to minimize
those impacts, very little research has addressed specific environmental and health impacts on
the area. Some recent governmental studies have shown extremely high blood lead and
cadmium levels in Achuar communities. In chapter 1 we review the evidence of pollution and
Achuar health status available in existing studies. We also review government and operating
oil company actions undertaken over the last 40 years. We identify knowledge gaps and
negligent actions on the part of the State and petrol companies which have hamper efforts to
respond to the environmental and health situation
From 2005 to 2009, the author collaborated with Achuar communities which sought to
develop and implement novel methods for monitoring oil spills and other impacts caused by oil
companies in their territory. A pioneering experience of indigenous cartography and
environmental monitoring that aimed to trace the past and present damages done by the oil
extraction industry. In chapter 2 we describe a protocol for the application of participatory
geographic information systems (GIS) in conflicts over resource extraction, especially oil and
gas. We analyze the achievements and shortcomings of the proposed methodology with
regard to the empowerment of communities.
The Peruvian Amazon is home to extraordinary biological and cultural diversity. However,
the rapid proliferation of oil and gas exploration zones now threatens the region’s biodiversity,
i
indigenous peoples, and wilderness areas. Chapter 3 analyzes official Peruvian government
hydrocarbon information and generates a quantitative analysis of the past, present, and future
of oil and gas activities in the Peruvian Amazon. We document an extensive hydrocarbon
history for the region—over 104 000 km of seismic lines—highlighted by a major exploration
boom in the early 1970s. We show that an unprecedented 48.6% of the Peruvian Amazon has
been recently covered by oil and gas concessions, up from just 7.1% in 2003. These oil and gas
concessions overlap 17.1% of the Peruvian Amazon protected area system and over half of all
titled indigenous lands. We project a second exploration boom, characterized by over 20 000
km of new seismic testing and construction of over 180 new exploratory wells in remote,
intact, and sensitive forest areas.
In chapter 4, we argue that the phenomenon of peak oil, combined with rising demand
and consumption, is now pushing oil extraction into the most remote corners of the world.
While conflicts spread on indigenous territories, new forms of resistance appear and
indigenous political organizations are born and become more powerful. We review the impacts
of oil exploration and exploitation and indigenous resistance throughout the oil history of the
Peruvian Amazon, focusing, once again, on the Achuar people in Rio Corrientes. In a context of
peak oil and growing global demand for oil, such devastating effects for minor quantities of oil
are likely to increase and impact other remote parts of the world.
Keywords
Achuar; indigenous people; voluntary isolation; Amazon; Peru; oil extraction conflicts; oil
development; commodity frontiers; peak oil; environmental justice; political ecology;
environmental liabilities; health; accountability; participatory GIS; participatory monitoring.
Resum en català
Aquesta tesi doctoral analitza els danys ambientals, socials i culturals originats per
l’exploració i l’explotació petroliera als territoris indígenes dels boscos humits tropicals. Sota el
marc de la justícia ambiental, avalua els impactes a dues escales. Primer, tracta els impactes
petroliers a escala local, estudiant els impactes al territori Achuar del Río Corrientes, a la
Amazònia peruana septentrional. Després, els tracta a escala regional, inspeccionant els danys
de la industria petroliera a l’Amazònia peruana. Els resultats presentats milloren la comprensió
de les conseqüències socio‐ambientals dels patrons de consum i producció humans en una
economia mundial basada en el petroli.
S’ha extret petroli del territori Achuar des de la dècada de 1970. Malgrat la primerenca
identificació d’impactes negatius a l’entorn i els reiterats intents dels Achuar per minimitzar‐
los, pocs treballs d’investigació han abordat els impactes a la salut i al medi de la regió. Alguns
estudis governamentals recents indiquen nivells de plom i cadmi en sang extraordinàriament
alts a la zona. Al primer capítol, revisem les evidències de contaminació i l’estat de salut dels
Achuars als estudis existents. També revisem les accions empreses en els darrers 30 anys pel
govern i les companyies petrolieres que hi operen. Hem identificat llacunes en el coneixement,
alhora que procediments negligents per part de l’estat peruà i les companyies, que han
dificultat els esforços per resoldre aquesta situació.
Entre 2005 i 2009, l’autor ha col∙laborat amb les comunitats Achuar que buscaven
desenvolupar i implementar mètodes innovadors pel monitoratge dels vessaments de cru i
altres impactes causats per l’activitat petroliera. Una experiència pionera de cartografia i
monitoratge ambiental indígena dirigida a traçar els danys passats i presents de la industria
hidrocarburífera. Al segon capítol descrivim un protocol per l’aplicació dels Sistemes
d’Informació Geogràfica (SIG) participatius en conflictes d’extracció de recursos, especialment
petroli i gas. Analitzem també, els avantatges i desavantatges de la metodologia proposada en
relació a l’empoderament de les comunitats.
L’Amazònia peruana te una diversitat biològica i cultural extraordinària. Alhora, la ràpida
proliferació de les concessions per l’exploració d’hidrocarburs, amenaça la biodiversitat, els
pobles indígenes i les àrees ben conservades de la regió. El tercer capítol analitza informes
iii
iv
oficials del sector energètic del govern peruà i presenta un anàlisis quantitatiu de les activitats
hidrocarburíferes passades, presents i futures a l’Amazònia peruana. Documentem una
extensa història hidrocarburífera de la regió –més de 104 000 km de línies sísmiques‐ que va
representar, a principis dels 1970s, el major boom d’exploració. Documentem que un 48.6% de
l’Amazònia peruana ha estat recentment operada per la industria hidrocarburífera, partint
d’un 7.1% al 2003. Aquestes concessions solapen el 17.1% del sistema d’àrees naturals
protegides i més de la meitat dels títols de propietat dels pobles indígenes. Projectem un
segon boom d’exploració, caracteritzat per més de 20 000 km de línies sísmiques i la
construcció de més de 180 pous exploratoris nous en àrees remotes, intactes i sensibles de
l’Amazònia peruana.
Al quart capítol, argumentem que el fenomen del zenit del petroli, combinat amb la
creixent demanda i consum està empenyent l’exploració petroliera a les àrees més remotes
del món. Mentre els conflictes s’estenen als territoris indígenes, noves formes de resistència
apareixen i les organitzacions indígenes naixent i esdevenen més rellevants. Revisem els
impactes de l’exploració i l’explotació petroliera i la resistència indígena al llarg de la història
petroliera de l’Amazònia peruana, centrant‐nos, un cop més, en els Achuar del riu Corrientes.
En el context del zenit del petroli convencional i de la seva demanda creixent, és probable que
aquests efectes devastadors incrementin i impactin a altres regions sensibles del planeta per
reserves menors de petroli.
Paraules clau
Achuar; pobles indígenes; aïllament voluntari; Amazònia; Perú; conflictes d’extracció del
petroli; frontera petroliera; zenit del petroli; justícia ambiental; ecologia política; passius
ambientals; salut; responsabilitat corporativa; SIG participatiu; monitoratge participatiu.
Table of contents
Abstract i
Keywords ii
Resum en català iii
Paraules clau iv
Table of contents v
Prologue 1
Introduction 3
Background and motivation 3 Energy sources in societies 5 Externalities and socio‐environmental liabilities 6 Social impacts and environmental justice 9 Commodity frontiers 12
Aims 14 Objectives 16
Structure and Methodological approach 17 Participatory Action Research 20 Geographic Information Systems 21
Study areas 23 Selection criteria 23
Chapter1 33
Impacts of petroleum activities for the Achuar people of the Peruvian Amazon: summary of existing evidence and research gaps 33
Known impacts of petroleum extraction 34 The Achuar and the arrival of the oil companies 35 Methods 37
Literature review 37 Interviews 38 Physical inspections 39
Results 39 Health exposures 40 Sources of contamination: company operating policy and remediation 46
v
Company and state actions 49 Conclusion 52
Chapter 2 53
Science for indigenous activism: mapping the impacts of oil companies 53
Introduction 54 MELPGIS usefulness 56
Methodology 58 Results 61
Step 1 / Preliminary work 61 Step 2 / Data gathering: 65 Step 3 / Data storage 68 Step 4 / Outcomes and data usage 70
Discussion 72 Quality and quantity of information. Temporal and spatial accuracy, data acquisition and validation, data reliability and uncertainty 73 Geodatabase control and access. Information flows and uses: Where does information go? And what uses does it have? 76 Benefits, risks, and other unexpected results 78 Weaknesses and issues that require special attention 81
Conclusion 82
Chapter 3 85
A second hydrocarbon boom threatens the Peruvian Amazon: trends, projections, and policy implications 85
Introduction 86 Methods 88
Secondary data collection 88 Projections 89 Spatial analysis 90
Results 91 Discussion 98 Conclusion 101
Chapter 4 103
Oil frontiers and indigenous resistance in the Peruvian Amazon 103
Introduction 104 Peak oil and the second exploration boom 106 Oil impacts in the Peruvian Amazon 109 Oil Conflicts in the northern Peruvian Amazon 113 Achuar resistance methods 117
Land Titling 117 Occupation of oil wells because of claims to health 118
vi
Court case 120 Oil conflicts: increasingly commonplace 121 Policy recommendations 122 Conclusions 124
Summary and main conclusions 129
Impacts and existing evidence 129 Oil frontiers advance in the Peruvian Amazon 131 New resistance methods: MELPGIS 132 New questions and further research / Research gaps 135
References 137
Acronyms and abbreviations 147
Agraïments 151
vii
viii
Prologue
I was trained as a biologist at the Universitat de Barcelona between 1998 and 2004, and
then studied ecological economics for a master degree at the Universitat Autònoma de
Barcelona (2005 and 2006). In 2005 I was lucky to get a Spanish scholarship for doctoral
research in Environmental Sciences at UAB. At the end of 2005 I traveled to Peru, partly
because of the contacts between Joan Martinez Alier and Oilwatch. AIDESEP (Asociación
Interétnica de Desarrollo de la Selva Peruana, the national organisation of the Amazonian
indigenous peoples of Peru) and Oilwatch held a workshop entitled “training indigenous
leaders in social and environmental impacts of oil exploration”. Invited by David Llistar of the
Observatori del Deute en la Globalització (UNESCO Sustainability Chair‐UPC) and Nathalie
Weemaels (Earth Rights International), I joined the workshop that took place in Atalaya
(Ucayali, central Peruvian Amazon) with more than 140 indigenous leaders of the Ashaninka,
Asheninka, Shipibo‐Konibo, Nawa, Yine and Amawaka ethnic groups. Two new oil exploration
blocks, 57 and 90, operated by the Spanish‐based Repsol‐YPF, overlapped with their ancestral
territories. The indigenous leaders came from all directions, from the heart of the jungle, after
long journeys by canoe or after walking for more than five days just to join the worshop.
The leaders were sceptical regarding the promises and presents from Repsol‐YPF and
wanted to hear testimonies from other indigenous peoples. Leaders of the U’wa (Colombia),
Waorani (Ecuador), Kichwa (Ecuador), Mapuche (Argentina) and Achuar (Peru) indigenous
people, whose territory had been affected by the oil industry during decades, also participated
at the workshop. They testified that their peoples had suffered environmental, social and
cultural damage caused by the long oil history in their territories. The workshop ended with
the signing of the Declaration of Atalaya, by which indigenous leaders rejected oil activities in
Blocks 57 and 90, and declared a “State of emergency” in their territories.
In Atalaya I met Henderson Refingio, a young Achuar leader from the Río Corrientes, and
Dr. Lily La Torre, director of Grupo de Trabajo Racimos de Ungurahui, a non‐profit
organization, founded in 1995 to provide legal and technical assistance to support indigenous
peoples to protect their environment and fulfilling their rights. In less than three months, just
enough to plan the research project with FECONACO (Federación de Comunidades Nativas del
1
2
río Corrientes, organization of the indigenous communities from the río Corrientes), Racimos
and Shinai (another Peruvian NGO that supports FECONACO), and to get approval by
FECONACO’s general assembly, we were entering into the territory of the Achuar indigenous
people, into the 1AB oil block held by Pluspetrol del Norte SA.
The study conditions were clear, all the data and knowledge gathered, all photographs and
outcomes are copyrighted by FECONACO and the Achuar indigenous people. Its dissemination
and reproduction requires their specific authorization. Spoliation and abuse, even for
academic purposes, had lasted too long. Our work should be for the Achuar people.
Since then (2006) I have worked on this thesis, with four trips to the Achuar territory. The
thesis is composed of four chapters plus introduction and conclusion. Three chapters are
published articles (two in Environmental Research Letters and one in Ecological Economics),
while the fourth has been submitted to the Annals of the Association of American Geographers
in April 2010. In the thesis, I have slightly abridged some of the articles to avoid repetitions. All
the articles have co‐authors (researchers on the Peruvian Amazon with whom I have travelled
physically and intellectually together) but I am the main contributor to the chapters (except for
one of them with Dr Matt Finer, to which we both have contributed equally). These materials
are not submitted by anybody else for a doctoral thesis.
Introduction
Background and motivation
La vida és una activitat sistèmica que catalitza la conversió de l’entropia en
informació. És a dir, l’energia no pot utilitzar‐se dos cops seguits de la mateixa manera;
en altres termes, es degrada. Aquesta degradació s’associa amb l’augment del valor
d’una funció calculada que s’anomena entropia. Ara bé, mentre es produeixen aquests
canvis, l’energia ha interactuat amb la matèria, de manera que el que hem anomenat
degradació de l’energia apareix reflexat a l’altre costat, segurament de forma també
comptabilitzable, a través de l’adquisició de complexitat per part dels sistemes
materials en els que aquests canvis de l’energia es succeeixen. Ens trobem davant d’un
principi d’aplicació a la vida en general; i, per suposat, als sistemes ecològics que
constitueixen la coberta viva del planeta, la biosfera (Margalef‐López 1992).
Ramon Margalef, Planeta blau, planeta verd. Barcelona 1992, p XI
Oekologie (the word was introduced by Ernst H. Haeckel in 1869) is a holistic science that
sees the forest before the trees; it describes, explains and systematizes the biosphere. Ecology
has been defined, sensu stricto, as the biophysics of ecosystems, being ecosystems the level of
organization in which individuals of different species interact within a shared physical
environment (Margalef‐López 1974). Biological processes, which are needed to maintain the
life‐functions of living organisms, are accompanied by energy transfers. Energy can only be
captured and made available for life through green plants and certain bacteria which are able
to convert abiotic energy (solar radiation and chemical energy) into organic matter and other
elements vital for life. These organisms are therefore called autotrophic or primary producers
and their solar fixing ability is the very basis for practically all other ecosystem functions. All
other life on earth depends on the energy fixed by these autotrophic organisms, and the
biomass thus formed provides the structural basis for the build‐up of ecosystems. Basically,
two types of bio‐energy fixation can be distinguished, photosynthesis and chemosynthesis.
Photosynthesis is the process whereby CO2 and water are transformed into carbohydrates
3
(CH2O) under the influence of sunlight. Chemosynthesis is a process whereby bacteria obtain
their energy from the chemical oxidation of simple inorganic compounds. For exemple by
converting ammonia to nitrite, nitrite to nitrate, sulfide to sulfur, or ferrous to ferric (Odum
1985).
Besides, the biosphere has limited reserves of biogenic elements such as carbon, which is
considered the most characteristic, or phosphorus, which is, relatively, the most scarce and
therefore is limiting primary production (Terrades 1989). These constraints of energy and
materials must also constrain human activities and industrial production. As Margalef stated,
“we cannot talk, as the UNESCO’s programme on interdisciplinary conservation research did,
about Man and the Biosphere (MAB), as if one could imagine humanity and the rest of the
biosphere in a negotiation table, but about Man in Biosphere” (Margalef‐López 1992), or
rather as we would say now, about Humans in Biosphere. Energy runs the world: all physical
and biological phenomena are expressions of the transformations of energy. The world has
material and energy constraints. This is (or should be) obvious to any ecologist and also to any
social scientist.
Economics followed a different course, decoupling economic systems from natural systems
and without taking into account the metabolic flows of energy and materials. The theses of
Nicholas Georgescu‐Roegen and modern ecological economics still struggle today, contrary to
mainstream economics, to recover the role of energy and materials in social and economic
systems, talking about social metabolism, studying economy and societies in terms of flows of
materials and energy or analysing bio‐physical constraints and the frontiers of exploration and
exploitation of natural resources. Georgescu‐Roegen’s book of 1971 was titled “The economic
process and the entropy law”. The relevance of entropy to the economy is easy to understand.
Energy coming into the economy can only be used once. It is “dissipated” and loses capacity to
do work. Hence the need to look for fresh supplies of fossil fuels, even if the economy were in
a steady state, even it is declined somewhat. Martínez‐Alier wrote: “According to many
handbooks, the object of economic science is to study the efficiency of the allocation of scarce
resources to alternative, present and future ends through the price system. However, Aristotle
had distinguished, in his Politics, two meanings for the word oikonomia: the study of
provisioning the oikos (household) or the polis; and the study of price generation, with the
purpose of earning money, which itself was not “oikonomia” but chrematistics” (Martínez‐
Alier and Roca Jusmet 2001:33). Economics should recover this distinction between
4
“oikonomia” and “chrematistica” already pointed out by Karl Marx, Frederick Soddy and
Herman Daly.
“Conventional studies of exchange, [...] in economics, are not concerned with the physical
properties of the commodities that are traded or with the material consequences of their
production, transport, and consumption. Economics is [still] a science concerned with money,
not with flows of matter and energy, waste disposal, or loss of biodiversity. [...] An
understanding of the world‐system in terms of such material parameters provides a
completely different picture of economic growth and development than mainstream
understanding based merely in monetary mesures” (Hornborg, 2007: 2). Ecological systems
and socio‐economic systems are intertwined, mutually dependent and co‐evolve, as
environmental history has shown. The human economy is built on a physical world, which
restricts and constraints it, but also changes and evolves with it. As Hornborg states, “it is
necessary to adopt a “materialist” perspective on human activities, if taking the physical facts
of ecology seriosly means being “materialist”. [...] “Materialism” should not mean believing
that cultural patterns of consumption and production are determined by the physical
environment, only that cultural behavior takes place within a material world whose properties
constrain what is possible and determine the environmental consequences of that behavior.
We need to be able to acknowledge both the specificity of cultural motivation and the
generality of material laws” (Hornborg, 2007: 2‐3). Hence, the study of energy sources takes a
dominant role in the human economy. Some anthropologists (Leslie White, Roy Rappaport),
biologists, chemists and physicists held this view since the late 19th century and throughout the
20th century (Martínez‐Alier 1987).
Energy sources in societies
Pre‐industrial societies have relied completely on photosyntesis, and solar energy has been
their main energy source. Windmills and water mills (conversions of solar energy) made a
timid appearance in pre‐industrial societies. Draught animals and humans ate the products of
photosynthesis and converted this energy into work (with efficiencies of the order of ten to
twenty per cent). Since the industrial revolution, fossil fuels have dominated energy statstics in
affluent countries and now represent the most significant source of energy in the world at
large. Fossil fuels are the product of accumulated photosynthesis. “Contrary to widespread
belief, during the twentieth [and the twenty‐first centuries] there has not been a substitution
5
of oil, gas, nuclear power and hydroelectricity, for biomass and coal at the world level. Such
substitution took place in the United States, Western Europe and the United Kingdom after
1960, but in the world in general consumption of energy from all sources has increased [along
these centuries]. New sources add to the supply of energy, they do not substitute for the old
sources” (Martínez‐Alier 2006:36). Approximately, consumption of energy from biomass
doubled during the twentieth century. In 2000 about six times more coal was extracted than in
1900. Oil and gas extraction increased many more times (Martínez‐Alier 2006). The exosomatic
use of energy has been increasing as the economy grows.
In 2006 the world was consuming 495 quadrillion (1012) MJ, more than two‐fold the
amount consumed in 1970. Between 1970 and 2006, oil consumption increased by 62%, coal
by 104% and natural gas by 189%. In 2006, 33.5% of the energy came from oil, 27.4% from coal
and 22.8% from natural gas. Thus, fossil fuels accounted for 83.5% of world energy
consumption and oil was the main energy source (EIA 2008a). Modern societies have
consumed 12 million years of decayed biomass in 300 years (Dukes 2003). Oil, a particularly
persistent accumulation of organic molecules, non‐recycled dead organic matter
(necrosphere), is therefore essential for some western societies, which depend on it to remain
as we know them. Oil has a primary economic and geopolitical role.
Externalities and socioenvironmental liabilities
Therefore, to undestand western societies since about 1920 it is essential to study the
supply of oil. However, apart from the availability of input of oil in the economy, there are
other factors that require the study of oil: the extent and importance of the environmental and
social impacts of the oil industry in extraction, transport and processing, and also after
combustion because of pollution and production of carbon dioxide.
From climate change to oils spills from tankers or drilling platforms, the origins of many of
our least tractable environmental problems can be traced to the operations of the modern
energy system based on oil. Today there is scientific consensus that the emission of
greenhouse gases contributes to climate change, a matter of serious concern and adverse,
irreversable and unpredictable effects. Climate change is emerging as one of the main agents
of habitat and biodiversity loss in the near future. Consumption of fossils fuels, and among
them, oil, is the main source of carbon dioxide release to the atmosphere. Hence the proposals
6
to leave “oil in the soil”, “coal in the hole”, “tar sands in the land” that activists proclaimed in
Copenhagen in December 2009.
Oil refineries can expose workers to chronic hazards which include asphalt, asbestos,
aromatic hydrocarbons, arsenic, hexavalent chromium, nickel, carbon monoxide, coke dust,
hydrogen sulfide, lead alkyls, natural gases, petroleum, phenol, and silica. These hazards have
been associated with an increase in cancer risk (and other occupational diseases) among oil
refinery workers or surrounding population (Epstein and Selber 2002). The end products
themselves and the by‐products of their combustion pose significant threats to human and
environmental health. Gasoline and its additives have been associated with acute chronic
toxicities in humans exposed, through inhalation of volatile fumes at self service‐pumps, to the
hazardous byproducts of gasoline combustion. Long‐term exposure can also increase cancer
risk (benzene) or affect the central nervous system (toluene, xylene, lead, etc) (Epstein and
Selber 2002).
There are several sources of oil dumped into the ocean worldwide. So far, deep water oil
extraction has been a main threat. The BP spill near the coast of Louisiana is in the news in
May 2010 but this is not the first case in the new oil extraction frontier under the sea. Large
spills and other oil releases from refining and distribution activities account, according to the
U.S. National Research Council, for 12% of total oil into the worldwide marine waters (average
annual contribution 1990‐1999). Oil runoff from land and municipal and industrial wastes
account for 38%, while releases that occur associated to oil and gas exploration and
production activites account for 9%. Thus, natural seepage of crude oil from geologic
formations below the seefloor to the marine environment account for 47% of oil inputs to the
seal (National Research Council 2003).
Since externalities are (by definition) not factored into economic costs, oil has been a very
cheap source of energy. We can compare the different energy sources evaluating the costs of
energy systems by net energy analysis, a technique that compares the quantity of energy
delivered to society by an energy system to the energy used directly and indirectly in the
delivery process, a quantity called the energy return on investment (EROI) (Cleveland et al.
1984). Photovoltaic energy has an EROI of six energy units produced per each unit invested;
windmills have an EROI of 15‐20:1; agrofuels may have an EROI of about three to one at best,
and less than one to one at worst; nuclear has a debatable moderate energy return on
investment (5‐15:1), while energy return on investment from coal is presently ranging from
7
perhaps 50:1 to 100:1. The running average EROI for global finding and production of oil and
gas has dropped from greater than 100 units of energy returned per unit invested in the 1930s
to about 20 to one today (Hall, Powers, and Schoenberg 2008; Kubiszewski and Cleveland
2009). Tar sands (as in Alberta, Canada) have of course a lower EROI.
The more favourable EROI values of alternative energy (windmills and solar panels)
sources are explained by very recent technological improvements. The balance has long been
clearly favorable to fossil fuels. Fossil fuels have provided a plentiful supply of energy, easy to
extract and burn (from the steam engine to the internal combustion engine to combined cycle
electric power plants), which encourages squandering. Increased efficiency of conversion
might have encouraged “rebound effects”, as Jevons explained in 1865 for steam engines
driven by coal. Technology provided the means to take advantage of so much energy, hence
the use of more and more energy in agriculture, industry, transport, households, and the
building industry. The “energy‐subsidy” from fossil fuels helped also the increase in population
growth up to 7 billion people (Giampietro and Pimentel 1993).
Cheap oil induced a spatial distribution of human activities based on low cost transport.
Thus, the availability of cheap energy leads to a trade system and a territorial distribution of
activities that require large amounts of transport of materials, commodities and people. Cheap
oil has allowed urban sprawl, increasing distances from workplaces to homes or services. It has
also prompted a territorial division of labor, based on increasing distances between the
centers of production and the centers of consumption (components are manufactured in
distant points and can travel thousands of kilometers just to be assembled, packaged or sold at
large distribution centers). U.S. maize and Argentine or Brazilian soybeans to feed pigs in
Europe, Australian organic oats (CCPAE certification) for sale in Veritas shops in Barcelona,
airport infrastructure and low cost flights for weekend trips. They are economically viable only
when energy is cheap; activities with a huge impact on land cover change (soil sealing) and
habitat loss, subsidized by cheap oil.
Oil accounts for 95% of transport fuels used in the world. Such abundant energy has
enabled an unprecedented prosperity and has also made possible a scientific and technical
development hardly achievable in other circumstances. But it has also enabled massive
exploration and exploitation of other natural resources which have in turn jeopardized habitat
and biodiversity conservation. Today we have a world heavily impacted by industrial
production based on powerful techniques and on a very cheap energy.
8
In summary, cheap oil has fostered economic growth and in doing so, has also spurred
world demand for natural resources. The overwhelming economic growth in the last two
centuries has been based on increasing the energy available. Cheap oil has allowed the illusion
of an endless economic growth. Plentiful energy supply has generated surplus in other
economic sectors, increasing material flows and thus, increasing environmental and social
impacts.
So, the consequences of oil extraction should be assessed not only in extraction and
transport but also after consumption. This thesis, however, focuses only on extraction. Here
we must notice, on the one hand, that increasing scarcity of supply (because of approaching
“peak oil”) drives exploration to the furthest frontiers (under the sea or in Amazon territory),
and on the other hand, that extraction causes local “externalities”.
Social impacts and environmental justice
Increased distance between oil extraction centres and consumption centres exacerbate
exploration and exploitation impacts. Pedro Garcia Hierro, an activist lawyer from Racimos de
Ungurahui, exemplified: “an English friend was horrified when we were killing a chicken in the
Cenepa River [in the Peruvian jungle]. When we, surprised by her surprise at a daily practice
for a staple human food in the jungle, asked her what she felt, she replied that she would had
never imagined that [...] a chicken, sold in supermarkets wrapped in cellophane, had had such
a bloody history”. Pedro concludes that progress is oil‐based and many are surprised by
indigenous’ opposition to oil extraction in their territories. But not many are aware of the
painful history of oil behind “the glittering multicolored lights of petrol‐stations” (La Torre
López 1999) : 37). We wanted to study those hidden problems that become invisible to
consumers.
Due to the difference in standards, regulations and control capacities of governments
between north and south (the “pollution haven” hypothesis), and to the NIMBY (Not In My
Backyard) movements in the consumption centers with high purchasing power, it has been
argued that the last decades had seen a relocation of polluting industries to less stringently
regulated environments (Neumayer 2001). It is also argued that companies use sub‐standard
technology in poor countries, unconsistent with the state‐of‐the‐art practices and regulations
9
in the home countries that could largely avoid human health and environmental damage
(Eskeland and Harrison 2003).
However, there are different ways of writing the history of environmental problems. A
political ecology perspective can be adopted (Hornborg, 2007). “The dominant mode has been
to assume a common human history, a global we experiencing the arrow of time through
cumulative changes such as population growth, technological development, and new patterns
of resource use. Ecological degradation, seen from this perspective, is the collective concern of
a generalized humanity prompted to exploit new territories, harness new energy sources, and
develop new transport technologies. Environmental problems, although alarming, are
presented as the inevitable side effects of our global success history. [... ] But landscape
changes are not a collective human experience over time, and such changes are distributed in
space. The humanity is not a single we but deeply divides in terms of reaping the benefits
versus carrying the burdens of development. If the world‐system (the world as a social system
much more inclusive than individual nations) for a long time has built on unequal power
relations between rich core areas and impoverished peripheries, this inequality can also be
expected to show in how environmental burdens have been distributed”(Hornnog, 2007: 1).
According to the dominant way of writing the history, “environmental costs of production
and wealth creation were considered, when considered at all, in the aggregate and not the
particular. In consequence, pollution became a “social cost,” implying that the burdens were
collective, as were the benefits. Nothing could be more misleading; the costs and benefits of
pollution were sharply and equivocally divided within society and between societies from the
onset of industrialization to the present day” (Byrne, Toly, and Wang 2006:268). This tendency
is sometimes described as “privatization of benefits, socialization of costs”. The costs can not
be seen as “externalities” arising from “market failure”; they should be understood as “cost‐
shifting successes”. This is why we can speak of an “ecological debt”, or of “environmental
liabilities”, resulting from both the uncompensated costs of negative impacts in exporting
countries and the use by wealthy states of the common space (atmosphere, the oceans) as
carbon dioxide sinks, for instance (Martínez‐Alier 2002). We are not only discussing the
relationship between the rich and the poor, the core and the periphery, but also between the
living and their future descendants, distinguishing among different generational claimants to
the distribution of resources: the young, the adults, the elderly and the unborn (Wallerstein
2007). And also other species.
10
Contrary to the theory of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (Panayotou 1993) which claims
that pollution increases with economic growth to a certain threshold of income, after which it
begins to decline, ecological economists believe there is no evidence of a general decline in the
indicators of pollution (Martínez‐Alier and Roca Jusmet 2001) although some of them (sulphur
dioxide in cities) follow the EKC. Rather, pollution (externalities) is transferred.
Inequality is also evident in the distribution of benefits. Fossil fuels have made a large
amount of energy accumulated in hundreds of millions of years of photosynthesis available to
some groups. Exosomatic energy consumption is a key factor to understand social inequality.
We as a species have genetic instructions regarding our endosomatic consumption of energy
(bio‐metabolism or food intake: the use of energy needed to maintain the physiological
processes, the internal metabolism, of a human being,) but not our exosomatic use of energy
(the use of energy for societal metabolism, outside the human body). Exosomatic use must be
explained by economics, technology history, politics and culture. These social differences in
exosomatic energy consumption are crucial for the understanding of human ecology.
Thus, as Martínez‐Alier and Roca (2001) state, a poor worker who cycles to work consumes
part of his 2500kcal (approximately 11 MJ) of food intake, while a wealthy worker who goes to
work by car spends about 20 000kcal of oil per day in a return 15‐kilometres trip. Furthermore,
a businessman or a tourist can spend 2,000,000 kcal in a one‐way flight from Barcelona to
Buenos Aires. Differences in exosomatic energy consumption of human groups can range from
averages of less than 5 000kcal to 100 000kcal daily (this includes direct energy consumption ‐
electricity and transport‐ and indirect ‐energy spent in the production of consumer goods‐)
(Martínez‐Alier and Roca Jusmet 2001: 23). We can calculated the metabolic profiles of
individuals, regions and nations, drawing attention to inequalities among those who benefit
from the combustion of fossil fuels and those who do not. In general, the greater the wealth
and income, the greater the exosomatic energy consumption. We can also trace the relations
between the metabolic profiles of different countries (and regions) and the environmental
conflicts (ecological distribution conflicts) that arise at different scales (international, national,
regional). The economy is not only constrained by bio‐physical properties: the economy is
embedded in social property rights, social distribution of income, and in economic systems
where power is unequally distributed.
11
Commodity frontiers
Oil is an exhaustible resource that the petroleum industry sells cheaply as it does not
include in the price the environmental liabilities generated by the extraction, transport and
refining processes, or in the treatment of the final residues produced, the necessary
environmental remediation, and mitigation of the consequences. Nor do they include the
amortization of the resource, that is the value that compensates for the loss of a non‐
renewable natural resource. In other words, the price of crude does not recognise the
difference between yield and plunder, between production and extraction; between
production and decapitalisation; the price of crude does not take into account the fact that the
sale or the depletion of crude is like the sale of an inheritance, like the dilapidation of natural
resources to the sacrifice of future generations. The price of oil is based on the ability to
transfer the costs of exploration, extraction and consumption to less well off and minority
populations and to future generations.
The unsustainability of oil extraction has long been noticed. In Latin America, the writer
Arturo Uslar Pietri coined in 1936 the slogan sembrar el petróleo (Martínez‐Alier and Roca
Jusmet 2001)) that in today’s ecological economics would be seen as a plea for at least “weak
sustainability”. The World Bank economist El Serafy proposed in the 1980s a rule for oil
exporting countries, to divide the revenue from oil into two parts: one that could be consumed
(as true income), and one that should go into investment so as to be able to keep the same
level of income after oil runs down. The investment part was not true income. Of course, how
large the investment fund would have to be depends on the reserves of oil and the rate of
interest. The larger the reserves and/or the rate of interest, the lower the investment fund
would have to be (the question was raised by critics on how the economy could have positive
rates of interests once we run out of oil, that fuels economic growth).
El Serafy’s rule is a macroeconomic application of the microeconomic insight of Hotelling in
1931 (Devarajan and Fisher 1981). What is the optimal path of extraction of an exhaustible
resource? The price of a non‐renewable resource, according to Hotelling, should be based on
the cost of extraction plus a scarcity rent, which would follow a trajectory of price increases.
The owner of the resource would compare the present net value of profits leaving oil in the
soil with the interest gained in the bank by extracting and selling the marginal barrel of oil
today.
12
The actual price of oil cannot really be explained by Hotelling’s microeconomics. It
depends on many factors. It increases in periods of war; or because of monopoly power and
the restriction of supply of the OPEC countries. It also can increase with the limitations of the
extractive capacity of each company and country. This latter is determined by earlier decisions
about investments in infrastructure, for example for exploration and extraction. The price of
crude oil, not in nominal prices, but in real prices, taking inflation into account, has been until
1973 between 10 and 20 dollars (in chained 2000 dollars1) per barrel. There were two large
peaks in 1973 and 1979 as a consequence of the embargo by the principal Arab producers and
the Islamic revolution in Iran, following which oil price stabilized at between 20 and 30 dollars
per barrel (1986‐2003). From 2004 rising oil prices have hit the media headlines as they
surpassed previous records and reached an unprecedented 75 dollars (in chained 2000 dollars)
in 2008 (EIA 2009d).
A number of explanations have been put forward for the rapid increase in the price of oil,
whether it is due to speculation or peak oil (that justifies an anticipation of higher prices).
What we can say in all assurance about these price fluctuations is that the concept of resource
stock is not only physical. It is related to available technology and to existing prices that
determine the extent to which it is profitable to exploit an oil field or not. We must also factor
in reasonable previsions regarding new deposits of oil that will be discovered and exploited in
the future. Here the notion of EROI becomes relevant again. In any case, it is obvious that to
exploit a resource it must be found in sufficient concentration and under certain conditions.
Hence, we can ensure that recoverable reserves are not comparable to a much greater (and
unknown) total physical quantity of a material that forms part of the Earth’s crust. Whether
the total base of existing resources is to be converted to a greater or lesser extent into
effective resources will depend on economic factors: on the monetary cost of exploration,
extraction and transport, on demand, and on the availability of substitute resources. There are
also physical limitations, because as exploitation of resources increases, only the more difficult
to access or lower quality reserves remain, which generally results in rising costs in terms of
the energy required to access them. There is, therefore, a moment in which the energy
required to exploit the resources will be greater than the energy they can produce: in other 1 Chained dollars: A measure used to express real prices. Real prices are those that have been adjusted to
remove the effect of changes in the purchasing power of the dollar; they usually reflect buying power relative to a reference year. Prior to 1996, real prices were expressed in constant dollars, a measure based on the weights of goods and services in a single year, usually a recent year. In 1996, the U.S. Department of Commerce introduced the chained‐dollar measure. The new measure is based on the average weights of goods and services in successive pairs of years. It is "chained" because the second year in each pair, with its weights, becomes the first year of the next pair. The advantage of using the chained‐dollar measure is that it is more closely related to any given period covered and is therefore subject to less distortion over time (U.S. Energy Information Administration Glossary).
13
words, no net energy will be obtained, or rather the net energy will decline so much that the
economy can no longer prosper as before.
However, in this process, rising petroleum prices enable the oil exploration and extraction
frontier to advance into more remote and difficult to access areas, usually wilderness areas of
high ecological value, where activity was previously very expensive; but also into areas
previously disregarded as containing unprofitable reserves. As a consequence, in the
exploitation of the “worst” quality deposits, the environmental impacts would also rise. Thus,
we are likely to see many socio‐environmental conflicts as we come down the Hubbert curve
(see chapter 4), after peak oil is reached.
As Moore stated, natural resources exhaustion, precipitated by the advance of exploration
and exploitation frontiers are not simply consequences of western societies expansion; “they
were in equal measure constitutive of such expansion, condition as well as consequence.
Degradation and relative exhaustion in one region after another were followed by recurrent
waves of global expansion aimed at securing fresh supplies of land and labor, and thence to
renewed and extended cycles of unsustainable development on a world‐scale” (Moore 2003)
:309).
Aims
There are many reasons to study the oil industry such as the centrality of extraction,
refining and distribution of the energy produced from oil; the power disputes for its control
and the fossil fuels lobby; the resource wars and the military conflicts as a social implication of
the continued dependence on oil (Klare 2004, 2002). However, my training as a biologist led
me towards environmentalism and a sense of urgency of the survival of many ecological
systems to ensure peace and a healthy environment for human societies. This brought me to
work on this topic.
Biological criteria single out the oil extraction industry as one in great need of monitoring
and rigorous impact assessment. The oil industry is at the root of the current environmental
crisis (Pimm et al. 1995), participating as a protagonist in the two major causes. Firstly, as
supplier of cheap energy that allows economic activity with a “very powerful technical capacity
to disturb lands and vegetation […]”, driving us to the “current stupid misappropriations” , as
14
one of the great Catalan botanists –Oriol de Bolós‐ had already confirmed in 1976; a technical
capacity that favour the loss of habitats and biodiversity, and land use changes (Vigo Bonada
2008:12). Secondly, for being responsible for supplying society with energy resources whose
consumption is the main source of greenhouse effect gasses released into the atmosphere,
and the principal cause of climate change.
In terms of human rights, the study of the oil industry is also a priority. The distance of the
main consumption centres from the centres of extraction, and sometimes the location of the
latter in outlying areas, results in an impact on minority human populations, such as
indigenous communities, that is largely ignored. Furthermore, the toxicity of the products and
by‐products of the oil industry can result in serious environmental effects and huge social
conflicts.
Within the area of our study (the northern Peruvian Amazon) a number of peoples have
been (and are) extinguished or disappeared (such as the Munichi, the Andoa, the Taushiro,
the Maynas and the Cocama) as a result of colonisation, the pillaging of their resources and the
imposition of the evangelical and catholic religions; peoples who also went through a process
of transculturation in which they suffered profound cultural transformations and were
progressively absorbed into mestizo society (Defensoría del Pueblo 2006; La Torre López 1999;
Working Group on article 8J and related provisions of the Convention on biological diversity
2003). Their testimonies together with my direct experience with the Achuar, Urarina and
Kichwa communities, have given my work a sense of purpose – not only to increase scientific
knowledge, not only to gain an academic degree but also, mainly, to help these peoples regain
a place in history and explain how mistreated they have been. This has scientific and technical
aspects (accounting of the damages, possibly a translation into money values in court cases)
but also humanist aspects, an expression of solidarity.
When we study the ecological (in)sustainability of the human economy, we cannot leave
aside the physico‐chemical limits and the physical evaluation of the environmental and social
impacts. Sustainability is no longer understood as a sentiment, “when love for nature was
looked upon as the sentimental indulgence of a privileged group and the protection of wild
species was considered an unnecessary waste of time and money” (Groot 1992). In the study
of the ecological sustainability of human societies, we understand sustainability in two senses.
Weak sustainability allows for the depletion of so‐called “natural capital” provided that
investments compensate for it. This is, as we have seen, the perspective of neoclassical natural
15
resource economics. Strong sustainability looks at the environment in terms of the absolute
necessity to protect those ecological functions (regulation of the chemical composition of the
atmosphere, regulation of the local and global climate, prevention of soil erosion, recycling of
nutrients, source of medical resources, replenishing water resources, water purification, etc.)
essential for the survival of humanity.
The author of this thesis is inclined towards “strong” sustainability. However, working in
the field makes one aware of the power of money to buy resources and even to buy people’s
health and livelihoods. Is this real “compensation”? Are the interests and values of the
“stakeholders” in Río Corrientes really commensurable? The thesis will explore such questions
in a very empirical way. I am concerned with the environmental crisis which is a cause and a
consequence of social inequalities, and I also try to propose alternatives that promise the
construction of a more egalitarian and more sustainable system. Such alternatives grow (in
part) from the resistance movements that I observe in the field.
Objectives
The objectives of this thesis come from two main research lines: 1) to compile information
on oil impacts for a little known Peruvian case study and 2) to generate and provide indigenous
people with tools to face oil impacts. The main objectives of the thesis are:
- To explore the impacts of oil exploration and exploitation in the Peruvian Amazon and
in the particular case study of Río Corrientes, Achuar territory;
- To establish the methodology for monitoring environmental impacts of oil industry in
tropical rainforests done by and for indigenous peoples;
- To investigate the history of of oil and gas frontiers in the Peruvian Amazon since the
1970s;
- To discuss the consequences on indigenous peoples and biodiversity conservation of
the advance in the oil frontier, as well as the growth of different forms of resistance of
indigenous people;
- To delve into solutions and alternatives to avoid or mitigate oil impacts in a world‐
system perspective.
16
The ultimate goal, social rather than strictly scientific, has been to give back the
information collected and generated to indigenous peoples affected by oil impacts and, in
particular, to the Achuar people and their federation. Information that should be in a useful
format to allow its analysis, use and application. When one does “action research”, giving back
results and involving people in the research process is indeed a methodological requirement.
Structure and Methodological approach
This is an interdisciplinary thesis, its purpose is to cover the objectives listed above, by
explaining a “story” (oil activities, local impacts and reactions) appealing the different
disciplines needed to make sense of the story: from anthropology to ecological economics,
from biology to political ecology, from social history (where forms of social resistance have
been analyzed) to ethnoecology, from geography to environmental chemistry and public
health, from geology (“peak oil”) to the study of public policies, from studies on Science‐in‐
society (the use of science in social conflicts, the assessment of risk, decisions under
uncertainty and ignorance) to rural sociology. The concepts used in this thesis have several
sources. This thesis has evolved, draws on, and resonates with several traditions that directly
or indirectly have contributed to it. Nothing new. It is framed in the environmental sciences,
where these sources and traditions have intermingled more and more over the last decades in
the complex issues of sustainability and respect for human rights. We have also used several
methodologies for data gathering and analysis and different scales (temporal and spatial) to
select and analyze the case studies.
Each of the research questions raised is separately dealt in the chapters presented below.
Although a detailed description of the methods may be found in the initial sections of each
chapter, here a brief outline is also given.
In chapter 1, we explore the impacts of oil industry in the Achuar territory, in the
Corrientes basin of the Northern Peruvian Amazon, overlapped by two oil blocks, 1AB and 8,
since the 1970s. The evidence of pollution and health status available in existing studies is
reviewed as well as government and operating company actions over the last 40 years, based
on an extensive literature review but also on qualitative methods such as individual structured
and unstructured interviews and focus group discussions in the field. We also conducted a
number of physical inspections to identify impacts in situ. This sheds light on the current state
17
and risk to indigenous health on the Río Corrientes. The data reviewed are significant because
the Achuar have lived in the shadow of the most important oil installations in Peru since 1971
and as such are the indigenous people with the longest exposure to potential contamination
due to these activities. Since new concessions in indigenous lands are being opened at record
breaking rates, evidence of impacts on the Achuar are important to inform current and future
oil activity on indigenous territories.
Chapter 2 stems from the need to explore the tools available to indigenous people to face
the impacts of oil activities described in the first chapter, to achieve a change in oil industry
operational practices and procedures and to achieve an effective mitigation of the
environmental and health impacts related to oil extraction activities. As a result, we set a
protocol for the application of participatory geographic information systems (PGIS) to map and
monitor environmental liabilities of oil exploration and exploitation. Such protocol is based on
indigenous mapping methodologies (ethno‐cartography), but also on individual open‐ended
interviews, time lines and map biographies. To plan and design the protocol we conducted
group discussions, brainstorming, focus groups, and other participatory methods. A tool called
MELPGIS, monitoring environmental liabilities through participatory geographic information
systems, was developed.
In chapter 3, we dig into the oil history of the Peruvian Amazon for a complete picture of
the impacts of oil activity at regional level. To better elucidate recent analysis that indicate
that there is a rapid proliferation of oil and gas exploration zones, we analyzed official Peruvian
government hydrocarbon information and generated a quantitative analysis of the past,
present, and future of oil and gas activities in the Peruvian Amazon. We review the
hydrocarbon activities across the region over the past 40 years, to better undertand the
changes of the oil frontier. We increase the temporal and spatial scale to get an historical and
regional perspective and to comprehend the importance of oil industry in human ecology. The
work is based on analyses of official government data supported on Geographic Information
Systems to conduct spatial analyses and calculate overlaps among hydrocarbon concessions
and other land‐use categories as proxies of the impact on biodiversity and indigenous people.
In chapter 4, we pinpoint the impacts of the oil frontier advance as described in chapter 3.
From a world‐system perspective, we analyze the oil frontier in a context of peak oil, high oil
prices and growing global demand for energy; we use concepts stemming from Ecological
Economics and Political Ecology to understand the impacts, conflicts, and resistance methods
18
related to oil exploration and exploitation in the Peruvian Amazon. This chapter is an attempt
to consider the links between global oil metabolism and the ecological distribution conflicts in
the Peruvian Amazon. The driving forces, impacts, and responses to the current oil exploration
boom are analyzed from an environmental justice perspective. This chapter therefore contains
both a description of forms of resistance by the Achuar and an analysis of the results
presented of the third chapter, illustrated with some of our field experiences in Río Corrientes.
In the present thesis, the word resistance is used in a sense similar to J Scott. In social
history, the different actions of social movements have been studied. Peasants resort to
"jacqueries" and land invasions, industrial workers go on strike and do boycotts. Socio‐
environmental movements also behave in certain ways. For instance, trees like eucalyptus are
sometimes uprooted, or shrimp farms are destroyed and mangroves are replanted. Such
collective actions take place in distant territories, by groups of people who never knew of each
other. Another example: mining communities increasingly resort to local referendums.
Complaints by rural peoples (peasants or indigenous) often are expressed by roadblocks.
Scholars of the "environmentalism of the poor" ‐like Ramachandra Guha in his history of the
Chipko movement (Guha 1989), and Guha and Martinez‐Alier, in their book Varieties of
Environmentalism (Guha and Martínez Alier 1997), have been influenced by social historians
such as E. P. Thompson who looked at European class conflict over the privatization of forest
lands, and James Scott who theorized peasant protest in Weapons of the Weak: Everyday
Forms of Peasant Resistance (Scott 1985). The opposition between a "moral economy" (the
oikonomia) and the market, figures prominently in these narratives. In the present thesis, a
description and analysis of forms of resistance by indigenous groups to oil exploration and
extraction is carried out.
******
In general terms, the whole thesis is rooted in a specific research framework, Participatory
Action Research. At the same time, the thesis often relies on a tool with an increasingly
widespread use, the Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
19
Participatory Action Research
The methodology we adopted for some of the chapters of the thesis was established
within the framework of Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) and Participatory Action Research
(PAR), a “growing family of approaches and methods to enable local people to share, enhance
and analyze their knowledge of life and conditions, to plan and to act” (Chambers 1994) :953).
Such family of concepts, methods and practices emphasizes the active participation of people
in knowledge production so as to solve problems they may have. PAR sees research as a
collective generation of knowledge, as a process of social transformation and as a source of
empowerment.
PAR is a collective, self reflective inquiry that researchers and participants undertake so
they can understand and improve upon the practices in which they participate and the
situations in which they find themselves. PAR differs from most other approaches to research
on that it is based on reflection, data collection, and action that aim to reduce inequities
through involving the people who, in turn, take actions to improve their own situation. The
reflective process is directly linked to action, influenced by understanding of history, culture,
and local context and embedded in social relationships. PAR grew as a methodology enabling
researchers to work in partnership with communities in a manner that led to action for
change. PAR seeks to understand and improve the world by changing it (Baum, MacDougall,
and Smith 2006).
PAR owes much to the work of Paulo Freire, who stated that if knowledge does not imply
transforming the reality, it is not real knowledge (Freire 1968) and to Orlando Fals Borda, who
wrote about study‐action (Fals‐Borda 1973). It is also related to the post‐normal science
approach that emphasizes an “extended peer review” of technological and environmental
risks, because of the urgency and uncertainty surrounding the facts (Funtowicz and Ravetz
1994).
Since our subject of study is rich in conflicts and since the people involved in such conflicts
have suffered from historic social exclusion, we considered participatory action research as a
general framework suitable for the present study. PAR differs from conventional research in
the following ways (Fals‐Borda and Brandao 1987 ; Fals‐Borda and Rahman 1991; Pereda, de
Prada, and Actis 2003; Reason and Bradbury 2001):
20
- PAR affirms that, apart from academic science, there are other types of knowledge
from unrecognized worthy sources like the rebel, the heretical, the indigenous, the
common folk and the poor, and seeks a convergence between popular though and
academic science.
- PAR reflects questions about the nature of knowledge and the extent to which
knowledge can represent the interests of the powerful and serve to reinforce their
positions in society. PAR encourages poor and deprived communities to examine and
analyse the structural reasons for their oppression.
- PAR contrasts with less dynamic approaches that remove data and information from
their contexts. Most research involves people, even if only as passive participants, as
“subjects” or “respondents”. PAR advocates that those being researched should be
involved in the whole research process actively.
- PAR focuses on research whose purpose is to enable action. Action is achieved through
a reflective cycle, whereby participants collect and analyse data, then determine what
action should follow. It has a praxis‐inspired commitment for social transformation.
PAR, to solve the separation between theory and practice, tries to theorize and obtain
knowledge enriched through direct involvement, intervention or insertion in processes
of social action.
- PAR is understood as an essential requirement to trigger collective action, because
knowledge is based on experience and the research process can produce personal
behavioural changes as well as social empowerment.
Geographic Information Systems
As mentioned earlier, GIS have been a basic tool for this thesis. The use of this
methodology, in a PAR framework, has strongly conditioned the results, due to the tension
between participation and technology. Working with indigenous peoples, the gap between GIS
and PAR comes from the compatibility between geographic technologies and indigenous world
views. ON the one hand, GIS empower indigenous peoples, or at least this has been a guiding
idea in this thesis. To some extent, this is certainly true. For instance, newspapers and
21
television chains have informed of oil spills in Achuar territory as they would not have done.
On the other hand, GIS technology can become a tool for so‐called epistemological
assimilation, a new attempt by western societies to subsume indigenous cultures. Moreover,
GIS are highly technical and expensive, especially for indigenous communities, who lack
internet and computers, or even electricity to start with. Hence the technology is almost
unavoidably controlled by outsiders, leaving communities once more in a situation of
dependency and exclusion. All these arguments open the debate on whether the application of
GIS can weaken the indigenous movement and even facilitate its collapse, threatening again
the survival of indigenous cultures.
These criticisms remind us of the need to carefully examine a number of issues prior to
deployment of participatory GIS. Questions that are not trivial and are not to be taken lightly.
Indigenous peoples have historically suffered injustices, discrimination and dispossession that
have threathened their survival as peoples. We must consider carefully under what
circumstances GIS will empower or marginalize indigenous peoples; what can be done to
extend the benefits of GIS and spatial technologies; whether or not GIS can nourish rivalries
among communities or ethnic groups; who gains and who loses; and, how data access, closure
and disclosure should be managed.
All these questions are essencial for any PAR project particularly when using GIS. A PAR project
takes up peoples’ time and efforts, and raises expectations. A forecast error on the usefulness
and suitability of the methodology selected (in our case, GIS) may become counteproductive
involving a decrease in indigenous mobilization, a loss of confidence in indigenous
organizations, in other institutions and even in future projects. The main outcomes of this
thesis are maps, reports and scientific articles. The technological rift and the language rift can
determine the exclusion of the researched, the people who have the problem. If the research
process and results do not compensate for these flaws, they can weaken indigenous
movement and resistance.
22
Study areas
Selection criteria
The oil frontier is advancing worldwide. One hundred of the 192 member states of the UN
extract oil (EIA 2010). Studying the impacts of oil exploration and exploitation, monitoring the
oil frontier advance and developing tools to avoid or mitigate these impacts are arduous tasks.
Hence, they require a careful selection of the study areas. The following four criteria were
relevant to define the study area for this thesis, both at regional and local levels:
- Global biodiversity conservation priorities. The location of and threats to biodiversity
are distributed unevenly (Brooks et al. 2006), human actions are causing a biodiversity
crisis, with species extinction rates up to 1000 times higher than background (Pimm et
al. 1995); natural resources degradation and exhaustion are due to an increasing social
metabolism; and there is a limited conservation funding. To address this situation, a
biodiversity conservation priorization is essential for a more efficient allocation of
limited conservation funding to minimize rapid biodiversity loss. Biodiversity
conservation organizations and the scientific community have proposed several
templates of global priorities. Nine major targets have been considered over the past
decade (Brooks et al. 2006): crisis ecoregions (CE); biodiversity hot spots (BH);endemic
bird areas (EBA); centers of plant diversity (CPD); megadiversity countries (MC); global
200 ecoregions (G200); high‐biodiversity wilderness areas (HBWA); frontier forests
(FF); and last of the wild (LW) –see Figure 1‐. “Conceptually, they all fit within the
framework of irreplaceability [measures of biological importance: number of endemic
species in a region, taxonomic uniqueness, unusual phenomena, global rarity of major
habitat types and species richness] relative to vulnerability [measures of temporal
conservation options: habitat loss, land tenure ‐measured as protected area coverage‐,
threatened species and human population growth and density], which is central to
conservation planning theory” (Brooks et al. 2006:58). Both high irreplaceability and
high vulnerability are considered. We can prioritize areas of high threat and high
irreplaceability, or areas of low threat and also high irreplaceability. “The former are
considered in theory the most urgent priorities in conservation planning theory
because unless immediate conservation action is taken, unique biodiversity will soon
be lost. The latter are often de facto priorities, because the opportunities for
23
conservation in these are considerable” (Brooks et al. 2006:60). The Amazon territories
are usually considered “low threat” (compared to the Brazilian Atlantic forest, tropical
islands such as Madagascar, Malaysia and Indonesia, or even Mediterranean‐type
systems, such as California and the Mediterranean itself, for instance).
Figure1. Nine major templates of global priorities: : crisis ecoregions (CE); biodiversity hot spots (BH);endemic
bird areas (EBA); centers of plant diversity (CPD); megadiversity countries (MC); global 200 ecoregions (G200);
high‐biodiversity wilderness areas (HBWA); frontier forests (FF); last of the wild (LW). From Brooks et al. 2006.
Over the last years, regional and detailed spatial data sets have been compiled,
particularly for mammals, birds, and amphibians biodiversity, improving the inputs for
global priorization templates (Baillie, Hilton‐Taylor, and Stuart 2004; Finer et al. 2008).
All these templates of global priorities helped to select the study area (see Figure 2).
- Indigenous peoples’ territories. The General Assembly of the United Nations
recognized that “indigenous peoples have suffered from historic injustices as a result
of, inter alia, their colonization and dispossession of their lands, territories and
resources” (UN 2007:2). This thesis focuses on aspects of environmental justice.
Working with indigenous peoples was really pertinent because, firstly, they suffer
increasing severe cases of injustice, marginalization and human rights violation (UN
2009); and, secondly, because of the urgent need to respect and promote the rights of
indigenous peoples in order to bring to an end all these forms of discrimination and
oppression (UN 2007). Working hand in hand with the organizations that legitimately
represent indigenous peoples, we sought to promote indigenous people
24
empowerment, convinced that control by indigenous peoples over developments
affecting them and their lands, territories and resources will enable them to maintain
and strengthen their institutions, cultures and traditions, and to effectively exercise
their political, economic, social, cultural and territorial rights indispensable for their
existence, well‐being and integral development as peoples.
Figure 2. Number of species of mammals, birds and amphibians in America. From Finer et al. 2008.
Additionally, such movements are a force worldwide for environmental
sustainability. Previous studies indicate a “geographical overlap between biological
richness and linguistic (cultural) diversity and between indigenous territories and
25
biologically high‐value regions (actual and projected protected areas); previous studies
have also recognized the importance of indigenous peoples as main managers and
dwellers of well‐preserved habitats, and certificated a conservationist‐oriented
behavior among indigenous peoples derived from its pre‐modem belief‐knowledge‐
practices complex” (Toledo 2001). The understanding that indigenous peoples have of
the ecological processes and their relationships with the environment have led some
authors to think that the preservation of this knowledge could contribute to
biodiversity, endangered species, protected areas and ecological processes
conservation (Maffi 2001). It could also contribute to the sustainable use of resources
and, of course to preserve their own cultural diversity. This traditional ecological
knowledge has been attributed to societies that have historicaly used natural
resources without a loss in ecosystems resiliency.
These four main sets of evidences have nourished a bio‐cultural axiom: “biological
and cultural diversity are mutually dependent and geographically coterminous”
(Toledo 2001). World’s rapid decrease in nature and culture diversities points to the
“converging extinction crises” of these diversities (Maffi 2005). Hence, “world’s
biodiversity will only be effectively preserved by preserving diversity of cultures and
viceversa” (Toledo 2001). The term “biocultural diversity” was coined in the 1990s
(Maffi 2001).
For the reasons detailed above, but particularly due to the current threat and
vulnerability of indigenous peoples’ belief‐knowledge‐practices complex, together
with the fact that protected areas are often inside their ancestral territories, their
empowerment could be one effective way to sustainabily. Such empowerment should
cover a wide range of areas, from the recognition of collective territorial rights to the
indigenous’ involvement in the management of protected areas; but also to the
enhancement of their cultural identity.
- Utility of the results. We sought the usefulness of the research project outcomes to
promote changes towards equity and sustainability. This criterion is an amalgam of
factors. We took into account factors such as that the demand for the research project
had emanated from grassroots organizations; the organization’s strength; the
presence of support organizations to accompany the indigenous people through the
26
research project; the link with other institutions and organizations to make use of the
outcomes; and the link with Spanish civil society. We look for a case study where a
Spanish‐based oil company was involved (operating company of the oil block or
holding company) to raise major awarness among shareholders, employees and
customers about the impacts the company may be responsible for. In general,
research aimed to cover the issues of corporate social responsibility, and corporate
accountability and socio‐environmental liabilities of European companies overseas,
often raised in the European Parliament.
- Feasibility of the research project. The design, implementation and therefore the
results of any study are always subordinated to a number of practical and logistic
elements. Support networks and infrastructure, budget restrictions, confidence with
local social organizations are key factors to facilitate or hinder any study. In remote
environments such as the tropical rainforests (when access depends on expensive river
travel), this criterion was indeed relevant.
The Peruvian Amazon, as a regional case study, met the selection criteria. It is a priority
conservation area due to its elevated “irreplaceability” (see Figure 2) according to the G200,
MC and HBWA models; and likewise for its low vulnerability, according to the FF, LW and
HBWA models. At the same time, the Peruvian Amazon is particularly notable for its
indigenous population. The world's indigenous population is around 370 million and it is
distributed across 90 countries (UN 2009). In the Peruvian Amazon the indigenous population
belongs to thirteen different linguistic families (Arahuaca, Cahuapana, Harakmbut, Huitoto,
Jibaro, Pano, Peba‐Yagua, Quechua , Tacana, Tucano, Tupi‐Guaraní, Zaparo and unclassified),
which makes Peru among the most heterogeneous countries in America, perhaps with the
largest number of linguistic families (see Figure 3). Furthermore, the Peruvian Amazon is also
home to around 60 distinct groups of indigenous peoples (INEI 2008, INDEPA 2009), including
an estimated 14 or 15 groups still living in voluntary isolation (Defensoría del Pueblo 2006,
Survival International 2008). Therefore, Peru is the second largest South American country in
number of ethnic groups in voluntary isolation after Brazil.
27
Figure 3. Map of linguistic families of the indigenous population of the Peruvian Amazon (Source: INEI
2008b:13).
28
According to the Commission on the Amazon region and Indigenous and Afroperuvian
Issues (CAAIA) of the Congress of the Republic of Peru, in 1993 the indigenous population of
Peru was made up of 8 million Quechua, 1,8 million Aymara and 300 thousand Amazonian
indigenous peoples ‐according to the 2007 census, the indigenous population of the Peruvian
Amazon was 332,975 inhabitants (INEI 2008b)‐, representing 41% of the Peruvian population.
Of these populations, 69% were poor and 47% lived in extreme poverty (CAAIA 2005),
although “poverty” is a category to be used with care for people whose livelihood does not
mostly depend from the market. The TEEB project (The Economics of Ecosystems and
Biodiversity project of UNEP and DG Environment of the European Commission) uses the term
“the GDP of the poor” to indicate how indigenous peoples directly use environmental
resources and services outside the market, and their small money income does not signal
therefore scarcity of well‐being (Sukhdev 2008). Conversely, loss of territory impoverishes
indigenous people not so much perhaps in money terms, as in terms of access to
environmental goods. It is not surprising the emphasis on territorial rights that indigenous
peoples make.
In terms of the social utility and potential application of the results of our research, the
situation in Peru is encouraging. The AIDESEP (Asociación Interétnica de Desarrollo de la Selva
Peruana) which emerged in 1980 from efforts to gain titles for indigenous territories, is a
strong organisation, enjoying considerable legitimacy among the indigenous population.
AIDESEP has played a fundamental role in the defence and promotion of the rights of
indigenous peoples, especially through the fight for territory, which enabled them to become
an increasingly relevant political actor (Aidesep 2005). Among their earliest successes, one can
find 1) the establishment of the Coordination of Indigenous Organisations of the Amazon Basin
(COICA by its Spanish acronym), in 1984, founded together with the CONFENIAE (Ecuador), UNI
(Brazil) , CIDOB (Bolivia), ONIC (Colombia); 2) the success of their project to liberate the
Ashanika population enslaved in the central Peruvian Amazon; 3) the implementation of the
Bilingual Teacher Training Programme in the Peruvian Amazon (FORMABIAP) since 1988; 4) the
establishment of the first three reserves for indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation in 1997;
and 5) the establishing of the Working Commission for the defence of the rights of indigenous
peoples in the face of hydrocarbon operation in 2003.
Regarding the local case study, the FECONACO (Federación de Comunidades Nativas del río
Corrientes), a grassroots organisation member of AIDESEP representing the Achuar, Kichua and
Urarina communities of the Río Corrientes, is also a well consolidated organisation, constituted
29
on 10th June 1991. In October 2001, FECONACO contributed to set up the Bi‐national
Coordination of the Achuar Nation of Ecuador and Peru (COBNAEP), together with the Achuar
people of the Pastaza basin, ATI (Achuarti Iruntramu) and ORACH (Organización Achuar
Chayat), and the Achuar Nation of Ecuador (NAE). Furthermore, prior to the formulation of the
demands that led to the research we are presenting here, FECONACO leaders had already
been feverishly active in trying to solve the problems caused by the impact of oil industry
activity in their territory, and they had met with representatives of Pluspetrol and the public
institutions. At the General Assembly of FECONACO (Novembre 2005) they had already signed
a statement in which they unanimously swore “not to accept more development of oil
operations in their territory” (FECONACO 2005).
In the case of the Achuar of Río Corrientes, there is also a series of organisations which
offered logistical facilities and provided certain guarantees for the continuity and use of our
research, such as the Racimos Ungurahui and Shinai. The former is an NGO created in 1995
deboted to provide legal services and general capacitation of indigenous communities in
aspects of rights and socio‐economic development, with a long history of work with AIDESEP
and FECONACO. The latter is also an NGO, created in 2000 which worked with the ATI and
ORACH on the mapping and titling of their ancestral territories.
Since our initial aim was to study a Spanish oil company, we centred on the study of the
areas of exploration and exploitation of two companies: Repsol‐YPF and CEPSA. At the stard of
the research, in 2005, Repsol‐YPF was the biggest Spanish oil company both in terms of
exploration and extraction and refining. It occupied the number 97 in the ranking of the world
major transnationals (Repsol‐YPF occupied the number 76 in 2009), according to volume of
income, being the eighth largest non‐state oil company in the world. CEPSA, on the other
hand, occupied number 386 in the ranking (Fortune 2009, 2005). 89.14% of developed and
undeveloped reserves of crude oil, condensed oil, LPG and natural gas of Repsol‐YPF were
located in Central and South America (Repsol‐YPF 2006b).
Due to a confusion of company names of subsidiaries, parent companies, mergers and
company buy‐outs, we initially thought that Repsol‐YPF participated in Pluspetrol Nord S.A, the
company holding the concession for Block 1AB which affects Achuar territory, in the local case
study. But it did not. The confusion was created by the fact that Repsol‐YPF do participate in
Pluspetrol Energy S.A and Pluspetrol S.A., holding 44.6% and 30% of shares respectively
(Repsol‐YPF 2006a). At the end, the thesis discusses the actions of three companies, Occidental
30
31
Petoleum (Oxy), Pluspetrol del Norte SA and Petróleos del Peru (Petroperú), but not of Repsol‐
YPF.
Chapter1
Impacts of petroleum activities for the Achuar people of the Peruvian Amazon: summary of existing evidence and research
gaps2
2 Authors: Martí Orta‐Martínez, Dora A Napolitano, Gregor J MacLennan, Sylvia Ciborowski, Cristina O’Callaghan‐Gordo and Xavier Fabregas‐Peries. Published 20 November 2007. Environmental Research Letters. Online at stacks.iop.org/ERL/2/045006
Cite as: Orta‐Martinez, M., D. A. Napolitano, G. J. MacLennan, C. O'Callaghan, S. Ciborowski, and X. Fabregas. 2007. Impacts of petroleum activities for the Achuar people of the Peruvian Amazon: summary of existing evidence and research gaps. Environmental Research Letters (4):045006.
Acknowledgments: Field data was collected with the essential participation of the Achuar communities of the Corrientes River area and their environmental monitors. The literature review portion of our research was aided tremendously by the facilities and research database provided by FECONACO, the Federation of Native Communities of the Corrientes River. We are grateful for the support of Andrés Sandi Mucushua, Gonzalo Payma, Henderson Rengifo, Petronila Nakaim Chumpi and other indigenous leaders of FECONACO; Segundo Walter Hualinga, José Chimboras, Gil Dahua, Ramón Salas, Guevara Sandi, Miguel Carijano and other members of the environmental monitoring team.
33
At the end of 2006 more than 56% of the Peruvian Amazon (the largest land area of
Amazonian rainforest after Brazil) was under concession for petroleum and gas exploration
and exploitation (our calculation, based on data from Perúpetro and INRENA) and more
concessions continue to be offered for foreign investment each year. In this context a
thorough evaluation of the impact of existing petroleum projects was fundamental to
protecting hundreds of thousands of people throughout Peruvian Amazonia.
The case described here is the longest running petroleum production project in the
Peruvian rainforest and the Achuar report substantial declines in health and well‐being over
the same period. The authors of this chapter have been working with the Achuar people of the
Río Corrientes for several years in an effort to achieve recognition of the pollution and health
problems they live with (see, for example, La Torre López 1999). This review seeks to examine
the Achuar’s situation today using the theoretical framework of environmental justice. We
present first the available evidence of environmental and health impacts of petroleum
extraction for remote Achuar communities in the Peruvian rainforest, followed by examples of
company and government actions that constitute the enabling context in which rights
violations have been allowed to occur unchecked.
The objectives of this study are:
(a) to evaluate the current status of knowledge on historical and current environmental
liabilities generated by the hydrocarbon activities and the current health status of the
indigenous population of the area,
(b) to review actions taken by public bodies and companies in relation to their awareness
of environmental contamination and other impacts generated by the industry.
Known impacts of petroleum extraction
There are some studies, although few in number, which describe links between extractive
petroleum activities in remote areas and health problems for local indigenous peoples, such
as: elevated rates of spontaneous abortion, cancer and a deterioration of other indices of
health in the Ecuadorian Amazon (Hurtig and San Sebastián 2002, 2004; San Sebastián et al.
2001; San Sebastián, Armstrong, and Stephens 2001, 2002). Testimonies suggest similar effects
34
in other oil producing regions such as Alaska (Wernham 2007) and there are also reports of the
social inequities created by major oil projects, and the disregard for expert advice on best
practice in carrying them out (Jobin 2003).
The Achuar and the arrival of the oil companies
The Achuar are one of the “Jivaro” peoples of the Amazon and live on both sides of the
border between Ecuador and Peru in small communities which depend on their territory to
hunt, fish and plant small gardens (slash and burn agriculture) for daily subsistence. Figures are
uncertain, but the total population is estimated at close to 20 000 in both countries (DGE
2006:67). The Peruvian Achuar are 10 919 (INEI 2008b), 3.3% of total amazonian indigenous
people in Peru.
The Achuar in Peru have been in contact with Western society since the 16th century and
have endured waves of evangelizers, violent attacks from slave raiders and invasions by
treasure seekers attracted first to the gold deposits in the area and later by the rubber boom
(approximately 1880–1915). It was only in the second half of the 20th century, however, after
the 1941 war between Ecuador and Peru, that some outsiders began to settle in Achuar
territory, associated with mission organizations3 and oil companies. Since 1960s (ILV 2006),
and due to the evangelization by the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL), the Achuar from Río
Corrientes settled into communities around bilingual schools. The discovery of the first oil
fields in the Peruvian Amazon under the Achuar’s ancestral territory at the end of the 1960s
marked the beginning of a new wave of exploitation of natural resources on their lands.
In recent years all of Achuar territory in Peru has been overlapped by petroleum and gas
concessions4, created by the state oil and gas company Perúpetro. Achuar territory on the Río
Corrientes5, however, has been in production since the early 1970s. More than 4000 Achuar6
3 For example, Philippe Descola writes that Achuar communities in Ecuador only began to accept the presence
of Protestant missionaries in 1974 (Descola 2005). 4 We use concession or ‘block’ to refer to a specified area under contract between a company and Perúpetro
S.A. for the exploration and/or exploitation of hydrocarbons. 5 In Trompeteros and Tigre districts, in Loreto province, and in Andoas district, in Alto Amazonas province; all
them in Loreto region. 6 Mostly Achuar but also Urarina and Kichwa. In both oil blocks there is also mestizo population (in the distric
capitals: Intuto, Villa Trompeteros and Andoas) settled as result of a policy known as fronteras vivas or living frontiers (laws that stimulated colonization of the remaining amazonian lands due to the Ecuadorian‐Perivuan territorial dispute), or as result of oil exploitation (ex‐employees).
35
live in this river basin, in 32 communities along the river, affiliated to the Federation of Native
Communities of the Corrientes (FECONACO 2007). The concessions known as Blocks 1AB and 8
were drawn over their ancestral territories: their homes and their hunting grounds (see Figure
4 for the location of these concessions in relation to others in the Peruvian Amazon). Although
both oil blocks nowadays cover 497.027ha and 182.348ha, respectively, they had previously
occupied the whole of the Corrientes, Pastaza and Tigre river basins, covering a total of
8.770.000ha (own calculation).
Figure 4. Map of petroleum and gas concessions on Peru’s northern border in August 2007. Source: Perúpetro
S.A. (August 2007).
In 1969 the state company Petroperu started exploring for petroleum in the Corrientes
watershed, in the area that would become Block 8[8x]7. In 1971 the Peruvian government and
the American company Occidental Petroleum Corporation of Peru (Oxy) signed the contract for
Block 1AB. It was the first contract for hydrocarbon operations in Peru. In 1972 Oxy drilled the
first productive well and shortly thereafter Blocks 1AB and 8 became the most productive in
the country, at their peak accounting for 67% of national petroleum production (calculation
7 Block 8 was divided into 8 and 8x after its privatization in 1996. The area of Block 8x was concessioned in
March and June 2005 with two separate contracts for Burlington Resources Peru Limited (Block 104) and Petrolífera Petroleum (Block 106).
36
based on data from (MEM 2000). The case described here is the longest running petroleum
production project in the Peruvian rainforest and the most productive in the whole oil history
in the country, with an average of 70,000 barrels per day from 1971 to 2008 (own calculation).
At first, the crude petroleum was transported by cargo ship to Iquitos, but from the late
1970s onwards has been pumped directly from the wells to the Bayovar refinery on the Pacific
coast along the North Peruvian Oil Pipeline. A series of smaller pipelines, connecting producing
wells and storage sites to the major pipelines, criss‐cross Achuar lands. Of the crude oil
extracted from these two blocks, 45.9% is sold on the international market to clients such as
Shell, Enap, Chevron‐ Texaco, Glencore and Trafigura (Apoyos & Asociados 2006).
In 1996 and 2001 Blocks 8/8x and 1AB respectively were transferred to Pluspetrol
Corporation S.A.8 (later Pluspetrol Norte S.A.9) which took on all existing problems, including
earlier pollution and the poor disposal practices of production waters10. The original period of
exploitation for Block 1AB was extended by the Peruvian state in 2001 until 2015, while the
concession for Block 8 expires in 2026 (Apoyos & asociados 2006).
Methods
In order to respond to the research objectives three approaches were employed, as
detailed below.
Literature review
An extensive literature review was conducted on all available bibliography on the oil
industry in the Río Corrientes basin. This includes reports by:
8 Transferal of Block 8/ 8x approved by Supreme Decree: D.S. No 030‐96, on 21 July 1996. Transferal of Block
1AB approved by Supreme Decree: D.S. No 007‐2000‐EM on 18 April 2000. 9 Separation of Pluspetrol Norte S.A. approved by Supreme Decree: D.S. No 048‐2002‐EM on 20 November
2002. 10 Formation, produced or production water is defined as “water originating from the natural oil reservoir, that
is separated from the oil and gas in the production facility” (UNEP‐IE/E&P‐Forum 1997:56). The physical and chemical quality of the water varies in each oil field, but broadly speaking “produced water is at least four times saltier than ocean water and often contains “industrial strength” quantities of toxins such as benzene, xylene, toluene, and ethylbenzene. Heavy metals such as barium, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, and mercury have also been found in produced water. Produced water can also be radioactive—in some cases, as much as 100 times more radioactive than the discharge of a nuclear power plant” (Doyle 1994).
37
• Official sources, principally the Ministry of Energy and Mines and related energy sector
bodies such as OSINERG (Regulatory Body for Energy Investment), PerúPetro, DGAAE
(General Direction for Environmental and Energy Affairs); the Ministry of Health and
related health sector agencies such as DIGESA (Environmental Health Agency), DESA‐
Loreto (Regional Health Department of Loreto), and the Epidemiology Division
(DGE); the Ministry of Agriculture, in particular the body responsible for natural
resources, INRENA (previous known as ONERN);
• Sources related to the operating companies: Occidental Peruana Inc (Sucursal del
Perú), Pluspetrol Norte S.A. and credit rating agencies (Apoyos y Asociados,
FitchRatings y Pacific Credit Rating);
• Documents prepared by non‐governmental organizations working in the area, such as
the Institute for Investigation of the Peruvian Amazon (IIAP), WWF‐Peru and
Racimos de Ungurahui.
These resources enabled us to create a chronological synthesis of reported impacts and of
sources of contamination in the area. Although different approaches to the problem (and
different methods of analysis) are applied by the various authors, this in no way undermines
the objective of this review. It gives a historical perspective on the awareness of different
organizations and government agencies of the pollution generated by the extractive activities
and its effects. The same sources have been searched for mitigation or remediation activities
on the part of state agencies and concessionary companies and are briefly reviewed.
Interviews
To evaluate the completeness and accuracy of the data presented in official and company
reports, we carried out a total of 36 individual structured interviews and six focus group
discussions in five native communities in the Corrientes basin (in Block 1AB). A similar number
of unstructured interviews were carried out with other villagers in these communities11.
11 These interviews were carried out by MOM, GJM, CO, SMC and XF during a total of 3 months in the
communities.
38
All the interviews were carried out with men, in a variable age range from 17 years
upwards. The interviewers were assisted by Spanish‐Achuar translators from the same
community as the interviewee. All interviews were aimed at gathering as much information
about impacts and their location as possible, in order to identify places that were not
mentioned in official reports or remediation practices that were not up to best practice
standards or applied incorrectly. Timelines were also used during the structured interviews to
get a better idea of the relative time of various impact events.
Physical inspections
A number of walks were carried out to identify impacts described by community members
in situ. A total of 50 walks, covering some 500 km, were carried out on foot by MOM, GJM, CO,
SMC and XF, along with local guides and a team of indigenous environmental monitors. The
authors have a visual record of 762 photographs and four videos of georeferenced impact
locations.
This study’s limitations include the fact—as we shall show—that official, company and
NGO records are incomplete and cannot describe the full range and depth of environmental,
health and social impacts of oil extraction. Similarly, respondent recall of environmental
impacts going back over 30 years is probably incomplete, and the physical inspection of the
territory could not cover the whole area affected by oil activities. In spite of these limitations,
the data gathered are sufficient to paint a picture of the environmental contamination of the
Río Corrientes and the communities who live there that warrants further study.
Results
Some basic figures give a sense of the scale of operations: the Ministry of Energy and
Mines (MEM) recorded 11 578 km of seismic lines cut for exploration before 1986 in Block
8/8x alone, with the corresponding 50 000 holes drilled for seismic detonations, equivalent to
750 km drilled and more than 200 000 kg of explosives applied (MEM 1998). Since 1971, 398
productive wells have been drilled across Achuar territory, 223 of which have now been
abandoned (Apoyos & Asociados 2006). Today, an average of two spills12 a year are officially
12 Peruvian legislation does not establish a difference between a ‘normal leak’ and a spill, whether they are
temporary or permanent. The legislation only defines those spills or leaks of more than one barrel of liquid
39
reported in both concessions (OSINERG 2007) but our research suggests that there are far
more that go unreported (see below).
Health exposures
The Achuar report increasing mortality which they attribute to acute cases of poisoning,
cancer and other unfamiliar illnesses including allergic reactions of the skin and eyes (La Torre
López 1999). Other environmental impacts are also reported in the area: there are
innumerable testimonies of illegal logging, illegal trafficking in protected animal species, and
hunting and commercialization of bushmeat, all undertaken by petroleum company workers
and subcontracted companies (often through official company airports), to the detriment of
indigenous peoples’ subsistence resources. Thus petroleum operations have had direct and
indirect impacts on Achuar health, both through exposure to toxic substances or as a result of
malnutrition associated with the reduction in animal populations available to hunt and fish,
caused by contamination or overexploitation of limited forest resources13.
In this chapter we summarize the environmental exposures reported in official documents
by the Peruvian authorities. Some of the studies presented below were carried out in part due
to application of current legislation and as part of state supervision activities; others were the
result of actions of resistance and denunciation by the native communities and their
federation FECONACO (2007). These studies include results from tests of surface water, water
for human consumption, sediments and some biological samples of fish tissue and human
blood. While this section refers to values for contaminants found in soils and sediments in the
Corrientes area, Peruvian legislation lacks official standards for contaminants in soil and
sediments. Table 1 lists soil and sediment standards used in the United States as a reference
for these values.
hydrocarbons as a ‘loss requiring report’, according to Supreme Decree No 015‐2006‐EM. Until this decree replaced the previous one (No 055‐93‐EM, superseded in 2006) the volume of crude lost that was judged ‘reportable’ was 10 barrels.
13 The overexploitation of faunal resources is the result of a high demand for bushmeat from company workers in and around communities. It was one of the very few sources of income for families who did not have a relative working for the company. Until 1996 the operating companies did not employ any Achuar to work at the installations. Since then the trade in bushmeat has declined but continues.
40
In 1984 ONERN (previous government agency for natural resources) drew attention to the
intense deterioration of the region, describing it as “one of the most damaged critical
environmental areas in the country” (ONERN 1984).
Table 1. Soil and sediment standards used by EPA in the United States. Compiled from data found in EPA
2004. Values noted as “NV” indicate no value for the parameter.
a Petroleum hydrocarbons is a general term used to describe mixtures of organic compounds
found in or derived from geological substances such as oil, bitumen and coal. Petroleum
hydrocarbons are comprised of four fractions: F1 (C6–C10), F2 (>C10–C16), F3 (>C16–34), and F4
(>34). For the purpose of this study, the four fractions have been added to give a composite
value for petroleum hydrocarbons, comparable to “total petroleum hydrocarbons” used by
Peruvian legislation. b The number in parentheses is the maximum concentration of the contaminant for medium and
fine textured soil, and the other number is the maximum concentration in coarse textured soil.
In 1998 the Ministry of Energy and Mines itself, as part of the World Bank’s Technical
Assistance Program for Energy and Mines, published a Territorial Environmental Evaluation of
the Tigre‐Pastaza basin (including the Río Corrientes) presenting certain conclusions about the
historical environmental damage caused by petroleum exploitation in the region (MEM 1998).
This report recorded high concentrations of contaminants such as oils and fats14, and mercury
in all the rivers receiving production waters, even in the larger ones (such as the Corrientes,
Tigre and Pastaza) despite their capacity for dilution. High concentrations of hydrocarbons,
14 Peruvian legislation gives no maximum permissible limit for total petroleum hydrocarbons in water or
sediment. It does provide a parameter for oils and fats, defined according to the ‘Standard Methods’ as ‘any material recovered in the form of a soluble substance in the solvent’; trichlorofluoroethane is the recommended solvent (DGAA 1996; MEM (nd)).
41
barium, lead and chlorides15 were also found in samples of surface water from tributary
streams. Petroleum spills of varying sizes were identified on the surface of rivers and on land
and the results of river sediment analysis showed contamination by heavy metals and
chlorides, hydrocarbon concentrations of 54.5 mg kg−1 P.S. with some as high as 43 595.5 mg
kg−1 P.S., and oil and fat concentrations of more than 21 mg kg−1 P.S. with a maximum of 7378
mg kg−1 P.S. Analysis of air quality around production installations (which aims to quantify
pollution from gas flaring), revealed hydrogen sulfide concentrations that were four times the
maximum permissible levels (MEM 1998).
Calculations of affected areas around the production installations, evaluated on the basis
of barium analyses, found that 34 ha were seriously polluted, 95 ha moderately polluted and
292 ha had slight pollution (MEM 1998). Evaluations of deforestation and other kinds of
impacts classified 427 ha as “seriously to moderately affected” in Block 8 (Pluspetrol). In Block
1AB alone the surface area deforested, affected by effluents or covered by crude oil spills, was
calculated at 10 538 ha. In addition, the perforation of 348 wells was estimated to have
contaminated 52.2 ha due to the unprotected dumping of drilling muds16 (MEM 1998).
In 2004 OSINERG (the regulatory body for energy investment) recorded the presence “of
areas saturated by contamination due to old and recent hydrocarbon activities” (OSINERG
2004:19) and the existence of “extensive areas of cleared and deforested rainforest, presence
of visible petroleum spills in rivers, soils and around all production installations” (OSINERG
2004:16). Analysing environmental samples, OSINERG reported that: “of 46 samples taken of
natural soils and river water, streams, areas of soil restoration and others [...] 36 present levels
of contamination above maximum permissible limits” (OSINERG 2004:16) due to high
15 The presence of chlorides in waterways is probably due to the extremely high salt content of Corrientes
production waters. 16 According to the definition given in Peruvian legislation, drilling muds are ‘the fluid circulated during
operations inside the well, with special characteristics to keep it clean and controlled’ (DS 055‐93‐EM). E&P Forum/UNEP is more specific, describing these muds as the ‘specialized fluid made up of a mixture of clays, water (sometimes oil) and chemicals, which, once drilling commences, is continuously circulated down the drill pipe and back to the surface equipment. Its purpose is to balance underground hydrostatic pressure, cool the bit and flush out rock cuttings’ (UNEP‐IE/E&P‐Forum 1997:7). The specific composition of drilling muds varies at each oil field. E&P Forum/UNEP suggests that ‘water‐based drilling fluids have been demonstrated to have only limited effect on the environment. The major components are clay and bentonite which are chemically inert and nontoxic. Some other components are biodegradable, whilst others are slightly toxic after dilution. The effects of heavy metals associated with drilling fluids (Ba, Cd, Zn, Pb) have been shown to be minimal, because the metals are bound in minerals and hence have limited bioavailability. Oil‐based drilling fluids and oily cuttings, on the other hand, have an increased effect due to toxicity and redox potential. The oil content of the discharge is probably the main factor governing these effects’ (UNEP‐IE/E&P‐Forum 1997:13). They affirmthat major risks arise from spills and leakage of chemicals and oil, and that simple preventative techniques such as segregated and contained drainage systems should be incorporated into facility design and maintenance. Other authors estimate the risk to be considerable since ‘common components of drilling fluids can solubilize the barium, creating hazardous waste’ (Doyle 1994).
42
temperatures, presence of total hydrocarbons, chlorides and barium. In addition they find that
production water monitoring by the company is carried out at points that do not correspond
to actual outlets of production water, and thus monitoring reports by Pluspetrol Norte S.A. are
not valid. Also documented is the fact that “Pluspetrol Norte S.A. only does a very inefficient
separation of hydrocarbons and fats before dumping the production waters on the ground or
into streams. The effluent contains high concentrations of chlorides, oils and fats, as well as
high temperatures” (OSINERG 2004:5) and that the method of remediation of soils used by
Pluspetrol Norte S.A. is deficient, since high levels of total hydrocarbons have been identified
that exceed the maximum permissible limits established by existing legislation (OSINERG
2004:18).
Although the monitoring points do not correspond to the places where production waters
are really being dumped into water ways, as OSINERG reports, the company’s monthly
monitoring reports to MEM show annual average levels of contaminants that exceed
acceptable limits: more than 250 mg l−1 of chlorides in nine out of 25 monitoring points and
barium and lead concentrations over maximum permissible levels at two monitoring stations,
one for each parameter. Thirteen monitoring stations show specific monthly readings for
barium, lead or pH levels over maximum permissible levels (Pluspetrol Norte S. A. 1997‐2002).
The waters of the Río Corrientes have been classified (for application of the Water Law) as
“Waters of areas for the preservation of aquatic fauna and recreational or commercial fishing”
with the acceptable lead levels set at 0.03 mg l−1. In analyses undertaken by the Regional
Health Department (Dirección Regional de Salud) in Loreto in 2005, lead levels exceeded
acceptable limits according to the General Water Law (Ley General de Aguas) in two of 37
samples analysed (DESA 2005). The Corrientes and tributaries are not considered waters for
human consumption, although the Achuar communities have always used them for drinking
and cooking. WHO guidelines recommend that lead levels in water for human consumption
should not exceed 0.01 mg Pb l−1 but the reported results only state that the remaining 35
samples had <0.025 mg Pb l−1, thus making it impossible to judge if WHO guidelines are
exceeded. Results for cadmium and copper are similarly difficult to evaluate, in the first case
because the detection limit of the study method (0.01 mg Cd l−1) is substantially higher than
the established permissible limit (0.004 mg Cd l−1), and in the second because there is no limit
established for copper in the Water Law. Concentrations of total petroleum hydrocarbons
found in this study were below the detectable limit of the method of analysis used (1 mg l−1),
43
but in any case the Water Law has set no maximum permissible limits for this parameter (DESA
2005).
Another study carried out by the Environmental Health Agency (DIGESA, part of the
Ministry of Health) concludes that three17 out of 17 surface water samples contained chloride
concentrations over a reference value taken from an Ecuadorian Technical Environmental
Regulation (250 mg l−1) (DIGESA 2006). Of five sediment samples, all showed concentrations of
total petroleum hydrocarbons between 370 and 1560 mg kg−1 P.S. and lead levels of 18–24 mg
kg−1 P.S. (DIGESA 2006). These results were considered merely informative by DIGESA since
there is no limit for these substances established in Peruvian law.
The same study presents the results of 74 blood samples taken from 2 to 17 year olds in six
native communities and in Villa Trompeteros, the District capital, in 2005 (Table 2). Acceptable
WHO blood lead levels (BLL, maximum permissible limit = 10 μg Pb dl−1) were exceed in 66.21%
of the samples. In the same study, of 125 adult blood samples (aged 18–60 years) 79.20% have
levels of 10–19.9 μg Pb dl−1 (DIGESA 2006). All fall below 20 μg Pb dl−1, the absorption limit for
people not occupationally exposed to lead, according to the American Conference of
Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH), Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and
Lauwerys and Hoet. USAID indicates that no safe BLL is known and that even BLLs of less than
10 μg dl−1 have adverse health effects in children. In adults, high BLLs are related to
hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Lead can be carried from maternal to foetal
circulation through the placenta and exposure of the foetus to lead, even at maternal blood
levels of less than 10 μg dl−1, adversely affects foetal brain development (USAID 2005).
17 In fact, according to the corresponding table presented in the DIGESA report, it would appear that four
points exceeded the reference value (DIGESA 2006: Cuadro 11) but the text reports only three.
44
Table 2. Results of analyses of lead in blood (Source: table created with data from DIGESA (2006)). Note:
acceptable blood lead levels according to the WHO, ACGIH, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and Lauwerys and
Hoet are: 10 μg Pb dl−1 (children), 20 μg Pb dl−1 (adults not occupationally exposed to lead) and the biological
tolerance limit is 40 μg Pb dl−1.
Blood samples in this study were also tested for cadmium (Table 3) which led to the finding
that 98.65% of 2–17 year olds exceeded acceptable limits for people not occupationally
exposed (<0.1 μg Cd dl−1), 37.84% were classified as at risk with 0.21–0.5 μg Cd dl−1 and 59.46%
exceeded the biological tolerance limits (BTL18) for cadmium (>0.5 μg Cd dl−1). Of the adult
samples 99.20% were over established permissible limits and 68% were over BTL19. Both
cadmium and lead are considered to be among the six most toxic metals for humans (Spadaro
and Rabl 2004).
Table 3. Results of analyses of cadmium in blood (Source: table created with data from DIGESA (2006)). Note:
acceptable blood cadmium levels according to the ACGIH, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and Lauwerys and
Hoet are: 0.1 μg Cd dl−1 (non‐smoking adults not occupationally exposed to cadmium), 0.2 μg Cd dl−1 (adults who
smoke but are not occupationally exposed to cadmium) and the biological tolerance limit is 0.5 μg Cd dl−1.
18 BTL: maximum permissible amount of a chemical compound or its metabolites in a worker, or the maximum
permissible deviation from the norm of a given biological parameter, induced by these substances in human beings. 19 For the interpretation of adult results, DIGESA used references and BTL values proposed by the American
Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH), Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and Lauwerys and Hoet. For children, DIGESA applied the maximum permissible levels recommended by the WHO and the scheme for follow up of lead intoxication proposed by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia (USA).
45
In addition to these documents and reports prepared by public bodies, the authorities
have also been notified of the results of several studies carried out by other institutions.
Reports published by the Research Institute of the Peruvian Amazon (IIAP) between 1983 and
1987 found high concentrations of lead and copper in the Río Corrientes and in the tissues of
fish from rivers and lakes in the region. The levels in tissue samples were above acceptable
limits for human consumption, indicating bioaccumulation of these compounds. IIAP also
reported the incipient pollution by hexavalent chromium (Cr6+), considered carcinogenic and
also one of the six most toxic heavy metals for humans (Spadaro and Rabl 2004), in the
Macusari River (tributary of the Corrientes) and other areas of exploitation. IIAP concluded
that the main sources of exposure were the production waters discharged into the rivers and
streams of the Corrientes basin (IIAP 1985, 1987). None of IIAP’s findings were followed up by
the relevant authorities.
There are substantial gaps in our understanding of the environmental and health impacts
generated by the activities of Occidental Petroleum, Petroperu and Pluspetrol in Achuar
territory. However, as we have shown, successive Peruvian administrations and the
concessionary companies have produced official reports—dating as far back as the 1980s—
drawing attention to the serious pollution of the Corrientes basin and recommending
intervention to design and carry out containment, remediation and mitigation measures.
Sources of contamination: company operating policy and remediation
Official documents identify the following as potential sources of contamination related to
the petroleum activity in the area:
• the dumping of:
* solid domestic waste, calculated at 3.85 tonnes/day for both lots (MEM 1998);
* drilling muds: according to MEM, in 1998, “348 wells have been perforated in
the watershed, so approximately 52.2 ha are estimated to be contaminated by
drilling muds” (MEM 1998). In addition, “during the drilling of a typical well in
the region of 3000 m in depth, some 300–600 tonnes of mud may be used, and
1000–1500 tonnes of cuttings produced” (UNEP‐IE/E&P‐Forum 1997:15). Given
46
that the depth of the productive wells in the Corrientes basin is between 9000
and 13000 ft (2500–4000 m) (MEM 1998: section 5.3) we can estimate a total
production of drilling muds from 398 wells (in 2006) at 676 600 tonnes;
* petroleum spills (from broken pipes, wells and storage tanks): “the area
deforested (in Block 1AB), the areas altered by discharges of produced water
and the areas covered by petroleum spills total 10 538 has” (MEM 1998).
Meanwhile in Block 8 an estimated 427 ha were affected (MEM 1998). In
addition, according to the record of spills reported to OSINERG between 1998
and 2006, a total of 6619.7 barrels of crude oil have been lost (OSINERG 2007).
This record underestimates the real volume of spills since it does not consider
hydrocarbons discharged into the environment in production waters, nor spills
of less than 10 barrels (minimum spill size reported until 2006);
* daily (continuous) production waters: from 1972 to 1997, the extractive process
in Block 1AB alone produced a daily average of 762 000 barrels of production
water (compared to a daily average of 52 286 barrels of petroleum, MEM 1998).
Although the historical average is not known for Block 8, in 1997 a daily average
of 183 000 barrels of production waters were dumped into local waterways
(MEM 1998). This waste water has high concentrations of chlorides, heavy
metals, metalloids and total petroleum hydrocarbons on the surface and in
emulsion;
• gaseous emissions from:
* petroleum storage tanks;
* gas venting;
* gas flaring;
* electric generators and petroleum burners (incinerators) in the camps.
The PAMA (Programme of adaptation and environmental management) gives the total
annual emissions of Block 1AB in 1996 as 6050 tons of nitrogen oxides, 1443 tonnes of carbon
monoxide, 442 tonnes of non‐methane hydrocarbons, 435 tonnes of particulate matter and
304.9 tonnes of sulfur dioxide (Oxy 1996). In reaching these figures, Oxy only considered gas
flaring at the central production facilities, but not emissions from petroleum tanks, gas
venting, generators or incinerators.
47
There are undoubtedly more sources of contamination than those identified by the
government inspectors to date. In December 2006, we witnessed and documented some of
Pluspetrol Norte’s poor procedures for elimination of spills, including burning them (and
nearby vegetation) and burying them without adequate sealing measures (one of the ways in
which the company attempts to “clean up” spills). The company appears to have no efficient
systems to mitigate or contain spills early on or to respond rapidly and restore areas affected
by spills. In addition we have documented and gathered testimonies of the following
practices—many of which are still in use:
• Abandonment of open waste pits (for drilling muds and petroleum) without proofing,
or discharge of drillingmuds and production tests straight into the nearest water
bodies.
• Absence of drainage systems at well sites and waste pits (containing drilling muds, spilt
hydrocarbons or production waters) to cope with run‐off due to heavy rains or
excessive dumping.
• Inefficient separation systems discharging production waters at high temperature and
with high content of oil and fats.
• Spills of between two and six barrels per week at each well due to maintenance and
pressure control activities (“operational leaks”).
• Unreported leakages and spills throughout the system of pipelines (including some
abandoned ones).
• Completion of control and recovery actions after spills, without any action being taken
with regard to oil products that could not be recovered.
• Use of obsolete technology to contain and recover spills. Examples include:
* manual recovery of crude with buckets tied to sticks with lianas;
* recovery containers with holes in them;
* use of tree trunks and palm leaves as containment barriers;
* use of buoys without appropriate methods for fixing them in place;
48
* absorbents20 abandoned in the waterways where they are applied.
• Periodic cleaning of pipelines takes place in open areas and without systems of
recovery or drainage. Residues removed from the pipeline are abandoned in situ.
• The use of untreated hydrocarbon residues from the bottom of storage tanks for
company road maintenance.
• Burning of petroleum spills: crude oil from spills is collected in metal barrels and burnt
or alternatively an entire area affected by a spill is burnt without any action to restore
the area.
• All kinds of solid waste are abandoned on the land and sometimes sold by workers to
indigenous communities: e.g. old containers previously used for toxic wastes are sold
to the communities where they are commonly used to store food.
Other documented practices that are not related to waste management but with clear
negative health consequences for the local indigenous population are the demand for
prostitution in communities and sexual abuse of Achuar women, with additional potential for
the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases. Foreign workers may also bring new
diseases to the area which the Achuar have not encountered before. In addition, alterations
caused to the natural drainage system also present a risk, for example the creation of large
areas of standing water are conducive to the proliferation of the mosquito Anopheles sp., the
principal vector for malaria—a significant health problem along the Corrientes.
Company and state actions
It seems clear that either through negligence or cost‐cutting, the operating companies’
(currently Pluspetrol Norte S.A. but previously Petroperu and Oxy) do not and have not taken
adequate steps to mitigate the environmental and health impacts of their activities, including
poor daily practice in waste management, the quality and security of their installations and
infrastructure and the non‐implementation of contingency plans. The dumping of untreated
20 Absorbents are water‐repelling cleanup agents for industrial and marine oil spills that absorb most types of
oils. They contain cellulose, lignin, protein, starch and calcium.
49
production waters into freshwater streams and waterways is a clear example: when
operations began on the Corrientes in the 1970s, such practices had been illegal or severely
restricted for decades in most oil producing states in the USA (Goldman, La Torre López, and
Lya Ramos 2007). We consider of particular concern the companies’ repeated denials to the
Achuar communities of the existence of pollution in their territories and of the risk to these
communities in case of exposure, as well as the absence of channels of communication to
warn, inform and help protect communities in case of spills or where effluents are discharged
into the rivers.
The health situation in the Achuar communities is further aggravated because the
concessionary company appears to be covering up the impacts of its activities. As previously
cited, “the real production water outlets are not at the points declared by the company”
(OSINERG 2004) in the monthly monitoring reports to MEM, thus invalidating the company’s
water monitoring results and casting doubt on other data provided by the company. Such
practices make it impossible for the authorities to initiate appropriate mechanisms on behalf
of local communities. This has led the communities to sue Oxy, as an American corporation, in
the United States and the case is currently before a Los Angeles Superior Court (New Scientist
2007).
However, the responsibility for the current “health emergency” (FECONACO 2007) in the
Achuar communities of the Río Corrientes does not fall exclusively on the operating companies
but also on the State. The absence of a public authority in this remote area of rainforest means
that the health service is practically nonexistent, without any direct role or intervention to
affect health status. The first general evaluation of Achuar health has only recently been
published by the MoH’s Epidemiology Division (DGE 2006) and many communities have no
access to health care.
In addition, regulatory or supervisory bodies have failed to apply any significant sanctions
to any of the companies that have operated in these concessions. Pluspetrol Norte S.A. has
been fined by OSINERG several times for contamination, but has appealed all of these
resolutions and is often exempted, for example in May 2005 the Fiscal Tribunal found in favour
of Pluspetrol Perú Corporation, annulling fines in excess of $5m US (Resolución del Tribunal
Fiscal No 02197‐5‐2005, cited in Pacific Credit Rating 2005. Local, regional and national
governments have not responded to repeated requests by the communities and their
50
federation, nor to the now numerous technical reports described above that highlight the very
real possibility of an environmental and human disaster along the Río Corrientes.
The authorities’ inaction has been in evidence for some time. In a recent example, even
after completing the blood tests that showed alarmingly high blood lead and cadmium levels,
the Ministry of Health took no action. Nearly a year passed from the time the samples were
collected, in June 2005, until their publication and delivery to the communities in May 2006.
Even achieving this apparently simple and ethical response required the presentation of
notarized letters to the Minister of Health, Dr Pilar Mazetti Soler. No health action plan had
been designed or considered during the intervening 11 months.
Another complication of evaluating the contamination on the Corrientes relates to the lack
of technical legislation in Peru on permissible levels of many pollutants in water or sediments,
which means that results are considered merely informative and led to no action (DESA 2005;
DIGESA 2006; OSINERG 2004). In addition, the limits of detection of the methods used by
government bodies in analysis of samples are often higher than the permissible limits
established by law (or international precedent) and cannot therefore discern violations of
existing legislation or best practice.
The government of Peru, the President and Congressmen, all know “that the communities
living along the banks of the rivers inspected rely on the water sources in Block 1AB mainly to
satisfy basic nutritional needs” (OSINERG 2004) and yet no action has been taken. Hardly any
of the numerous recommendations made in the various reports had been implemented before
the indigenous communities paralyzed oil production in both blocks for two weeks in October
2006 (La Torre López and Napolitano 2007). A few days after agreement was reached and the
Achuar lifted their strike, an engineer at the Environmental Health Agency (DIGESA) claimed
that there was no evidence of health impacts caused by petroleum activities among the
Achuar: “up to the present time there is no medical study with regard to the impact the
petroleum activity has caused to the Achuar. What has been found are the remains of lead and
cadmium in the blood of a group of inhabitants [. . .] neither of these heavy metals are
originated by the petroleum activity” (Peralta Liñán 2006).
51
52
Conclusion
In sum, both the operating companies and the State have been highly negligent or
incompetent in their approach to exploitation of the Corrientes oil fields and the impacts on
the Achuar communities who live there and depend on the health of their territories for their
survival and well‐being.
The few exposure and human health parameters studied so far in the Achuar communities
along the Corrientes reveal an extremely serious situation and highlight the need for an in‐
depth evaluation of the health status of all the region’s inhabitants. Accurate baseline
information is lacking for the appropriate design of a health plan to respond to communities’
needs21. Similarly, a study in environmental epidemiology is urgently needed to better
establish the relations between petroleum contamination detected in surface water,
sediments and soils, the presence of these substances in the human population, and possible
long term effects on the health of the Achuar. Without such a study any action plan to address
health impacts will fall short of the objective.
An in‐depth analysis of the culture of the companies and the government oil sector would
also be illuminating and perhaps suggest better ways of ensuring efficient supervision of
activities, thus mitigating impacts.
21 Such a plan should be funded by Pluspetrol as one of several commitments reached at the end of the
Achuar’s protest in October 2006, but progress has been limited.
Chapter 2
Science for indigenous activism: mapping the impacts of oil companies 22
22 Authors: Martí Orta‐Martínez, Gregor J MacLennan, Sylvia Ciborowski, Wendy Pineda, Aurelien Stoll, Cristina
O’Callaghan‐Gordo and Xavier Fabregas‐Peries. Submitted 29 April 2010. Annals of the Association of American Geographers.
Authors acknowledge the work of the monitors and the help from FECONACO, the IEMT and the Achuar indigenous communities of the Corrientes River. The field data were collected with the essential participation of the Achuar communities of the Corrientes River basin and their IEMT members. We are grateful for the support of Andrés Sandi Mucushua, Gonzalo Payma, Henderson Rengifo, Petronila Nakaim Chumpi and other indigenous leaders of FECONACO; Segundo Walter Hualinga, José Chimboras, Gil Dahua, Ramón Salas, Guevara Sandi, Miguel Carijano, José Tamani, Patricio Piñola, Wilson Sandi, Niver Peraza and other members of the environmental monitoring team. We thank Joan Martinez‐Alier, Victoria Reyes‐García and Jaime Paneque‐Galvez for reviewing the manuscript and Agustín Lobo‐Aleu for fieldwork design supervision. The MELPGIS project was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Innovation and Science through a FPU grant AP‐2004‐7103, a US Fulbright Scholarship and the NGOs 11.11.11, Racimos de Ungurahui, Shinai, RNF, FAS‐UAB and WWF‐Perú.
53
Introduction
In March the 24th, 2008 The BBC News published that in the jungles of Peru, indigenous
peoples armed with Global Positioning System (GPS) were reporting on the occurrence of oil
spills before the authorities and the oil companies themselves knew about them (Collyns
2008). Such news, echoed by the Peruvian press (La República 2008), were born from the
practices explained in the present chapter. The work described here began following the
demand of the indigenous groups of Río Corrientes (Figure 5) who wanted to have maps
describing their territories and resources, as well as document the impacts caused upon them
by oil exploration and extraction activities. Our ICTA‐UAB team and the NGOs Racimos de
Ungurahui and Shinai were initially asked to jointly map with FECONACO those sites impacted
by oil extraction (the so called externalities, or cultural, social and environmental liabilities).
Soon after starting the mapping process we realized the potential usefulness of a permanent in
situ indigenous monitoring of oil impacts. Thus, we planned and developed an “indigenous
system for mapping and monitoring the oil industry impacts” that was based on a particular
application of indigenous mapping methodologies.
The objectives of the system were to empower indigenous people through the
reinforcement of their own perception of impacts, and also to link them to government policy‐
makers and to the national and international civil society to prompt both the Peruvian State
and the oil companies to take the necessary steps to mitigate the environmental and health
impacts related to oil extraction activities. In this chapter we present a general protocol for
Monitoring Environmental Liabilities of extractive industry through Participatory GIS
(MELPGIS).
54
Figure 5. Achuar communities involved in the MELPGIS project. Overlap of oil and gas blocks with the Achuar
territory of Río Corrientes, titled communities, protected areas and territorial reserves for the protection of
indigenous people in voluntary isolation.
Indigenous mapping (IM) has been defined as a family of “methodologies for mapping
done by and for indigenous peoples to achieve political goals” (Chapin, Lamb, and Threlkeld
2005). IM began in Canada and Alaska in the 1950s and 1960s. Since the 1960s the
development of this methodology has been mostly related to the evolution of the indigenous
people movement and its political goals. In that sense, IM has mainly been used to fight for the
recognition of indigenous peoples’ territorial rights, a key right to guarantee the
accomplishment of health, cultural and political rights for indigenous people (Surrallés and
Garcia‐Hierro 2004). IM has also been used for cultural reinforcement (documentation of
history and culture to salvage and reinforce cultural identity, known as cultural mapping)
(Poole 2003), empowering or strengthening indigenous political organization, economic
planning, natural resource management and conservation biology (Ferguson and Messier
1997). In this chapter we follow Chapin 2005 and use indigenous mapping to refer to a set of
similar methodologies that are found in the literature with different terms, such as traditional
knowledge and land use studies, traditional land use and occupancy studies, subsistence
55
mapping, resource use mapping, participatory mapping (Chambers 1997), community mapping
(Fox 2002), ethnocartography (Chapin and Threlkeld 2001) or those that stem from a more
technological approach, like participatory GIS (PGIS) (Abbot J 1998) or public participation GIS
(Jordan 2002; Obermeyer 1998). However, it is important to note that some of these terms
may have applications far beyond that of IM, which only concerns indigenous peoples.
MELPGIS usefulness
Indigenous territories are on the frontiers of many commodities, such as agricultural and
ranching products, agrofuels, timber, rubber, oil, gas, coal, iron ore, gold, bauxite and other
minerals (Bedoya 2004; Finer et al. 2008; Watson 1996). Political ecology has been shown to
be useful when studying resource extraction conflicts at the commodity frontiers (Martínez‐
Alier 2002). Political ecology, recognizing the extent to which environmental changes and
societal processes are intertwined, gives us a “materialist” perspective on environmental
history by considering that societal processes take place within a material world whose
properties constrain what is possible and determine the environmental consequences of
human patterns of consumption and production (Hornborg, McNeill, and Martinez‐Alier 2007).
From this materialist perspective, we realise that the more materials and energy the economy
makes use of, the more waste it produces and the more relevant is the advance of the
commodity frontiers. In the case of non‐renewable energy resources, there is the combined
force of increasing consumption and world demand, and decreasing extraction rates and
discoveries. The oil extraction peak in Hubbert’s curve has possibly been reached
(Tsoskounoglou, Ayerides, and Tritopoulou 2008) and there is now a need to travel further into
the frontiers of extraction, often territories where there are human populations. Likewise,
applying political ecology to the analysis of modern societies may be useful to show the
differential distribution of costs (such as the impacts caused by the oil industry) and benefits of
production and consumption of natural resources among countries, regions and social groups,
which creates ecological distribution conflicts and, as a consequence, increases the
movements complaining against environmental injustices. In fact, the demands by FECONACO
that gave birth to this project can be seen as claims for environmental justice.
Oil exploration and exploitation have been very pollutant in peripheral countries that lack
supervision capacities (Goldman, La Torre López, and Lya Ramos 2007; Korovkin 2003); see
56
also chapter 1). They have also contributed to cultural assimilation and integration to the
market economy (Suarez et al. 2009). However, the safeguard of cultural diversity coupled
with the use of simple technology and a limited access to external markets have been shown
to favour biodiversity conservation (Hames 2007; Toledo 2001). Previous research has claimed
that for theses reasons, indigenous peoples are biodiversity guardians or allies. The recognition
of territorial rights for indigenous people whose ancestral territory overlaps with oil activities
seems to be, by itself, an insufficient measure to avoid the various cultural and environmental
impacts emerging from oil industry in these areas (Surrallés and Garcia‐Hierro 2004). Under
such circumstances, we argue that indigenous participatory monitoring can prove to be a
useful tool.
Recently, new IM approaches have been proposed and implemented to face informal,
illegal, and small‐budget extractive activities. Although no scientific literature has addressed
this issue, some examples and practical experiences can be found on the web. For example,
Mark Plotkin and the NGO Amazon Conservation Team (ACT) along with the Tumucumaque
indigenous people of Suriname, undertook this mapping approach pursuing to protect their
territory against encroachment by illegal and informal gold miners ‐cited in Butler (Butler
2006)‐. In this chapter we propose a protocol for applying IM to monitor formal, industrial,
legal, big‐budget, and usually transnational oil activities conducted on indigenous territories,
to defend indigenous peoples ancestral lands and resources from the advancement of the
commodity frontiers. The novelty of the present chapter springs from the fact that there is no
scientific work on the arena of indigenous monitoring of oil industries nor the application of IM
for this purpose has been described in scientific terms to date. This applies so far to extractive
industries in general.
As just mention in the previous chapter, despite Peruvian state agencies have identified
the negative impacts on the Achuar territory for more than two decades, barely any action to
stop or mitigate them has been undertaken either by the Peruvian government or the oil
companies until recent days (see chapter 1). Furthermore, although oil exploration and
extraction in the Peruvian Amazon dates from the 1920s, the Peruvian Amazon is currently
experiencing a new oil exploration boom (see chapter 3). As a consequence, hydrocarbon‐
related socio‐environmental conflicts are increasing in the Peruvian Amazon. In 2008 and
2009, hostile confrontations erupted between Amazonian indigenous peoples and the
Peruvian government’s forces (see chapter 4).
57
At present, some 180 oil and gas blocks cover about 688,000 km2 of the western Amazon
(Finer et al. 2008), including Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and Colombia. Therefore, the case of
the Achuar, Kichwa, and Urarina is by no means the only one. In fact, it is likely that several
large recent oil discoveries in the remotest forests of the Peruvian Amazon will trigger a new
wave of encroachment upon indigenous titled lands in Peru. We argue that the oil industry
indigenous mapping and monitoring system presented here (MELPGIS) can be successfully
deployed by other indigenous people to control and defend their territory in other areas of the
Amazon as well as in any other oil frontiers elsewhere. Likewise, we believe that it can be
tailored to monitor other extractive industry activities undertaken in indigenous territories.
In this chapter we present MELPGIS as a schematic project sequence to serve as a guide
for anyone interested in undertaking mapping projects to promote indigenous rights and to
monitor environmental liabilities of oil or other extractive industries operating across their
territories. In section two we explain the theoretical and methodological protocol that has
been used for the design, implementation and evaluation of MELPGIS. In section three we
expand on a general protocol to monitor extractive industries, built upon our particular
experience with FECONACO about oil industry monitoring. Finally, in section four, we discuss
the achievements and shortcomings of our protocol in terms of empowerment of indigenous
people and mitigation of the impacts; in addition, we make some policy recommendations that
might improve these results.
Methodology
The protocol we adopted to deploy MELPGIS was established within the framework of
Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) and Participatory Action Research (PAR). PAR and PRA were
considered the appropriate theoretical and practical framework for this project for three main
reasons. First, both approaches have provided the framework of PGIS development, especially
for those using IM as an indigenous political tool to back their rights and claims (Chapin, Lamb,
and Threlkeld 2005). Second, PRA has been proven to be an effective tool for development and
empowerment (Chambers 1994), which was also a key objective of our project, namely, the
improvement of indigenous peoples’ health and of the state of environment in their territory
and the production of tools to safeguard the indigenous rights against oil activities. Third, the
application of PGIS to monitor the impacts of the oil industry was initiated in response to local
demands of Achuar, Kichwa, and Urarina indigenous communities associated to FECONACO. In
58
that sense, the indigenous communities wanted to join our research team in the design,
implementation, and evaluation of the monitoring system. Thus, PAR and PRA provided us
with the tools and methods we deemed necessary to meet the requirements of the indigenous
communities.
The MELPGIS protocol was developed following the next steps:
• Indigenous mapping literature review. Firstly, we selected an IM standard method. The
protocol presented here integrates the new requirements of monitoring oil impacts
with a standard approach for IM, selected on completion of a comprehensive
literature review. We decide to adopt the methodology described in Chapin and
Threkeld (2001) and followed the code of ethics as proposed by Rambaldi et al. (2006).
However, the protocol of Chapin and Threkeld was further refined by the use of GIS,
GPS and remote sensing, in a more technically‐oriented PGIS methodology.
• We reviewed literature about the oil industry exploration and production process, oil
industry operational practices and procedures (UNEP‐IE/E&P‐Forum 1997), oil
pollution and impacts (Beristain, Páez, and Fernández 2009; Epstein and Selber 2002;
Jochnick, Normand, and Zaidi 1994; Kimerling 1991; O'Rourke and Connolly 2003; San
Sebastián et al. 2001) and searched for data and methodologies that could be relevant
to oil pollution monitoring systems. We found a number of methodologies, from
different scientific disciplines such as remote sensing and aerial photography analysis,
chemical analysis, time lines, trend and change analysis, oral histories and ethno‐
biographies, key informants (DESA 2005; DIGESA 2006; Groth 1998; Messina et al.
2006; Viña, Echavarria, and Rundquist 2004). All of them are discussed below.
• Planning and protocol design. Group discussions, brainstorming and focus groups with
FECONACO leaders (two meetings attended by all FECONACO leaders), FECONACO
assemblies (one assembly attended by the traditional authorities or Apus of each
community), indigenous community assemblies (one assembly per community) and
the indigenous environmental monitoring team –IEMT‐ (six meetings attended by the
fifteen members of the IEMT) were held jointly with our external team. During such
meetings and focus groups the objectives of the protocol, who would participate and
how, budgets and schedules to accomplish these objectives were discussed and
established. Target communities for the pilot project and the members of the IEMT
59
were also selected. Their responsibilities, participation and control were decided as
well. In addition, the indicators to be monitored, the methods and techniques to be
used, and the logistics that were necessary to deploy the project were similarly
established.
• Implementation. The pilot project was implemented by the IEMT in five communities
(of the thirty‐two associated with FECONACO. See Figure 5) from 2005 to 2006 (Orta‐
Martínez 2007). A population of more than 800 persons, from a total of about 5000
(SICNA 1997) were involved in the implementation. The IEMT consisted of twelve
monitors, two coordinators, one FECONACO leader responsible for the project, and 2‐3
external advisors from ICTA‐UAB, the NGOs Racimos de Ungurahui and Shinai. The
pilot project spanned one year before it was extended to the other twenty‐seven
indigenous communities.
• Evaluation and fine‐tuning. IEMT workshops and groups discussions with FECONACO
leaders, traditional authorities, FECONACO assemblies and indigenous community
assemblies allowed to re‐define IEMT members’ responsibilities and to identify and
address any methodological, political or logistical problem found on the protocol after
its implementation. During such workshops we conducted SWOT analysis (Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) and other participatory methods like “team
contracts and interactions” and “presentations and analysis”. This procedure enabled
the fine‐tuning of our MELPGIS protocol in a participatory fashion since 2005 and still
today.
To deploy our protocol, we gathered for the IEMT the following field equipment: rugged,
waterproof and hand‐held GPS units (Garmin eTrex Legend, Garmin GPSMap 76 and GPSMap
60), digital waterproof cameras (Olympus stylus 725 sw) and Pelican Cases for the cameras;
solar panels (Powerfilm r15‐1200), rechargeable batteries without self‐discharge (Eneloop AA)
and universal chargers for energy source (Digicharger Plus Universal Charger Ansmann). The
external assessors additionally used a PDA in order to arrive to the impacted sites by
visualizing satellite images in situ. We recommend PDAs that allow battery replacement (Acer
N50) and rugged cases for PDA protection (Otterbox). For data management and presentation
we used ArcGis, Expression Media, Dabble db and Microsoft Publisher.
60
The pilot project’s budget totalled $16,500 including equipment and river travel costs.
However, this figure does not include FECONACO’s input by contributing staff time and
workshop and lodging facilities, nor external advisors’ time and travel costs (funded by a US
Fulbright Scholar and a Spanish PhD grant). With these costs added in, we estimate that the
real cost of the pilot project may have been some $40,000. When extended to all the
participant communities (thirty‐two), the cost of one year project was around $45,000 per
year during the first three years, and $33,000 per year afterwards, once the project could run
without the help of external advisors.
Results
Through the preparation, implementation, and evaluation processes we designed the
protocol presented in this section. This includes the necessary steps for the success of a
MELPGIS project. We illustrate the application of the protocol with some of our experiences
and our errors to reason out such steps. We hope altogether it will facilitate a systematic
discussion on how MELPGIS projects may be best designed and carried out elsewhere. The
protocol is presented here in its ideal form and the numerous pauses and detours we take
along the way with the examples from our experience should not cause readers to lose their
way through it. The protocol applied in the Peruvian Amazon is structured in four steps:
preliminary work, data gathering, data storage and outcomes and data usage
Step 1 / Preliminary work
• Design and planning. In the Río Corrientes, the project arose from local demands of the
indigenous organization (IO), since they wanted to map the impacts of the extractive
industries in the area. They made the demand in 2005 during previous trips of the
external advisors to the area. Indigenous leaders, traditional authorities and
communal assemblies participated in the design and planning of the project. Building
the project upon local demands guarantees local peoples’ participation and the
usefulness of the project results.
• We suggest that, prior to the start of the monitoring activities, a thorough evaluation
of IO strengths be carried out since too many economic interests are involved and
because of the importance of other stakeholders as driving forces for the project
61
success. We therefore evaluated indigenous communities’ affiliation to the IO, IO’s
power structure, the existence or likelihood of corruption, IO’s legitimacy and state
recognition, existence of other IOs, and local and national reputation of other NGOs
and institutions involved in the project.
• As mention before, in the first stage we implemented a pilot project in only five
communities. To avoid conflicts, the selection of the indigenous communities for the
pilot project should be undertaken in an IO assembly or by the representative
organization. IEMT members’ selection should take into account indigenous
communities internal workings, apart from candidates’ skills (literacy). In the Río
Corrientes, IEMT selection was undertaken in a communal assembly.
• Available georeferenced information compilation. External advisors should gather as
much georeferenced information as possible regarding the region where the project is
to be executed. We obtained topographic maps, geographic information of extractive
industry infrastructure and installations (roads, pipelines, wells, base camps,
boundaries of concessions), position of the indigenous and non‐indigenous
communities settled in the area, as well as the limits of titled lands. We also gathered
a Digital Elevation Model (DEM), high resolution satellite images –Landsat, but SPOT
and CBERS‐2B‐ and aerial photographs covering the area. DEMs allow the extraction of
hydrological features such as river networks and basins, which are necessary to
calculate pollution diffusion patterns and to delimitate areas polluted, non‐polluted or
at risk of pollution.
• Familiarize the external team with the project area. Satellite images were visually
interpreted by the external team to recognize the area and to identify impacted sites
for future visits. We also studied the ethnographic material related to the indigenous
groups of the area.
• Definition of impact categories. We conducted focus groups to define oil impacts from
an indigenous perspective, taking into account natural and cultural resources
necessary for their survival. The categories identified through the focus groups are the
ones to be mapped and monitored apart from those identified according to the
bibliography (Table 4).
62
• IEMT training. We trained the IEMT in cartography and GPS use. IEMT coordinators
were selected among the IEMT members after the training took place, based on better
performance. Then, the coordinators had extra training, as detailed below.
63
a) The objective of the IEMT members’ training is to improve the quality of
information gathered and to increase the indigenous control over the monitoring
system. For both reasons, the training curriculum included:
* Oil industry exploration and production process. A wide knowledge and
understanding of upstream activities is useful for a good and detailed
description of impacts;
* Oil industry pollutants. The training also covers basic concepts in health,
bioaccumulation, biomagnification, heavy metals, maximum permissible
limits and other standards. These basic concepts would help IEMT to pay
more attention to the most hazardous waste;
* National legislation and Environmental Impact Assessment. IEMT are
taught the basics of state organs (state agencies related to indigenous
affairs, the extractive industry, health and environment), laws, decrees,
norms and regulations. This knowledge can help IEMT to know which
operational procedures are allowed by law and which are not and should
thereby be reported;
* Technical equipment management. IEMT is instructed in how to use GPS
devices, digital cameras, video cameras and voice recorders. This field
equipment allow them to gather the essential information for in situ
descriptions of the impacted sites;
* Forms and reports writing. This is the most important topic of the training
stage due to the low literacy rates of most indigenous peoples. Monitors
are not used to writing, and thus lack the habit of jotting down long
explanations. Overcoming this limitation is a big challenge as the better
they write the more complete and coherent would the reports be. A
possibility is to provide them with forms in their mother tongue whenever
their writing skills in such a language are substantially better.
* Communication skills are also important since one function of IEMT is to
film and commentate videos of the impacts, and to explain the problem to
mass media reporters should they visit the area.
64
b) IEMT coordinators’ training broadens their curriculum in accordance with their
higher responsibilities, thus including computational skills, database management
and enhanced official report writing.
• Duties and action procedure for the IEMT. In Corrientes, the monitors had to visit
impacted sites, gather information and write reports, while informing communities, IO
and IEMT coordinators. The IEMT coordinators took the responsibility for receiving and
entering all the information gathered into the database. They also had to make formal
complaints and press‐releases, inform IO, and support and supervise the work of IEMT
monitors.
Indigenous maps of the indigenous territory. Territorial maps are required to begin the
monitoring activities. These maps will allow impact evaluation from the local culture’s
perspective by showing the overlaps between impacts and natural and social
resources. They will also help localize old impacts identified by means of interviews
when local toponymy has been georeferenced in the territorial map. Additionally, such
a map will also help planning in situ monitoring of impacts as detected by satellite
images or aerial photography, through the inclusion of hunting trails or other
indigenous tracks. Corrientes’ indigenous territory mapping was developed, as
mentioned earlier on, according to a technically oriented participatory mapping
methodology based on the protocol in Chapin and Threlkeld 2001.
Step 2 / Data gathering:
After the team has all the documentation mentioned above, it has produced the territorial
maps, and the IEMT has been trained, the second step in the protocol includes the gathering of
data related to impacts generated by the extractive industry. This second step takes place in
two stages: 1) generation of a baseline of past impacts and 2) monitoring of current impacts.
• Baseline of past impacts. The establishment of the baseline of past impacts is divided
in three sub‐steps:
a) A participatory communal workshop to draw the impacts of the oil industry over
the indigenous territorial maps. The IEMT monitors ask the community members
65
to draw the impacts on the map, while the monitors jot down all complementary
information along with the witness’ name in order to be able to retrieve more
information at a later stage if needed.
It is worth noting that in the Achuar society both men and women have different
gender roles and responsibilities (Descola 1994) and, hence, they often have
different knowledge of their territory. For instance, women usually know better
fishing places like lakes or old river meadows ‐that are usually flooded in rainy
season, accumulating lots of pollutants‐. It is therefore important to organize
separated groups in the workshops so as to guarantee that women are listened to
and to ensure data collection covers the whole territory.
b) Individual open‐ended interviews to all community members. The IEMT asks
community members to report on the localization, timing and any other
information they may remember about any impact from the oil industry in their
territory. Subjects who participated in the workshop are specifically asked about
the impacts they have drawn on the maps.
Time lines and map biographies (Ferguson and Messier 1997; Freeman 1976)
methodologies are used in the interviews to help informants to report on the
location and date of impacts. In Peru, we used a generic time line from 1971 to
2008, which had an average of 1.5 local historic elements each 2.4 years all over
the period, and whose maximum period time without historical elements was five
years in the middle of the 1970’s.
In the study area, indigenous people frequently knew the occurrence of impacts
that were located far away from their community as they had been hired by the
company for manual remediation of impacts all over the oil concession. For this
reason, we used integral multi‐communal territorial maps instead of just
communal maps, to help localize these impacts during interviews.
c) Guided visits to all the impacted sites identified during workshops and interviews.
Each impacted site was visited by the interviewee who reported it together with
one IEMT member. During the visits, they gathered the GPS position of the site,
66
described the current state of the impacted site, took pictures, recorded videos
and complemented the data collected during the workshop or the interviews.
As a result of these three sub‐steps, in Corrientes the IEMT collected a range of
data for each impacted site. Data for each impacted site included, for instance, an
impact identifier, location relative to known toponymy in the territorial map, GPS
readings, pictures and their identifiers, date of the impact, remediation state,
responsible company or subcontracted company. In addition, some metadata was
collected such as witness’ name, name of the monitor who collected the data,
guide’s name, visiting date or indigenous community. A full list of all the data that
was systematically collected is given in Table 4.
• Monitoring current impacts. It includes the monitoring of new impacts (oil spills,
hazardous treatment and disposal of waste) and the supervision of the remediation
activities of new and past environmental liabilities. In the study area, the remediation
of impacted sites undertaken by oil companies was usually very limited, ineffective and
sometimes non‐existent (see chapter 1). Oil spills were frequently burnt, buried or
moved to non‐visible sites. As a consequence, monitoring of old impacts was also
necessary in order to document new impacts created during such “remediation”
procedures.
The data collected for each current impacted site are the same as that for the baseline
impacts. In this instance, however, data are gathered through an alarm network that
works as follows:
a) Routine inspections. Each month, IEMT members visit installations and pipelines as
stipulated by a visit schedule. They walk along pipelines searching for oil spills and
inspect wells, pumping stations, batteries and other potentially polluting
installations looking for new impacts whilst monitoring the old ones (overseeing
their remediation if appropriate). In our project area, IEMT members worked in
pairs because of security concerns.
b) Community‐based alarm system. All community members are asked to notify the
IEMT monitors of any new impact detected during their daily activities (hunting,
fishing, collecting forest resources for the household…). The monitors urgently visit
67
those newly emerged impacted sites by modifying their routine inspections. Since
oil companies tend to hide impacts, visits short after the impact happens are
necessary to gather all the data required and hence this community‐based alarm
system is critical to detect new oil impacts. After the first inspection, such impacts
are included in the monthly schedule.
c) Spreading and centralizing information. IEMT informs communal assemblies and
authorities of the new impacts discovered as such information is key to increasing
communal empowerment. Likewise, IEMT monitors monthly deliver to
coordinators and IO their reports on impacted sites and digital camera cards
(which are returned to the monitors once data have been downloaded). Finding an
operational delivery mechanism to avoid data losses is a big logistic challenge in
isolated areas like this and a crucial issue to ensure the success of the project.
Step 3 / Data storage
Once monitors have compiled the baseline of past impacts and the information on current
impacts, and while sending monthly reports to the coordinators, the IEMT coordinators begin
entering all the information into a database. This is initially done with the guidance of the
external advisors. We created two different databases to store and manage data:
• A geo‐database. A GIS was used for data storage, management and presentation.
Data architecture (database structure and attributes) depends on the classification
of impacts and the selection of information to be gathered in the impacted sites
reports. In Peru, data architecture was created by the external advisors due to the
technical specialization that is required for this purpose. We established the
database domains and coded values, data sets, data projection, fields and
attributes, field properties (geometry, data type, null values, default values, coded
values) and the like. Since data architecture cannot be changed at a later stage,
once the IEMT assumes full responsibility of the project and external advisors have
left, data architecture evaluation is a crucial point during the pilot project. In our
case study, coordinators were responsible for adding, deleting, changing, updating
and, in general, data maintenance. Critically, frequent back‐ups of the database
are needed in projects like this, where so many political and economic interests
are involved.
68
Managing information with GIS implies an undesirable dependency on foreign
technicians, as well as an economic issue owing to the high cost of GIS software
licenses. These dependencies can be avoided by not using GIS. Obviously, not all
functionalities could be maintained in the absence of a GIS‐based approach but
some could possibly be implemented afterwards as long as data have been
methodically put into other databases. In this project, we tried to partially solve
the technical dependency created by using a GIS through a longer training of IEMT
coordinators in this regard. However, such training cannot guarantee total
independency due to the technological gap characteristic of rural and indigenous
people in South America, Africa, and Asia. Data can be maintained manually or
through an automated program. In Corrientes we used Dabbledb, a friendly
software that helped with data input through a simple form to those coordinators
with basic computer skills. Thanks to such software, coordinators could edit, store
and maintain the entire database in the long term without external help.
Economic dependency can partially be solved by using free open source GIS
software (e.g. Quantum GIS, gvSIG or Kosmo for Spanish‐speaking countries). We
selected ArcGIS to facilitate coordination with AIDESEP, which had been using this
software for a long period. If IO uses specific GIS software before MELPGIS
implementation, it should be taken into account when selecting a new one.
• A picture and video database. Graphic documents are stored, organized and
managed using a non‐georeferenced database. However, each picture has an
attribute (picture identifier) that links it with the corresponding impacted site of
the geo‐database and vice versa. We used a friendly picture and video manager,
Expression Media, which allowed its use by IO with a basic level of computer use.
This software allows the generation of specific attributes associated with each
picture and video (geographical coordinates, impact identifiers, description, author
and date taken). In Peru, we spent too long until the IEMT learn to collect the
picture identifier properly in order to be able to link the two databases, yet
another challenging issue for the success of the project.
69
Step 4 / Outcomes and data usage
Once data have been acquired and entered into the database, they are ready to be used. It
is important to note that getting to this point is already a remarkable achievement. To us, the
generation of this information is in itself the main outcome of a MELPGIS project. But data can
also be used to inform other new local demands according to the political strategies of the IO
at the moment.
The database on oil impacts makes the previously disperse knowledge on oil impacts
available to the IO leaders, IEMT members and communal authorities in an integrated format.
Such information now managed by indigenous leaders and authorities can become an essential
tool in negotiations with state agencies and extractive industry companies. As the information
is compiled in a coherent format, it can be used to demand impacts remediation, change of
operational procedures (for instance, a higher rate of pipeline renovation), enhanced
remediation practices, and even change the company discourse, thus acknowledging impacts,
for instance. For example, in the project area burning of oil spills was a daily practice although
it was neither legal nor publicly acknowledged by the company. The graphic documentation of
the practice, nonetheless, made evident the extent to which it was done, hence forcing the
company to take adequate steps to eradicate such procedures. The databases were also
helpful for writing reports and for finding locations of impacted sites of special interest to film
documentaries. For example, data collected over the course of this project were used for the
BBC series Amazon (Robinson and Brandon 2008). These databases can also serve as the basis
for legal actions against companies or governments claiming compensation for environmental
liabilities. To a certain extent, making available this information to indigenous people may
trigger significant changes with regard to the existing asymmetry in power relations.
In Corrientes, to satisfy the original objectives, several products were built upon the
databases:
• Oil spills reports. Every time a monitor sent information regarding a new impact to
the IO office, the IEMT coordinator filled out a report form that was subsequently
sent to diverse state agencies23 by appropriate official channels24. Such report was
23 The Ministry of Health (MINSA) and related health sector agencies such as DIGESA (Environmental Health
Agency) and DESA‐Loreto (Regional Health Department of Loreto); the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) and
70
similarly sent to indigenous communities so that they were aware of all oil impacts
that occurred in their territory. Without this notification system a community
would have never known about oil impacts occurring in nearby communities.
Notifications were also sent to mass media and human rights and environmental
justice NGOs to enforce national and international civil society awareness of the
problem and to enhance networking25. Target groups for impact reports can vary
according to the set of governing and supportive institutions in each state, and to
the political context and should be established by the IO.
• Paper maps. The information gathered in the field was also employed to generate
maps of impacted sites and areas showing the overlap between them and
indigenous territories, affecting thus their natural and cultural resources and their
livelihoods. Those maps also demarcated basins and sub‐basins according to
pollution levels (polluted, at risk of pollution and non‐polluted basins). Since these
maps were prepared using a DEM and watershed analyst tools (watershed
delineation and point source pollution simulation), the contribution of external
advisors was paramount. All the maps created were delivered to the indigenous
communities. They provide a synaptic, comprehensive view of the indigenous
territories and their resources, which may constitute a useful tool for improved
resource management. Within the context of similar projects, we believe these
maps have the potential to provide indigenous peoples with insights for preparing
development plans or negotiating the development of new extractive activities
(e.g. not giving consent to activities in non‐polluted basins).
• Online maps. Maps servers for web applications such as GoogleMaps allow
visualizing the location of impacts and pictures linked to the geographical
related energy sector bodies such as OSINERG (Regulatory Body for Energy Investment) and DGAAE (General Direction for Environmental and Energy Affairs).
24 Some examples of report forms can be consulted in: http://www.feconaco.org/pdf/D‐JIBA‐07‐02%20para%20Defensoria.pdf; http://www.feconaco.org/pdf/D‐DORI‐07‐01%20para%20Defensoria.pdf; http://www.feconaco.org/pdf/Reporte%20D‐SHIV‐07‐01%20para%20Defensoria.pdf
25 Some examples of the echo in the Peruvian press and NGOs webs and internet blogs: http://www.larepublica.pe/regionales/29/10/2009/iquitos‐registran‐16‐derrames‐de‐petroleo‐de‐pluspetrol‐en‐rio‐corrientes; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_4yxzs5WFw; http://www.cnr.org.pe/noticia.php?id=27870; http://www.cronicaviva.com.pe/content/view/100100/312/; http://www.peru.com/noticias/PORTADA20091030/63405/Culpan‐a‐Pluspetrol‐por‐16‐derrames‐de‐petroleo‐en‐Loreto‐en‐lo‐que‐va‐del‐ano (press) ; http://www.villageearth.org/pages/Projects/Peru/perublog/2008/02/oil‐spill‐in‐rio‐corrientes.html; http://www.servindi.org/actualidad/3416 (NGOs web); http://arellanos.blogspot.com/2009/07/contaminacion‐en‐el‐rio‐corrientes.html, http://lamula.pe/tag/loreto/ (blogs).
71
coordinates of the impacted sites. These new and friendly tools offer indigenous
peoples a unique opportunity to make available to the global civil society their
detailed knowledge about extractive industry impacts across their territories, thus
improving the growth of global awareness which has the potential of boosting
important societal reactions (behavioural changes, change of patterns of
consumption and production, the withdrawal of funds and company credit, etc.).
In the project area we are just developing such tools and they are currently in a
testing phase.
• Open databases. Databases on impacts of oil industries can be shared with the
worldwide scientific community using internet tools such as Dabble db. Synergies
with specific research groups can then appear. For instance, the field of remote
sensing can contribute to the detection and identification of oil impacts. In effect,
the analysis of multi‐ or single‐date satellite images can further support IEMT
reports and notifications as well as making indigenous claims even sounder (for
instance, carrying out temporal studies that employ change detection techniques
to monitor the evolution or appearance of oil impacts, and creating spectral
libraries containing specific spectral signatures that relate to different types of oil
impact will ease the identification of new impacts). Sharing the databases
demands the evaluation of risk and benefits associated with it. Such an evaluation
should take place within IOs and community assemblies. For example, certain data
should be considered confidential (e.g witnesses’ names) and it should be taken
into account that is not a process exempt of uncertainty due to unexpected uses
contrary to indigenous peoples’ interests. In our project, the databases are yet just
for internal use via intranet.
As mentioned earlier on in this chapter, we adhered to the code of ethics and good
practices of Rambaldi et al. (2006) at all stages of the protocol described here and we strongly
encourage other people willing to embark on a similar project to do so too.
Discussion
A MELPGIS project aims at documenting the generation and evolution of impacts derived
from extractive industry activities to empower people and improve their livelihoods. In that
72
sense, the main issues to take into account when applying PGIS to extractive industry impacts
monitoring are related to the process of information acquisition, management and
governance. The methodology requires both sufficient high‐quality data (i.e., temporal and
spatial accuracy, data acquisition and validation, and data reliability) and secured control over
and accessibility to the data by indigenous peoples. In this section we review the achievements
and shortcomings of the protocol from these two perspectives. We also discuss some of the
benefits, risks and other unexpected results stumbled upon during MELPGIS implementation
as well as some weaknesses that could possibly be avoided.
Quality and quantity of information. Temporal and spatial accuracy, data acquisition and validation, data reliability and uncertainty
Spatial accuracy: There has been a hot debate around PGIS methodologies on whether
participation and technology are compatible or whether GIS actually works against
participation and empowerment and can in fact be seen as an elitist technology that enhances
or promotes existing power structures and epistemological assimilation since the technology,
complex, highly technical, and expensive, resides outside of the community and is controlled
by outsiders (Abbot J 1998; Chapin, Lamb, and Threlkeld 2005; Dunn, Atkins, and Townsend
1997). What is generally accepted is that the more technically oriented the PGIS method, the
more spatial accuracy it will render, and the more it will be useful to link villagers to
government policy makers and civil society organizations, and to lobby both government and
industry. In our case, as the objective was to provide indigenous communities with a
communication tool to help them show state agencies and national and international civil
societies the impacts of the oil industry on their territories, we sought the use of a widely
accepted tool in Western societies. Furthermore, spatial accuracy was critically needed so that
IOs were able to issue legal complaints to the Peruvian government regarding the impacts
found. Consequently, we deemed paramount that all impacted sites identified were visited by
IEMT members and accurately located by means of hand‐held GPS devices. Therefore,
because of the goals of the project, sketch maps alone were not a possibility and we opted for
a more technically oriented methodology.
Temporal accuracy. Temporal accuracy depends on the type of impacts (past or current).
Thus, that of old impacts depends on the effectiveness of the time line and biographies used in
the interviews (average period time without historical elements) and can have a maximum
73
temporal window error of several years. Contrarily, the temporal accuracy of new impacts
depends on the frequency of IEMT monitors’ routine inspections and on the area covered by
indigenous people during their daily activities (the community‐based alarm system), and it will
usually have a maximum error of few months. Temporal information referring to old impacts
should be validated due to the uncertainty associated to the time lines methodology. In Peru,
we used cross‐validation between informants. We always asked the interviewee to list other
witnesses of each impact reported and interviewed all listed people to validate and
complement the information obtained in the first place.
Data acquisition. The most important advantages of this MELPGIS in relation to oil impacts
monitoring relate to the data acquisition process:
• Continuous information in time. Since the generation of information relies on the
community‐based alarm system and the indigenous technical team, the system
allows data‐gathering while maintaining the same lifestyle (subsistence activities
all across the territory). The method thus allows independence on the temporal
limitations of alternative approaches, such as foreign‐led sampling campaigns
(foreign experts’ calendars and time availability) or the low temporal resolution of
satellites.
• Continuous information in space. Thanks to community participation through the
community‐based alarm system, IEMT members can collect information all across
the indigenous territory. Aside from remote sensing (which poses a number of
difficulties including technical dependency), the system probably represents the
only way to effectively control such an extensive area. High resolution satellite
images or aerial photographs could be potentially used, but in practice this option
is not feasible owing to the budget limitations of any IO, the lack of cloud‐free data
availability, a high external dependency, etc.
• Autonomous generation of information. Data acquisition is independent from
external institutions or groups, and it only depends on people living in their
territory and carrying out their usual occupations. Thus, indigenous communities
can monitor their own territory when hunting or collecting forest resources at no
extra cost, almost daily and autonomously. It is independent from so‐called
experts and the typical big budgets involved in the use of remote sensing imagery
74
or environmental chemistry analyses. MELPGIS needs only small funding for the
maintenance of equipment –hand‐held GPS units and digital cameras‐ and for
monitors’ incentives. Non‐local experts are only needed during the initial stages of
the project.
• Unique source of information. There are no other sources of information on oil
impacts, especially when referring to historical impacts than indigenous witnesses.
There are no chemical analyses or other environmental records (perhaps from oil
companies, but no publicly disclosed), no aerial photographs of the area and few
satellite images with enough radiometric, spatial and temporal resolution and
quality ‐due to low probability of cloud‐free images in the Amazon basin (Asner
2001)‐, all of which severely hampers the detection of oil impacts. Therefore,
frequently the only way to gather information on oil impacts is through witnesses’
accounts. And the only witnesses are indigenous people and oil company workers.
Regarding this alternative source of information, we should mention that usually
workers have the most detailed information of past and present impacts. They
may have been working in the places where the impacts happened, or be the ones
who are asked to deal with them. In addition, they usually have the technical
knowledge needed to understand what has occurred and so are well suited to
explain it to us now. Furthermore, oil workers usually want to contribute to repair
the damages caused by companies. It is to be noted that in our case study,
indigenous people have not been hired as part of the company workforce until
recently.
Data reliability. According to the MELPGIS protocol, all impacted places are visited and all
spatial data is validated. Nevertheless, sometimes an alleged impacted site is visited and the
impact is not visible. Indeed, the abundant rainfall and high productivity that characterize
rainforests can rapidly make any evidence of an oil impact invisible to the eye, especially old
impacts. In the study area, oil production and pollution began thirty‐five years before the
MELPGIS project started. Sometimes, the evidence of an impact was obvious (e.g. crude oil
could be seen on the ground), but on other occasions no evidence could be gathered, perhaps
concealed by the presence of natural fat in the soil, dense litter bed or lush vegetation.
MELPGIS collects data based on memories and validates it visually. This is not a methodological
weakness. Someone may argue that such data are neither reliable nor objective enough to
prove the existence of pollution. Why then (they may argue) is it not better to perform
75
chemical analyses? In addition to the temporal, spatial and economic limitations mentioned
before, chemical analyses cannot be carried out by indigenous people because, even if trained
appropriately to do so, cold storage for sample preservation is not possible bearing in mind
these indigenous communities lack electricity. More crucially, indigenous peoples would have
to earn legal status to undertake them. This means that even if water and soil samples could
be chemically analyzed by indigenous peoples themselves, the results would not be official
data and thus they would not be accepted by governments or state agencies, oil companies or
a court as legally binding. For all these reasons, the main aims of the monitoring system are to
gather indigenous knowledge about oil impacts in the most accurate way and to give
indigenous people the chance to be heard.
Uncertainty. When facing and studying ecological distribution conflicts across the oil and
gas frontiers, the more information we have, the more we move from ignorance to
uncertainty. We talk about ignorance in reference to the lack of information that characterizes
the Amazonian oil and gas frontiers. There are no official reports, chemical analyses or records.
Thereby, in theses areas the difficulty it is not just posed as a result of the impossibility of
knowing how much a human life does actually cost or how should non‐catalogued biodiversity
losses due to oil activities be priced. Before addressing such legitimate concerns, we would like
to know how many people have died from cancer related to pollution generated by oil
companies. Further, to know how many people have died from cancer in a place where there
are no doctors and no mortality records. Such issues should also be taken into account when
applying PGIS to document unpaid local damages produced by oil exploration and extraction
(environmental liabilities). It is a worthwhile cause to diminish ignorance at the oil and gas
frontiers, but we should not forget that we are just getting closer to uncertainty. We should
keep in mind too, that economic valuation of remediation and compensation is a question of
ethics and value judgements. It is not a mere exercise of cartography or quantification of the
total area affected by oil spills and other oil impacts.
Geodatabase control and access. Information flows and uses: Where does information go? And what uses does it have?
Information is related to control and power. Cartography is not an exception. On the one
hand, “cartography has been, over the centuries, a tool used by the powerful to carve out
empires and maintain control over them [...] Nations and empires are not natural features of
76
the landscape; they are human constructs that have been imposed over the centuries to
convert large tracts of the world’s surface into real estate”(Chapin, Lamb, and Threlkeld 2005).
As (Harley 1988) observed, “as much as guns and warships, maps have been the weapons of
imperialism”. On the other hand, PGIS can be associated with geo‐piracy (i.e. the use of local
geographical knowledge to the benefit of external control26). The unauthorized access and use
of geographic knowledge of indigenous communities has been employed with military
purposes. For instance, the US Army's Foreign Military Studies Organization inputs geographic
information into a global database that forms an integral part of the Human Terrain System, a
United States Army counterinsurgency strategy that has been applied within indigenous
communities27.
Thereby, the most impotant single questions that should be addressed prior to conducting
a MELPGIS project are: Who will have access to the information? What information is limited
to whom?
Who will have access to the information? The geo‐database is generated by the IEMT and
managed by the IO, so there is a big concentration of information amongst few people. Under
such circumstances and due to the existence of strong economic and political interests over
indigenous territories, the emergence of corruption, bribery, threats, and/or reprisals would
not be surprising. Over the course of our project, for instance, some members of the IEMT
were offered good jobs in the oil company, were threatened when monitoring impacts on at
least one occasion, and a rumour spread out about some IEMT members being allegedly
offered money in exchange of stop sending the alerts of new oil impacts to the IO. Good
communication between the IETM coordinators and IO leaders with the communities was
essential to support the work of the field team and minimize these risks. We recommend
planning an internal communication strategy beforehand. Back‐ups of the geodatabase in
other institutions are also recommended to minimise the risk of information disappearance
and loss.
What information is limited to whom? The MELPGIS protocol establishes several target
groups for sharing the geo‐database with, including state agencies, companies, courts, mass
media reporters, environmental justice and others NGOs, and lastly the scientific community.
26 Although the word geo‐piracy was first used in relation to the false attribution of location in the visual arts
(Vogel 2006, “Ecocriticism in Theory and Practice in Latin America and the Caribbean”, Proceedings of the 2006 Meeting of the Latin American Studies Association, Puerto Rico). 27 Can be consulted at the Human Terrain System website: http://humanterrainsystem.army.mil/components.html.
77
Although the geo‐database has to be shared with them in order to accomplish all of the
objectives of the project, the indigenous people have to rigorously select which information
(attributes) will be shared. Based on our experience, we recommend a major rule: don’t share
more than what is strictly necessary. Special attention should be paid to witnesses. In the even
of such sensitive information being disclosed, threats or reprisals to them or their families can
follow or else they may be force into bribery. Therefore, witnesses have to be protected and it
is vital that their names do not appear in any document or database that is shared. In the same
vein, and given that the indigenous communities have property rights and are the legitimate
owners of the geo‐database, they are to have a full copy of it. In that sense, workshops have to
be run specifically on the existing risks associated with the geo‐database and on how to use,
protect, dispose of or disclose the spatial data generated.
Benefits, risks, and other unexpected results
The main outcomes of a MELPGIS project are aspects related to the empowerment of
indigenous peoples. We want to stress some of these aspects:
• Indigenous perception of the impacts. In remote areas, such as tropical rainforests,
indigenous people have typically no other contact with the national society than
that brought by the company itself. Due to geographical isolation, economic
reasons, lack of western cultural skills, and/or familiarity with national institutions,
indigenous communities do not usually have the chance to access other actors
(state agencies, courts, universities, journalists or NGOs). Under this scenario,
when they want to complain about pollution and extractive industry impacts at
large, they can only complain to the company itself. This constraint does always
lead to the an answer along the same lines: there is no pollution; we (the oil
company) make our chemical analysis monthly and send them to the state agency
responsible for extractive industries (Goldstein 2003). The misleading information
provided by the oil companies might generate among indigenous peoples the
belief that, in spite of oils spills and hazardous dumping, there is no pollution in
their territories. The oil impact mapping and monitoring system not only helps
recognize the existence of impacts, but it also backs up the demands of indigenous
peoples thus forcing the company to take action far beyond its old standpoint: the
negation of the evidence. The presence of national and international reporters
78
(BBC and La Republica reporters, among others, have visited the area after the
implementation of the impacts’ notification to mass media) plays a fundamental
role too in the change of the indigenous perception of impacts.
• Arguments and evidence of impacts. Pictures, videos, voice recordings or GPS
readings are new tools that can be used in new negotiation processes or court
cases. These evidences, although not as scientifically sound as chemical analyses,
turn into proofs that cannot be rejected, which irreversibly changes the direction
of the negotiation between indigenous peoples and oil companies and/or state
agencies.
• IETM empowerment. MELPGIS is not politically neutral; as any PGIS “is always a
political process and will, therefore, most likely have unintended consequences for
the communities you work with regarding the complex issues of who is
empowered and who might actually be disempowered” (Rambaldi et al. 2006).
Further, it may have unpredictable consequences on the internal workings of the
communities. In our case, the members of the IEMT were more empowered than
others members of the indigenous communities. Moreover, they are all men. After
the training and because they have more skills than others –superior
communications skills, the capacity of placing new locations onto the map, the
ability to use digital cameras and videos, etc.‐, they will feel more confident to take
the plunge and participate in negotiations, community assemblies or other
political events. What is more, in our project, the oil company recognized the role
of the indigenous environmental monitors and nowadays, when new oil impacts
occur, the IEMT is sometimes alerted by the oil company itself. In fact, the oil
company created its own IEMT with more economic resources, which presumably
have consequences on the autonomy and independence of this IEMT
(ProNaturaleza 2009). Consequently, special care should be taken during the
selection process of IEMT members. The political aspects and the consequences
for the internal workings of the communities, and not just the candidates’ skills,
should be considered prior to their selection. If the MELPGIS project is not applied
to all the communities it is likewise necessary to be careful when selecting them.
In fact, the selection of IEMT members and participant communities should be
considered as a political process. Additionally, it should be mentioned that an
equitable gender selection may diminish the existing gender gap, although
79
illiteracy differences between genders (larger among women) unfortunately
pushes for male selection.
• Epistemological assimilation. Along with the discussion around the compatibility of
participation and GIS, mentioned earlier, it has been stated that “the Western or
European‐derived system for gathering and using geographic information is in
numerous ways incompatible with corresponding systems developed by
indigenous peoples of the Americas […] GIS technology, when applied cross‐
culturally, is essentially a tool for epistemological assimilation, and as such, is the
newest link in a long chain of attempts by western societies to subsume or destroy
indigenous cultures” (Rundstrom 1995). Although we acknowledge such a fact, we
also know that today several stronger driving factors are pushing indigenous
people integration into the market economy. Oil and gas companies, loggers, gold,
copper, bauxite miners, agrofuel companies and many others are encroaching
systematically upon indigenous lands worldwide. Focusing on the rapid
proliferation of oil and gas exploration zones, several recent studies have
demonstrated that there is a regional pattern of oil expansion in the Peruvian
Amazon that will deepen in the future (see chapter 3). As the global demand for
non‐renewable resources increases while their reserves decrease, some of the
world’s most remote and ecologically pristine regions, such as the Peruvian
Amazon, are increasingly vulnerable to industrial activity. Thus, we argue that
epismological assimilation is already a tangible consequence of the industrial
system advancement into commodity frontiers as it seeks the extraction of the
remaining oil, gas and other resources. The unintended effects of a MELPGIS
project should be framed in such a context before deployment. In any case, we
firmly believe that the benefits of a MELPGIS project far exceed those of not
monitoring hydrocarbon activities.
• New questions. In the framework of PRA and PAR and due to empowerment it
brings about, a MELPGIS project can raise new research questions and
applications. In Corrientes, during the MELPGIS project, indigenous people
increased their attention on other sources of pollution, like the dioxins caused by
repeatedly burning household waste in indigenous communities or the
inappropriate disposal of toxic hazardous materials used by themselves (e.g. boat
batteries and other batteries). As a result, more appropriate mechanisms for
80
hazards disposal were implemented. Oddly enough, the oil company took
advantage of this situation to argue that pollution came from such common
practices instead of from oil activities.
Weaknesses and issues that require special attention
Finally, we want to stress the main problematic aspects that have to be addressed when
adopting this methodology. All of them should be tackled to ensure the success of the project:
• Training dependency. The project highly relies on few individuals who can do the
job after they have been trained (i.e. IEMT members). This poses a serious risk as
the entire project may collapse in the event of resignations. Moreover, the
extensive use of technology requires a long training period.
• Economic dependency. Maintenance and equipment renovation is expensive.
Therefore the project depends on external financial sources. Nevertheless,
although expensive for an IO, the maintenance cost of the project is not a
significant budget for small organizations (e.g. NGOs).
• External technical support dependency. The use of so much technology implies
that the resolution of critical technical problems will be beyond the indigenous’
skills and so they will have to be assisted by external advisors in such events.
• Centralization. Information concentration on IEMT increases the risk of corruption
and IO inaction.
• Logistics. Communication between the IEMT, the IO office, and the community
assembly are essential throughout the project to guarantee cohesion and avoid
the rumours and conflicts sometimes promoted from the company.
81
Conclusion
MELPGIS far exceeds the objectives of linking indigenous peoples with state and civil
society or those extending and completing impacts databases. From the empowerment point
of view, MELPGIS enables communication amidst indigenous communities, which lays the
ground to acquiring a common and integrated perception of impacts. It also promotes a social
recognition of impacts and, as a consequence, reinforces the indigenous perception of these
impacts. MELPGIS also provides indigenous peoples with a wide range of western tools to
demand the mitigation of environmental and health impacts generated by extractive industries
or to claim compensation for socio‐environmental liabilities. It favours the real application of
the conditions of prior and informed consent to future extractive projects.
Regarding data acquisition, the two most important aspects of this protocol are 1) the high
level of indigenous control, from the economic, institutional (political) and, to a certain degree,
once they have been trained, technical point of view, and, therefore, 2) the long term
feasibility of the project since the protocol enables indigenous people’s continuous action all
along the extractive industry operation (from years to decades), ultimately ensuring the
achievement of political goals.
In the same vein, when recognizing the impacts, MELPGIS shifts the controversial conflicts
between indigenous peoples and extractive industry companies, from the scientific arena
(chemists from the oil company implausibly assuring there is no pollution) to the political
arena. Mitigation of environmental and health liabilities, remediation and compensation or the
concession of new oil blocks become more a question of ethics and value judgements than
scientific and economic risk valuations. Nevertheless, MELPGIS provides reliable information
now known before to the state and the public, and in this sense it dispels ignorance and
advances knowledge without any claims to complete certainty. MELPGIS in this sense is a
contribution to the environmental science of oil spills and other impacts from extractive
industries.
However, there are some limits to MELPGIS which cannot be entirely solved, such as
aspects regarding information reliability, which can discredit indigenous institutions; or aspects
regarding the access to and control of the impacts geo‐database (concentration of
information), which expose indigenous institutions to corruption, bribery, threats and
reprisals. MELPGIS projects are typically needed in commodity frontiers, where too many
82
83
political and economic interests are involved, lack of governance is a serious problem and the
major driving forces underlying impacts are beyond the scope of the project. In our project
area, for instance, a staggering increase in indigenous alcoholism promoted in recent times
(2008‐2009) by alcohol gifts from the oil company (Pluspetrol) wreaked havoc in Achuar
communities, thus considerably weakening the whole MELPGIS project.
Acknowledging such constraints and given the urgency to implement policies at national
and international levels to face the impacts of extractive industries , we believe MELPGIS is an
appropriate methodology to locally face the great challenge of controlling or at least
describing the effects of the advancement of commodity frontiers due to increasing world
consumption and demand for fossil fuels, metals and biomass which threatens cultural
diversity and biodiversity conservation and blurs the illusion of sustainability in the Amazon.
Chapter 3
A second hydrocarbon boom threatens the Peruvian Amazon: trends, projections, and policy implications28
28 Matt Finer and Martí Orta‐Martínez. The authors contributed equally to this study. Published 16 February
2010. Environmental Research Letters. Online at stacks.iop.org/ERL/5/014012 Cite as: Finer, M., Orta‐Martínez, M., 2010. A second hydrocarbon boom threatens the Peruvian Amazon:
trends, projections, and policy implications. Environmental Research Letters 5, 014012. Acknowledgments: We thank Carla Soria and Pedro Tipula of the Instituto del Bien Común in Lima for creating
Figure 9. Thoughtful comments from three anonymous reviewers greatly improved the manuscript. We also thank Carol Burga, María Lucía Santa María and Cristina O’Callaghan for compiling secondary data and Cesar Gamboa, José Luis de la Bastida, and Joan Martínez‐Alier for reviewing the manuscript. The Blue Moon Fund and Conservation, Food & Health Foundation funded the work of M Finer. M Orta‐Martínez work was funded by the Spanish Ministerio de Innovación y Ciencia through a FPU grant AP‐2004‐7103.
85
Introduction
The Amazon rainforest is the largest expanse of tropical rainforest in the world, with an
area of 7,165,281 km ², 13.37% of which correspond to Peru, the fourth largest country in
tropical forest extension on Earth (FAO 2006) and the second largest land area of the Amazon
Basin after Brazil. The Peruvian Amazon is a region of extraordinary biological and cultural
diversity, and vast swaths of this mega‐diverse region remain largely intact. It is one of the
most biodiverse regions on Earth for a wide range of taxa, including birds, primates,
amphibians, and trees (Doan and Arriaga 2002; Pitman et al. 2008; Puertas and Bodmer 1993;
ter Steege and et al. 2003; Terborgh et al. 1990), and still contains large, relatively contiguous
areas of primary rainforest (Nepstad et al. 2008; Oliveira et al. 2007).
The Peruvian Amazon is also home to around 60 distinct groups of indigenous peoples
(INDEPA 2009; INEI 2008b), including an estimated 14 or 15 groups still living in voluntary
isolation with no regular contact with the outside world (Defensoría del Pueblo 2006; Survival
International 2008). Those groups avoid and resist direct encounters with outsiders because of
violent and deadly experiences in earlier encounters with national society, and they are
extremely vulnerable to diseases when contacted today (Napolitano and Ryan 2007). As
mentioned earlier, Peru is the second largest South American country in number of ethnic
groups in voluntary isolation after Brazil.
This remarkable biological and cultural diversity is the basis of a relatively extensive system
of 35 protected areas across the Peruvian Amazon. In addition, the Peruvian government has
issued 1232 land titles to Amazonian indigenous communities and created five territorial
reserves for the protection of indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation (Benavides 2009b;
Defensoría del Pueblo 2006). Territorial reserves for the protection of indigenous peoples in
voluntary isolation cover 3.6 % of the Peruvian Amazon, whereas indigenous communities with
land titles cover 13.5 % (Benavides 2009b). Such categories, together with natural protected
areas, account for 35.2 % of the Peruvian Amazon (Benavides 2009b).
However, much of the Peruvian Amazon, including lower level protected areas and titled
indigenous lands, is now covered by active or proposed oil and gas concessions (Finer et al.
2008). In the Peruvian Amazon, there are three of the four petroleum sedimentary basins of
86
Peru: the Marañon, the Ucayali and the Madre de Dios basins. Of all the land designations
noted above, only the 13 national parks and sanctuaries (10% of the Peruvian Amazon) are
strictly off‐limits to oil and gas exploration and exploitation. On the contrary, logging activities
are excluded in territorial reserves to guarantee the survival of indigenous people in voluntary
isolation. Finer et al (2008) concluded that the current overlay of oil and gas concessions
across much of the Peruvian Amazon threatens biodiversity, indigenous peoples, and some of
the largest remaining wilderness areas in the Amazon Basin.
One consequence of this situation has been escalating social conflict in the Peruvian
Amazon region (see chapter 4). Indigenous leaders often cite the environmental and health
impacts associated with Amazonian hydrocarbon activities as one of the predominant factors
behind their opposition. As we have seen, oil extraction projects begun in the 1970s has
caused extensive contamination of the Río Corrientes watershed in the northern Peruvian
Amazon (Quarles 2009). Around 99% of the Achuar population that inhabits this area has
unsafe blood levels of cadmium, a highly toxic and carcinogenic heavy metal associated with
oil exploitation (see chapter 1). Even the much newer Camisea natural gas pipeline in the
southern Peruvian Amazon, which began operations in the fall of 2004 with higher operating
standards, has already experienced six major spills and numerous leaks (Napolitano and Ryan
2007). Another issue of particular concern for indigenous peoples regards the growing number
of hydrocarbon concessions overlapping proposed reserves for groups still living in voluntary
isolation, whose lack of resistance or immunity make them extremely vulnerable to illnesses
brought by outsiders (Defensoría del Pueblo 2006; Napolitano and Ryan 2007).
To date, there has been no comprehensive review of the history of hydrocarbon activities
in the region or any projections of likely levels of activity in the near future and potential
impacts to biodiversity, protected areas, and indigenous groups. This chapter provides the first
in‐depth examination of the past, present, and future of hydrocarbon activities in the Peruvian
Amazon. Our specific objectives are: (1) to present a quantitative review of hydrocarbon
activities across the region over the past 40 years, (2) to examine the status of all current
concessions, particularly in terms of how they overlap protected areas and indigenous
territories, (3) to make quantitative projections regarding the wave of hydrocarbon activity set
to hit the region over the next 5 years, and (4) to discuss the potential environmental and
social impacts that may accompany the projected levels of activity. We end with a brief set of
recommendations on how the negative hydrocarbon‐related environmental and social impacts
may be avoided or minimized.
87
Methods
Secondary data collection
Our work is based on analysis of official government data collected by the Peruvian
Ministry of Energy and Mines and the Peruvian state energy companies Petroperú and
Perúpetro. Specifically, we extracted information dealing with contracts, seismic testing, well
construction, oil development, and natural gas development for Amazonian oil and gas
concessions for each of the past 39 years, allowing us to provide a complete picture of
hydrocarbon activities in the Peruvian Amazon from 1970 to 2009. Information for activities
prior to 1970 was pieced together as much as possible from these documents as well.
For the period 1970–89, all data come from annual Petroperú reports referred to as
“Informe Estadístico Anual” (Petroperú 1970‐89) or “Memoria Anual” (Petroperú 1970‐95).
Annual reports from the Peruvian Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM 1970‐1971) along with
summary reports from both Petroperú and MEM for this period (MEM 1986; Petroperú 1982,
1991) have allowed cross‐validation of data. Petroperú, founded in 1969 as part of the
nationalization process of the oil industry, was the state agency that controlled oil exploration,
exploitation, refining, transport, distribution and marketing in the domestic market. In 1991,
some major components of Petroperú were privatized and as a result it stopped centralizing
information as of 1990. In 1996, the Peruvian Ministry of Energy and Mines started serving as
the centralized information source and is the source of data from 1990 to 2009. Data for this
period were obtained from Ministry of Energy and Mines annual reports (MEM 1996–2009,
1996). Reports that cover the transition period between Petroperú and Ministry of Energy and
Mines reporting has allowed us to cross‐check seismic testing, well construction, and
production data consistency among sources (MEM 1996; Petroperú 1992, 1994a, 1994b). For
contract data, however, there is a reporting gap between 1990 and 1995. Contract data for
this period comes from a number of different sources, including annual Petroperú reports
(Memoria Annual), Petroperú statistics reports (Petroperú 1994a, 1992, 1994b), and annual
reports referred to as “Perú en números” (Webb and Fernández‐Baca 1990‐2009). We
consider that contract data for the years 1990, 1991 and 1993 may be an underestimate.
Cross‐checking has not been possible for this data series. The historical data described here
88
accounts for much of the total activity as there were only two producing oil concessions in the
Peruvian Amazon prior to 1970.
For the subsequent analysis, we selected several descriptive statistics to quantitatively
summarize the detailed and novel database on historical oil and gas activities in the Peruvian
Amazon presented here. We used frequencies of hectares under hydrocarbon concessions to
describe the advance of the oil and gas frontier; frequencies of number of wells drilled and
kilometers of seismic lines cut to describe the intensity of hydrocarbon activities undertaken;
and frequencies on miles of barrel oil equivalents to give an overall sense of the requirement
of further hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation to reverse depletion.
Projections
We generated a detailed database of every active and proposed concession in the
Peruvian Amazon in order to produce the future projections. The projected area covered by
concessions was calculated as the current concessions, plus the total area of all the proposed
concession (areas in negotiation plus Block 157, suspended since October 2008 due to a
corruption scandal) plus Technical Evaluation Agreements (TEA or areas termed “convenios”
by Perúpetro). For the projected level of future seismic testing and exploratory well
construction, we summed the (1) stated amount of planned activities in the environmental
impact studies (EIS) of the concessions with a completed EIS, (2) likely minimal amount of
activity for the concessions that do not yet have an available environmental impact study, and
(3) likely minimal amount of activity for the proposed concessions. The likely minimal amount
of activity was defined as 300 km 2D seismic testing and three exploratory wells since that is
the stated work minimum in most hydrocarbon contracts for the Peruvian Amazon.
To better understand our results, it is helpful to review the typical minimum work program
for new oil and gas concessions in the Peruvian Amazon. Perúpetro is the state company
responsible for promoting the investment of hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation
activities in the country. Perúpetro negotiates, signs and supervises all hydrocarbon contracts.
When an oil or gas company signs a contract with Perúpetro, it commits to a minimal work
program for that particular concession. The initial exploratory phase is for 7 years, during
which time the company typically must complete at least 300 km of seismic testing and drill at
least three exploratory wells. Many contract work programs exceed these minimums,
89
particularly for the amount of seismic testing. Since 1993, an environmental impact study
approved by the Peruvian government has been required before the start of any new
exploratory or development activity (Glasson, Therivel, and Chadwick 2005). If oil or gas
reserves are found during the exploratory phase, the company may then transition the
concession into exploitation phase, which lasts another 23 years for oil production or 33 years
for gas production (i.e. 30 or 40 year total contracts, respectively, although the concessions
can be extended if necessary).
Spatial analysis
Spatial analyses were conducted using Geographic Information Systems to calculate
overlaps among different land‐use categories as proxies of the impact of hydrocarbon
concessions on biodiversity and indigenous people. Biodiversity impacts were gauged via
hydrocarbon concession overlaps of areas in the official protected area system, and impacts on
indigenous people were gauged via hydrocarbon concession overlaps of titled indigenous lands
and Territorial Reserves created for the protection of indigenous people in voluntary isolation.
GIS data used in the spatial analysis include: oil and gas concessions from (Perúpetro 2009);
titled indigenous lands and proposed and approved territorial reserves for the protection of
indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation from the Peruvian Ministry of Agriculture and the
Instituto del Bien Común’s System on Native Communities in the Peruvian Amazon (IBC
2009b); Peruvian natural protected areas from the National Service of Natural Protected Areas
(SERNANP 2009); and Peruvian Amazon according to ecological criteria from the Institute for
Investigation of the Peruvian Amazon (IIAP 1998). This information was used to create Figure
9. The map of all current oil and gas concessions, proposed concessions, and technical
evaluation agreement lots in the Peruvian Amazon was created by the Instituto del Bien
Común in Lima, Peru. We only represented those elements that were completely or partially
within the Peruvian Amazon.
To calculate the percentage of the Peruvian Amazon covered by hydrocarbon concessions,
we used the size of the Peruvian Amazon as reported by the IIAP (1998) and modified in 2005
by the IIAP (Lizardo Fachín and Roger Escobedo, personal communication 2009)— 782 820.60
km2. This figure includes the deforested area, so that it corresponds to the original Peruvian
Amazon surface. Oil and gas concessions from 2002 to 2009 were available in geo‐referenced
files, and those from 1970 to 2001 have been geo‐referenced and digitized from maps
90
provided in annual Petroperú reports (Petroperú 1970‐89, 1970‐95) and annual Ministerio de
Energía y Minas de Perú reports (MEM 1986, 1996, 1996–2009).
To calculate the area of the Peruvian Amazon directly impacted by seismic lines, we
created a 2 km buffer around the seismic lines from the period 1970–2002 (previous to the
second oil boom) and aggregated them into a unique polygon that resulted in an area of 207
623 km2. There is only georeferenced information for seismic lines cut before 2002, and for
these years there is only information for 81 000 km of the 100 100 km seismic lines.
Consequently, the total extension of the Peruvian Amazon impacted by seismic testing is an
underestimate. The 2 km buffer criterion was selected as a compromise between small radius
impacts (such as direct forest disturbance or deforestation) and long radius impacts
(displacement of indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation).
Results
We found that more of the Peruvian Amazon has been leased to oil and gas companies
over the past four years than at any other time on record (see Figure 6(a)). Records show 322
092 km2, or 41.2% of the Peruvian Amazon, under concession as of 31, December 2009. This is
up from just 7.1% in 2003. The total area under concession peaked in 2007, with 48.6% of the
Peruvian Amazon. Other lesser peaks of concessioned area occurred in the late 1990s and the
early 1970s (Figure 6(a)). A total of 69.1% of the Peruvian Amazon has been under oil or gas
concession at some point between 1970 and 2009.
There were more active concessions in early 2009 then at any other time on record (Figure
6(b)). As of 31, December 2009, there were 52 active Amazonian hydrocarbon concessions.
Forty‐two (81%) of these concessions are new, with the contracts signed between 2005 and
2009. Perúpetro set single year contract signing records in both 2005 and 2006, with 13 new
Amazonian contracts each year. Across years, the vast majority of concessioned area has been
in exploration phase (see Figure 6(a)). For example, of the 52 current oil and gas concessions in
the Peruvian Amazon, only seven are in exploitation phase while the remaining 45 are in
exploration phase. Ten additional areas are currently under technical evaluation agreements
bringing the total area under concession or technical contract up to 444 432 km2, or 56.8% of
the Peruvian Amazon. Eighteen additional Amazonian lots are now being offered as part of
Perúpetro’s 2010 bidding round, and one temporarily suspended concession is expected back
91
in 2010 as well. All together, these 81 active and proposed oil and gas zones cover around 70%
of the Peruvian Amazon. Among years where data is available (1999–2009), the peak area
zoned for oil and gas activity (concessions plus technical evaluation agreements and proposed
concessions) was 72% in 2008 (Benavides 2009b; Finer et al. 2008). Slightly over 84% of the
Peruvian Amazon has been zoned for hydrocarbon activities at some point in time over the
past 40 years.
Figure 6. Oil and gas concessions in the Peruvian Amazon. (a) Area and per cent of the Peruvian Amazon under
concession. (b) Number of new and terminated concessions.
92
Nearly 104 000 km of 2D seismic lines have been cut through the Peruvian Amazon over
the past 40 years, plus over 3400 km2 have been affected by 3D seismic testing. These seismic
lines have directly impacted well over one‐quarter of the Peruvian Amazon. There was an
extraordinary period of seismic testing activity between 1972 and 1975, accounting for over
half of all known seismic lines (Figure 7(a)). 3D seismic testing—which forms tight grids,
typically measured in square kilometers—has been utilized with greater frequency in recent
years (Figure 7(b)).
A total of 679 exploratory and production wells have been built in the Peruvian Amazon.
The number of new exploratory wells peaked between 1974 and 1977 (Figure 7(c)), directly
following the peak in seismic testing. The peak of development well construction was between
1974 and 1984, with over 200 new wells (Figure 7(c)). There are currently 266 oil‐producing
wells. All production wells have resulted in the extraction of around 996.3 million barrels of
crude oil from the Peruvian Amazon since 1939. Oil production rose dramatically in 1978 with
the start of major operations in concessions 1AB and 8, and quickly peaked between 1979 and
1986. There has been a steady decline in oil production ever since peak production between
1979 and 1985 (Figure 8(a)). In summary, oil exploration activities peaked during the early to
mid‐ 1970s, while production peaked early the following decade. In contrast, natural gas
production has been steadily increasing since first tapped for commercial use in 1998 (Figure
8(b)). A major spike in natural gas production occurred in 2004 due to the start of production
at Camisea.
93
Figure 7. Oil and gas exploration and exploitation activities in the Peruvian Amazon. Level of (a) 2D seismic
activity and (b) 3D seismic activity. (c) Number of exploration and development wells drilled.
94
Figure 8. Oil and gas extraction and reserves in the Peruvian Amazon. Production of (a) oil and (b) natural gas.
(c) Proven and probable oil reserves. BOE, Barrel Oil Equivalent; BLS, barrels.
95
Based on an analysis of the typical minimum work program for new concessions, we
generated projections for the amount of exploratory activity expected in the near future. We
forecast that there will be a continued rise of both seismic testing and exploratory well
construction over the next several years, likely reaching levels not seen since the mid‐1970s
(see Figure 7 parts (a) and (c), respectively). We project that ~21 000 km of seismic lines will be
cut through the Peruvian Amazon over the next 5 years. In addition, we project that ~182
exploratory wells may be drilled during this time period as well.
Oil reserves (proven plus probable) of the Peruvian Amazon jumped in 2006, to nearly 674
million barrels (Figure 8(c)). This jump was due to the addition of probable reserves first
discovered in the late 1990s in a concession known as Block 67. Natural gas reserves (proven
and probable) are substantial, with around 15.4 trillion cubic feet, plus an additional 928.4
million barrels of liquid natural gas.
The vast majority of the concessions overlap sensitive areas (Figure 9). Of the 52 active
concessions, 46 (88%) overlap titled indigenous lands and 17 overlap proposed or created
territorial reserves for indigenous people living in voluntary isolation. The result is that 55.1%
of the 100 367 km2 titled indigenous lands29, 17.1% of the 29 282 km2 created territorial
reserves (down from 41.9% earlier in the year), and 60.9% of the 42 151 km2 proposed
territorial reserves are covered by hydrocarbon concessions. Twenty‐one concessions overlap
nature reserves within the Peruvian protected area system and an additional eight concessions
overlap the Abanico del río Pastaza, a large wetland complex considered by the Ramsar
Convention as a wetland of international importance. Thus, 17.1% of the 153 539 km2
Peruvian Amazon protected area system, plus 81.5% of the 24 049 km2 Abanico wetlands, are
covered by hydrocarbon concessions. In addition, at least eight of the new 2010 bidding round
proposed concessions overlap titled indigenous lands, and one overlaps part of a territorial
reserve.
29 Our results differ a little bit from those of Benavides (2009), who states that the titled indigenous land covers
102 634 km2 of the Peruvian Amazon. In calculating this percentage we have not taken into account the 277 indigenous communities awaiting titles. 53.5% of their territory is also covered by oil and gas concessions.
96
Figure 9. Map of all current oil and gas concessions, proposed concessions, and technical evaluation agreement
lots in the Peruvian Amazon. These hydrocarbon zones overlap both protected areas and indigenous peoples’
territories.
97
Discussion
We found that the Peruvian Amazon is now in the early stages of a second hydrocarbon
exploration boom. The first exploration boom occurred in the early to mid‐1970s and was
characterized by an extraordinary burst of seismic activity. Nearly 63 000 km of seismic lines
were cut during the four years between 1972 and 1975, over half of all historic activity. We
project that the second boom will consist of around 21 000 km of seismic lines over the next 5
years. This should be considered a conservative estimate, however, given that many modern
seismic campaigns greatly exceed what is called for in the minimum work program that formed
the basis of our projections. Our projections also show that the number of exploratory wells to
be drilled in the Peruvian Amazon over the next several years—around 182— may exceed that
of the mid‐1970s peak.
The number of new exploration contracts spiked between 2005 and 2009, resulting in
more active concessions and more Amazonian land area covered by concessions than at any
other time in Peru’s history. The jump in the percentage of the Peruvian Amazon covered in
hydrocarbon concessions between 2005 and 2007—7%–49%—exceeds that of the concession
expansion leading to the first exploration boom of the 1970s. During the peak of the 1970s
exploration boom, only 34% of the Peruvian Amazon was under concession. When proposed
concessions are included in the analysis, we found that nearly two‐thirds of the Peruvian
Amazon is now zoned to hydrocarbon activities. This number could continue to rise as only
10% of the Peruvian Amazon is currently offlimits to oil concessions. Indeed, 18 new proposed
concessions were unveiled in early 2010.
The region may be on the verge of a second exploitation boom as well. Although oil
production in the Peruvian Amazon has been steadily falling since its peak in 1979 and 2009
marked the lowest output in over 20 years (see Figure 8(a)), it may soon increase if production
starts in the extremely controversial Block 67 (see below). Natural gas production still has not
peaked, and annual gas production is expected to keep rising due to the large Camisea
reserves. Indeed, 2009 marked the sixth consecutive year of rapidly increasing annual gas
production (see Figure 8(b)). With this skyrocketing natural gas production, total hydrocarbon
production (combining both oil and gas) actually reached its historical maximum in 2009.
Increasing global oil demand and consumption, combined with the high oil prices from
2003–2008, spurred energy company commitments to relatively high‐cost exploration and
98
exploitation projects (EIA 2009c). Indeed, one of the more troubling aspects of the new
exploration boom is that areas previously protected by their remoteness are now covered by
proposed or active oil concessions. Many areas untouched by the seismic testing wave of the
1970s are now in active or proposed concessions. In other words, there has been a rapid
expansion of the oil frontier in the Peruvian Amazon. This expansion includes the
unprecedented coverage of protected areas and indigenous territories, particularly areas
utilized by vulnerable indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation. Nearly one‐fifth of the
Peruvian Amazon protected area system is covered by hydrocarbon concessions, while that
figure rises to over 60% for proposed territorial reserve area for uncontacted indigenous
peoples.
Our finding that over 84% of the Peruvian Amazon has been or is currently zoned for
hydrocarbon activities raises many questions. For example, what has been the cumulative
impact of well over 100 000 km of seismic lines cut through primary Amazonian forest? Little is
known about the environmental impacts from exploratory seismic testing, particularly the
much more work‐intensive 3D form that is now being used with greater frequency. During the
exploration phase, there is deforestation related to the construction of the base camp, sub‐
bases, and the numerous heliports. Most modern seismic projects require at least 50 heliports,
and larger seismic projects may call for hundreds of heliports. There are also potential
environmental impacts from helicopter noise, the influx of a large amount of seismic crew
workers into remote areas, the cutting of hundreds of kilometers of seismic lines through the
understory—which may act as new hunting or logging trails deep into remote forest—and the
detonation of thousands of seismic explosives (Thomsen et al. 2001). A recent study on the
impacts of 2D seismic testing in a remote, intact section of the Peruvian Amazon (Block 39)
found a significant decrease in the group sizes of the Endangered White‐bellied Spider Monkey
(Ateles belzebuth) during the seismic testing phase (Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute
2009). Although no negative impacts were detected in the study’s focal species, the Ocelot
(Leopardus pardalis), it is clear more research is needed on the impacts of seismic testing in
mega‐diverse environments.
During the production phase, the environmental impacts are potentially much more
severe and extensive. Therefore, what has been the cumulative impact from the drilling of
nearly 700 wells and the exploitation of nearly a billion barrels of oil from the Peruvian
Amazon? The contamination of the Corrientes region is now well‐documented (Quarles 2009);
see also chapter 1). And although direct contamination and pollution per unit of production
99
will presumably never again be as bad as the 1970s era projects due to much improved
regulations and standards, modern production sites and pipelines are still prone to accidents,
leaks, and spills (Napolitano and Ryan 2007). And since pipelines often extend over hundreds
of kilometers, impacts are not isolated exclusively to the extraction site. The indirect impacts
associated with new hydrocarbon‐related access routes are also especially severe. Roads and
pipeline routes connecting to the drilling platforms can open up previously remote areas,
triggering an array of indirect impacts such as colonization, illegal logging, and unsustainable
hunting (Greenberg et al. 2005; Rosenfeld, Gordon, and Guerin‐McManus 2001; Suarez et al.
2009). Indeed, the expanding oil frontier has the unique potential of advancing the
agricultural, cattle and logging frontiers as well (Viña, Echavarria, and Rundquist 2004; Wunder
2003).
As demonstrated by the deadly confrontations between indigenous protesters and
Peruvian police in June 2009 (see chapter 4), there are major hydrocarbon‐related social
impacts as well. Our finding that over half of all legally titled indigenous territories in the
Peruvian Amazon are covered by hydrocarbon concessions may help explain the intense
frustration of the indigenous peoples of the region, many of whom have struggled for decades
to get legal title for at least a portion of their ancestral territories. According to monthly
reports from the Peruvian ombudsman, hydrocarbon‐related socio‐environmental conflicts are
increasing in the Peruvian Amazon (see chapter 4). Furthermore, our finding that 42% of the
territorial reserves, and over 60% of the proposed territorial reserves, were covered by
hydrocarbon concessions in 2009 point to the grave threat posed to uncontacted indigenous
peoples. Concession creation and subsequent project development without the previous
consent of local peoples and potential health‐related impacts (Hurtig and San Sebastián 2002;
San Sebastián et al. 2001); see also chapter 1) —particularly for indigenous peoples living in
voluntary isolation, whose lack of resistance or immunity make them extremely vulnerable to
illnesses brought by outsiders (Defensoría del Pueblo 2006; Napolitano and Ryan 2007)— are
two of the most volatile hydrocarbon‐related social issues. Subsequent acculturation of
indigenous peoples and their integration into the market economy (Godoy et al. 2005) can
lead to another major threat to biodiversity conservation since biological and cultural diversity
are often mutually dependent and geographically conterminous (Toledo 2001).
The proposed oil exploitation project in Block 67 is a prime example of the potential
environmental and social impacts associated with a modern hydrocarbon boom in the
Peruvian Amazon. Located in a remote region near the border with Ecuador, this concession is
100
101
slated to be the first major new oil production project in the Peruvian Amazon in over 35 years
and would likely bring total oil production in the Peruvian Amazon near the production records
set in the late‐1970s and early‐1980s. Development in Block 67, however, is extremely
controversial. This concession lies within a megadiverse and largely intact section of the
Amazon, sparking intense environmental concerns. Moreover, there is strong anthropological
evidence that uncontacted indigenous peoples have traditionally utilized the area (Rogalski
and Wolodzko 2005). Indigenous groups have launched both domestic lawsuits and a petition
to the Inter‐American Commission on Human Rights (an organ of the Organization of American
States) with the aim of blocking development of Block 67.
Conclusion
We argue that a rigorous policy debate, including a greater analysis of potential
environmental and social impacts, is urgently needed as the Peruvian Amazon is set to face a
dramatic increase in hydrocarbon‐related activity. The first Amazonian oil exploration and
exploitation boom occurred in the 1970s and resulted in major environmental and social
impacts. Therefore, one of the critical questions arising from our findings is what type of
environmental and social impacts are likely during a modern hydrocarbon boom, and what can
be done to eliminate or minimize these impacts. For example, Peru’s neighbor Ecuador is
currently pursuing an innovative new initiative to permanently leave known oil reserves locked
under the ground in order to avoid the environmental and social impacts of Amazonian oil
development (Finer, Moncel, and Jenkins 2009; Larrea 2009). Ecuador seeks alternative
sources of revenue from the international community to offset the financial loss of not
extracting the oil in three fields, known collectively as ITT. Given that the controversial Block
67 is just across the border from ITT, perhaps Peru could employ a similar strategy to avoid
impacts in this bi‐national region of extraordinary biodiversity and uncontacted indigenous
peoples. As global demand for oil increases while conventional oil reserves decrease, some of
the world’s most remote and ecologically intact regions, such as the Peruvian Amazon, are
increasingly vulnerable to industrial activity without markedly improved policy measures.
Chapter 4
Oil frontiers and indigenous resistance in the Peruvian Amazon 30
30 Authors: Martí Orta‐Martínez (ICTA, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) and Matt Finer (Save America’s
Forests). Accepted for publication 26 April 2010. Ecological Economics. Acknowledgements: The field data for this chapter were collected with the essential participation of the
Achuar communities of the Corrientes River area and the environmental monitors. We are grateful for the support of leaders of FECONACO, the Federation of Native Communities of the Corrientes River, and members of the environmental monitoring team. We thank Gregor MacLennan, Wendy Pineda and Cristina O’Callaghan for compiling secondary data, and Joan Martinez‐Alier, Giorgos Kallis and three anonymous reviewers for good advice. Work was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Innovation and Science through grant AP‐2004‐7103, and project SEJ2006‐15219.
103
Introduction
The first oil well in South America was drilled in the northern pacific coast of Peru in 1863
in Zorritos, Tumbes department (Mogollón 2008). Peru was the first oil producing country in
South America until 1924, and in 1930 Peru still ranked 9th as oil producer around the world.
Nevertheless, it was not until 1939 that oil exploitation started in the Peruvian Amazon. In
1939 the Ganso Azul Oil Company started oil exploitation of the Aguas Calientes oil field and in
1959 the El Oriente Peruvian Oil Company started exploitation of the Maquia oil field (MEM
1986).
In addition to historical grievances, oil development may have been an important factor in
the Ecuadorian‐Peruvian war of 1941. This was called the “Oil War” by Rumazo González
(Rumazo‐González 1946), since it occurred after Ecuador leased an oil block to Anglo‐Saxon
Petroleum (Royal Dutch) and after Peruvian oil exploration started in the region. The new
border established by the Rio de Janeiro Protocol of 1942, implied a cut of 20% in the area of
the Ecuadorian oil block.
The 1970s was a most intensive period in oil exploration in the history of the Peruvian
Amazon (a first oil exploration boom), which led to the most productive period between 1979
and 1985 (see chapter 3). The 1970s oil exploration boom in the Peruvian Amazon corresponds
to the first extensive wave of oil exploration in the Amazon. It coincided with the discovery of
major commercial deposits in the northern part of Ecuador close to Colombia’s border, by the
Texaco‐Gulf consortium in 1967 (Sabin 1998) and, in the northern Peruvian Amazon close to
the Ecuadorian border by Occidental Petroleum Corporation and Petroperú in 1971.
As mention in chapter 3, the Peruvian Amazon is currently experiencing a new oil
exploration boom. Even the most remote, intact and sensitive reaches of the Peruvian Amazon
were covered by proposed or active oil and gas concessions that overlap with 55.2% of the
titled indigenous lands (see Table 5), 17.1% of the created reserves for indigenous people in
voluntary isolation (see Table 6), 60.9% of the proposed territorial reserves (see Table 6).
104
In this chapter, from a world‐system perspective (Hornborg, McNeill, and Martinez‐Alier
2007), we analyze the oil frontier in a context of peak oil and growing global demand for oil,
105
and use concepts stemming from Ecological Economics and Political Ecology to understand the
impacts, conflicts, and resistance methods related to oil exploration and exploitation in the
Peruvian Amazon. In section two, we analyse the Peruvian oil reserves as a non‐renewable
resource. In section three, we discuss oil exploration and exploitation impacts in the Peruvian
Amazon. In section four, we summarize oil impacts in the Achuar territory as a springboard for
discussing, in section five, forms of resistance from this indigenous people to deal with such
impacts. Finally, we discuss the regional and global patterns of oil expansion, and offer policy
alternatives against increasing oil extraction impacts and conflicts.
Peak oil and the second exploration boom
Oil is the main energy source of modern societies, an essential input for the exosomatic
energy metabolism of contemporary rich economies. World economic growth reliance on
fossil fuels has been continuous over the last century and, consequently, oil world demand and
consumption has been increasing steadily along the 20th century, but there has been a
decrease in new discoveries of conventional oil reservoirs since 1960s (Tsoskounoglou,
Ayerides, and Tritopoulou 2008). The recent Brazilian pre‐salt discovery in the Atlantic Ocean
of about 50 billion barrels (EIA 2009a), though certainly important for the Brazilian economy,
would cover less than two years of world consumption. At the same time, as with Alberta’s oil
sands, new oil extraction often shows a decreasing EROI. There are increasing energy costs of
oil exploration, extraction and export, which depend on oil quality (API density) and location of
oil fields (Cleveland et al. 1984; Hall and Cleveland 1981). These factors —increasing world
demand, decreasing reservoirs and EROI— generate a scissor effect, which will lead to an
inevitable peaking of conventional oil production, which in turn, can lead to an oil world supply
shortage and to an increasing oil price (Figure 10).
Peak‐oil was described as early as 1949 by Hubbert (Hubbert 1949). The theory is based on
the fact that oil, as any other non‐renewable resource, is finite. Oil is not produced but
extracted. It is burnt and the energy produced is dissipated and cannot be used again. This
energyy does not come from current photosynthesis but it was accumulated in remote times.
Hence, the bell‐shaped nature of oil discoveries and extraction. Consequently, an increasing
exploration effort and cost per unit of oil discovered are expected at first, followed by
decreasing new discoveries and, finally, by decreasing oil extraction. The time lags between
the peaks of exploration, discovery and extraction can be predicted.
106
Figure 10. World Nominal Oil Price: 1970‐2010 (source: U.S. Energy Information Administration).
uch of the world's conventional oil has already been extracted; new discoveries tend to
be s
scenario of sustained high world oil prices will allow the economic development of
unc
M
maller than in the past, take more time and more expensive technology to develop, and
they run dry faster. Until 2007 oil demand was growing in the world, and it is still growing in
the vast emerging markets in the developing world, such as China and India. From about 87
million barrels per day in 2007 has gone down to about 85 million barrels per day in 2009. The
main factors behind the record‐breaking increase in 2008 of oil prices remain in place and, if
the world economic recession comes to an end, oil prices will break records again. To prevent
this scenario, the oil industry agrees that major investment in the exploration and
development of new reserves, and easier access to new and promising territories for
exploration, are needed. They complain, for instance, that USA sanctions continue to impede
investment in Iran; or that in the USA, most coastal waters and much of Alaska have been off‐
limits to oil exploration (The Economist 2009).
A
onventional resources (oil sands, oil shale, extra heavy oil, gas‐to‐liquids, coal‐to‐liquids)
and the use of enhanced oil recovery technologies to increase production of conventional
resources. High oil prices will also permit the development of additional conventional
resources through technically difficult, high‐risk, and very expensive projects, including those
located in ultra‐deep water and the Arctic (EIA 2009c). In other words, a scenario of high world
107
oil prices increases the profit margin and forces oil exploration into new “commodity frontiers”
in new territories, such as the Amazon.
The Peruvian Amazon oil peak was reached in 1979 at about 129,000 barrels per day.
The
ontrary to what happened after the first oil exploration boom in the Peruvian Amazon,
eve
his analysis should also take into account that gas exploitation has very different
pro
re has been a steady decline in oil extraction ever since (see chapter 3). The high oil prices
from 2003‐2008 were one of the causes of the second oil exploration boom (EIA, 2008). The
first oil blocks for unconventional oil (Technical Evaluation Agreements I‐IV) were leased in
Peru in February 2008, with four contracts that cover 66,001 km2 of the Peruvian Amazon.
Rising oil prices are also one of the causes that probable oil reserves (oil reserves are classified
into proved reserves, probable reserves and possible reserves; from less to more uncertainty)
in the Peruvian Amazon jumped in 2006 by 255 to nearly 465 million barrels. This increase is
due to the addition of reserves from Block 67 (see chapter 3). Exploration at Block 67 first
discovered commercial quantities of crude oil in the late 1990s. At the time, there was no
decision to proceed but rising world oil prices caused a re‐evaluation of the area turning it into
a financially feasible project (EIA 2008b).
C
n in a scenario of sustained high world oil prices, a second conventional oil extraction boom
may not take place. Proved oil reserves in the Peruvian Amazon were 246.2 million barrels in
2007, have only increased by 60 million barrels in the last 10 years, and are considerably lower
than in the early 1980s (see chapter 3). The Peruvian Amazon cumulative oil production
accounts for 996 million barrels until end 2008 which is more than the proved and probable oil
reserves all together. Conventional oil extraction will remain steady or experience an increase
for a while, but it will likely not surpass the annual oil production records set in the late‐1970s
and early‐1980s. Nevertheless, as oil price rise, even more of the Peruvian Amazon is likely to
be under exploration and exploitation in the near future.
T
spects. Although major discoveries of natural gas date from 1984, natural gas and natural
gas liquids extraction began to increase markedly since 2005 and has certainly not peaked yet
(see chapter 3). Its impacts in the Amazon are not dissimilar to those of oil.
108
Oil impacts in the Peruvian Amazon
Oil related activities threaten environmental sustainability. They have also been identified as
the cause of severe health impacts to local people due to oil pollution (Hurtig and San
Sebastián 2002, 2004; San Sebastián et al. 2001; San Sebastián, Armstrong, and Stephens
2002), sexual abuses by the workforce, and prostitution (Beristain, Páez, and Fernández 2009;
Jobin 2003). The court case against Chevron‐Texaco in Ecuador had done much to document
such practices. However, the impact of oil activities on indigenous people of the Peruvian
Amazon has been poorly described. The combination of endemic hepatitis B with acute
intoxication due to oil industry byproducts was found to be the likely cause of death in 21
children in a Kichwa community in Block 1AB (Álvarez‐Alonso, personal communication;
Álvarez‐Alonso 2008). Also in the northern Peruvian Amazon, a virulent hepatitis D epidemic
among the Candoshi was caused likely by the exploration activities conducted by Oxy during
1994‐1995 in Block 4; activities conducted despite the opposition of the local indigenous
people (Surrallés 2007). The oil industry often fails to respect the right to free, prior and
informed consent (the FPIC) as established by Convention 169 of ILO and now required by the
UN Indigenous People Declaration (ILO 1989; UN 2007; UNPFII 2009).
Impacts of oil extraction are usually considered long‐term and chronic, while potential
impacts of exploration (from seismic lines and exploration drilling) are considered low‐level,
short‐term and transient (UNEP‐IE/E&P‐Forum 1997). However, the extraction affects small
areas, while exploration affects vast expanses. Besides, oil exploration activities have
contributed to several cases of contact with indigenous people in voluntary isolation and the
ensuing outbreaks of new diseases with high rates of mortality. The firsts documented case
was in 1965 when Shell contacted non identified groups in Río Amigo (Madre de Dios). Also in
Madre de Dios, International Petroleum Company (IPC) contacted Amahuaca in 1967 and, in
1973, Andes Petroleum Company contacted Toyeri (Harakmbut). In the 1970’s, Total contacted
Yaminahua in Block 39, in the central Peruvian Amazon. Also in the 1980’s Shell, working in
Blocks 38 and 42 (also in the central Peruvian Amazon) contacted Nahua and Kirineri ‐ these
contacts, jointly with those caused by illegal logging, resulted in 40‐60% mortality among them
(Defensoría del Pueblo 2006; Napolitano 2007; Napolitano and Ryan 2007). In 1996, a number
of contacts with the Mashco‐piro were recorded in Block 77 (Mobil) in the southern Peruvian
Amazon. I also heard from Achuar informers that they witnessed new contacts during seismic
testing by Pluspetrol in Block 1AB in the late 1990s. A recent suspected case is due to
Petrolifera, a Canadian oil company, working in Block 107 that contacted Cacataibo peoples
109
inside the Cacataibo Territorial Reserve (IBC 2009c). Also the risk in Blocks 39 and 67 (next to
Yasuni ITT in Ecuador) is nowadays of major concern (Álvarez‐Alonso 2004; Casafranca 2008).
Numerous concessions currently overlap with a substantial number of Territorial Reserves and
proposed Territorial Reserves (Table 6).
Oil exploration puts health of those living in voluntary isolation at risk due to “novel”
diseases introduced by outsiders. Isolated indigenous peoples also suffer migration into their
territory since oil opens access to human settlement (agriculture, cattle and hunting) and
illegal logging, which also prevent them from coming back after forcing their migration. Their
land is almost “empty” and therefore appears available to anyone. Ecological economics
emphasizes that open access resources ‐not the community property (commons) which is
under rules to avoid overexploitation‐, are increasingly exploited since there is no incentive for
conservation because the costs of overexploitation would be suffered by everybody, whereas
the revenue would be appropriated by the users (Berkes et al. 1989; Ciriacy‐Wantrup and
Bishop 1975; Hardin 1968; Martínez‐Alier and Roca Jusmet 2001). This view supports the
conservationist thesis that secure and enforceable tenure by indigenous communities might
help prevent resource degradation by excluding outsider users (Hames 2007).
To sum up, oil exploration can no longer be considered a transient activity, with impacts
that can be corrected. In the Amazon, oil exploration is an irreversible process not only
because of (often unknown) loss of biodiversity but no less importantly because of impacts on
human life and cultural diversity. Illegal logging has been considered the main factor
jeopardizing the survival of indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation during the last decades
(Defensoría del Pueblo 2006). However, increasing hydrocarbon concessions are also a main
threat to indigenous people in voluntary isolation, by opening up the frontiers through seismic
lines.
110
111
One of the major effects of oil activities on biodiversity conservation is likely to be an
indirect effect due to indigenous people’s loss of traditional ecological knowledge,
epistemological assimilation, and especially, integration to the market economy (Suarez et al.
2009). Cultural diversity seems to be closely related to biodiversity conservation. Several
studies have shown the association between high biodiversity and the distribution of native
peoples and therefore, cultural degradation has been posited to be a source of biodiversity
loss (Toledo 2001). Skipping the debate around indigenous people being intentionally
conservationists or not, what is generally accepted is that due to their simple technology and
lack of access to external markets, indigenous people prevent over‐exploitation in comparison
to western societies. Among conservationists, there is concern on how cultural transformation
or Westernization, and integration into the market economy affect biodiversity (Hames 2007).
It is argued that improved regulations and standards of environmental management in oil
and gas exploration and extraction (land use, waste disposal, water use, waste‐water
management, greenhouse‐gas emissions, gas flaring and air pollution) have diminished direct
impacts per unit of production compared to old oil projects. Eco‐efficiency improvements
disguise the fact that oil impacts are often irreversible and that the total impact can increase
while decreasing per unit of production if the number of oil projects increases in socially and
environmentally fragile areas. The impacts should be analyzed in historical perspective,
counting cumulative impacts. In other words, what is relevant for rainforest conservation and
indigenous people health and survival is not only pollution per unit of oil production but the
total and cumulative effect of oil activities. This perspective strengthens the thesis that
Environmental Impact Assessments should not be conducted for each individualized oil
project, but in a regional and historical context (Finer et al. 2008).
Also, power asymmetries, uncertainties and ignorance in the remote oil frontier must be
taken into account. Local impact monitoring and assessment capacities are limited by the
presence of oil firms and the absence of the State. The role of Christian missionaries either
abetting oil exploration (Finer et al. 2009), or reproving its effects, is a symptom of the absence
of the State. The new needs of the communities (health assistance, zinc roofs) are often
provided for by the oil companies, not the State, which is handicapped by lack of resources
and technical incompetence and corruption (Transparency International 2009). Cutting edge
technologies and improved regulations and standards are not implemented in those remote
112
areas (La Torre López and Napolitano 2007). Therefore, empowerment of local people
becomes a key factor to ensure improved regulations and standards implementation.
Oil Conflicts in the northern Peruvian Amazon
Oil impacts in the Río Corrientes indigenous territory have been thoroughly described in
chapter 1. Despite the strong evidence of severe impacts in official reports since 1984, the
Peruvian government has from 2004 to 2007 leased six new oil concessions which overlap with
the whole Achuar ancestral territory ‐Blocks 101 (Talisman), 102 (Ramshorn), 104 (Burlington),
106 (Petrolífera Petroleum), 127 (Cepsa) and 143 (Hunt Oil)‐, and approved their
Environmental Impact Assessments which allowed operations to start.
By themselves, the impacts detailed in chapter 1 do not explain the course of events.
Conflicts about oil extraction in remote areas are highly complex, due to extreme cultural
disparity between actors, asymmetries in decision power and negotiation skills. Furthermore,
indigenous people are divided in terms of interests and opinions. All of these factors are
modulated by recent and past history of indigenous peoples, evangelization, military service,
dependence of communities on oil companies and absence of state agencies and other
external institutions; lack of audit capacity of state agencies, degree of democratic freedoms in
the country, environmental legislation and laws regarding indigenous peoples, isolation of the
area, economic resources of indigenous organizations and external support by NGOS, and so
on. Such factors, in turn, influence the internal strength of indigenous communities, the role of
traditional authorities and the clash between generations.
We list below some of the most important factors to understand the different dimensions
of conflict around hydrocarbon activities:
• Land Titling and decision power. Hydrocarbon Law 26221, enacted in 1993 during
the Fujimori government, clearly establishes the right of the State over subsurface
resources to facilitate mining and hydrocarbon concessions. Thus, the state
concentrates the power to allow companies to establish oil facilities, roads, drill
sites and pipelines on indigenous lands, even when they are titled. Peru ratified
ILO Convention 169 (ILO 1989) in 1993 (Legislative Resolution 26253‐1993), by
which indigenous communities, whether or not they have land title, have the right
113
to FPIC of the activities to be carried out in their territory. However, until recently
even some titled communities were not consulted. Despite this situation,
indigenous peoples know well that their territorial rights are the bridge to
guarantee their basic rights to health, livelihood, a healthy environment and use of
their resources, as well as their cultural rights. For these reasons, titling their
territories is a daily palpable need for the communities.
Indigenous territories are usually defined as an area that covers all ancestral
territories of each ethnic group. However, the Peruvian government only
recognizes collective ownership areas to communities, dividing ethnic groups and
even confronting communities due to infighting among them over the limits of
such properties. Moreover, company‐indigenous agreements are reached
separately per each titled community, dividing even more, the indigenous peoples’
movement.
The nomadism of indigenous groups, their diffuse use of the territory invisible to
Western eyes, (family groups started to settle in communities not until the 1960s
and in some cases subsequent to the arrival of the oil company) and government
centralism led to the absence of mechanisms to take into account indigenous
peoples in the decision making process for new oil facilities.
• Typology of impacts. The oil industry generates cultural, social and environmental
damages. Such damages interact and depend on other factors, and it is not always
easy to establish the causal relationships between the factors involved. Cultural
damage, on which there are very few judicial decisions requiring compensation,
comes with a long history of racism that often led indigenous people to the denial
of their own indigenous roots. The loss of institutions, rituals, knowledge and
practices resulting from oil activity in the area, not only has not been reported, but
has been favored by the members of communities. Only recently, a timid purpose
to recover indigenous dignity has arisen, and FECONACO began to undertake
activities to reinforce cultural identity.
Social and environmental damage has been the cause of most of the conflicts
between the Achuar and the oil companies. Social and environmental damages are
closely related since Achuar communities rely on the environment as a source of
114
livelihood and of any marketable good. Thus, the decline in fishing and hunting
were considered by the Achuar as a direct result of oil pollution. However, other
factors such as population growth, introduction of firearms that replace blowguns
or the loss of traditional institutions and regulatory practices for hunting, might
also play a role. Some of these factors might also be an indirect effect of
petroleum activities.
Conflict dynamics are also conditioned by the long‐term emergence of diseases
linked to oil pollution. The highest degree of social mobilization coincided with the
emergence of new diseases, such as suspected cases of cancer. There are no
official records of causes of death in the communities, there are no
epidemiological studies to establish a causal relationship between cancer and oil
activities. But health is one of the indigenous peoples’ major concerns. Oil‐related
health problems are largely long‐term and given that indigenous people were
unaware of the toxicity of crude oil because there were no natural outcrops of oil
in the area, the conflict was postponed, allowing a conflict‐free operation to Oxy
between 1971 and 2000, and even after the concession was transferred to
Pluspetrol. By then, damages became very visible. Pluspetrol Corporation linked
this pollution to past Oxy activities, denying any relation with its own activities.
• Isolation. In remote areas indigenous people have no other contacts with the
national society than the company itself; or perhaps missionaries or the military.
Due to geographical isolation, and lack of Western cultural skills and familiarity
with national institutions, indigenous communities do not usually have the chance
to access alternative external actors (state agencies, courts, universities or NGOs)
and when they want to complain about pollution, they only can complain to the
company itself. Thus, the conflict is often silenced at international, national,
regional or even local level until protest becomes visible in the forms of roadblocks
or occupations of oil installations.
• Organizational Strength. Increasing State presence after the war with Ecuador in
1941 and the arrival of missionaries of the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL),
determined to a large extent the collapse of Achuar institutions and the blurring of
the traditional authority, the Apu. The presence of state authorities in Villa
Trompeteros (district capital, 4000 inhabitants in 1993), determined the
115
appearance of two new authorities in the communities, the lieutenant governor
and the municipal agent, but the major agent of change was Achuar evangelization
by the SIL. As a result, the community bilingual teacher came to transform the
Achuar public sphere and the institutions, practices and knowledge of Achuar
culture were discredited.
Today FECONACO leaders, as their representatives, have a key role among the
Achuar. Given their power, there are often rumours of leaders being involved in
corruption. In 2002, FECONACO leaders were replaced over allegations of taking
bribes from Pluspetrol. The outgoing leaders came to form another federation
(FEPIBAC) which attended meetings with state agencies claiming to be legal
representatives of the Achuar. Such rumours of corruption undermine confidence
of the communities in the leaders, which in turn, diminishes their strength as
representatives of the Achuar people, and also their capacity to claim their rights.
Thus, while (false) rumours were spread about houses in the U.S. being bought in
2006 to FECONACO’s leaders by the oil company, FECONACO lacked the economic
resources to undertake visits to communities (by expensive boat trips) to
strengthen the confidence of the Achuar people.
• Dependence on oil companies. Achuar communities’ dependence on Pluspetrol
has been called “extreme” (OSINERG 2004). Both Oxy and Pluspetrol have been
the largest source of wage employment and the most important source of cash
into communities. Currently the majority of adult men engage in wage
employment (perhaps two or three months per year) working on remediation,
road maintenance or vegetation clearing in seismic lines and drilling sites.
Dependence on Pluspetrol is also due to the annual agreements between
Pluspetrol and FECONACO. The company pays for the construction of wells for
drinking water, health posts, training programs for health promoters, care in
health centers of the oil company, donation and maintenance of electric
generators, transport of indigenous people along the oil company road
(hitchhiking), air transport for indigenous authorities to attend meetings in Iquitos
or Lima or for health emergencies (Pluspetrol Norte SA and Pampa Hermosa 2003).
The oil company replaces the State.
116
This dependence means, on the one hand, a long‐term risk of extreme poverty
when oil runs out, and on the other hand, the possibility for the company to
pressure the communities by reducing these services as happened in the early
1990s when the Achuar began to organize themselves.
Achuar resistance methods 31
In the Río Corrientes, the conflicts are mainly expressed in a language of indigenous
identity and territorial rights, and also in the language of risks to health. Such languages are
intertwined and are used together. Health has been used for direct actions, as well as for a
court case. Resistance focused on land titling was based on territorial rights while monitoring
of oil impacts used indigenous environmental language.
Land Titling
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was adopted by the
General Assembly on 13 September 2007. It starts by recognizing the link between territory
and rights: “control by indigenous peoples over developments affecting them and their lands,
territories and resources will enable them to maintain and strengthen their institutions,
cultures and traditions[…].” This Declaration was not only signed by Peru but also sponsored
by its government at the time (UN 2007). The Declaration was born from debates on land
titling that go back many decades. Indigenous peoples have repeatedly stated that their
cultural security is synonymous with, and entirely contingent upon, security of tenure. The
control of their ancestral territory is recognized as a key right from which depend their social
structure, organization, institutions, cultural heritage, practices and beliefs, and sustainable
use of natural resources. Under the indigenous worldview their territory is their source of
livelihood, water, food, medicines, wood and any other daily resource; but also the source for
their knowledge, culture and spiritual traditions which are indispensable for their existence,
well‐being and integral development as peoples (Surrallés and Garcia‐Hierro 2004). The politics
of the indigenous peoples’ movement has focused long ago on the recognition of their
territory through collective land titles.
31 We do not include here a discussion about MELPGIS, since it has been deeply analysed in chapter
2.
117
In Peru, the legal figure of the native community in the Amazon was created in 1974
(Stocks 2005). However, the law does not directly permit several communities to claim a single
territory for each ethnic group (as for instance, the original community lands ‐tierras
comunitarias de origen‐, in Bolivia). So that titled native communities leave large gaps of
territory in between that are filled in by settlers. According to the law, the native communities
do not own the forest rights and the state has the right to give logging concessions. They also
do not own the subsurface resource rights and have to provide right‐of‐way for all state‐
constructed roads and free passage to oil or gas pipelines, among others infrastructures
(Stocks 2005). Under Fujimori (1990–2000), the 1993 constitution revoked the inalienability of
indigenous lands (indigenous property may now be subject to mortgage) (Stocks 2005). In
1991, a land titling program of the Agriculture Department was funded by the World Bank ‐the
Special Project on Land Titling. In 2008 its responsibilities were transferred to COFOPRI
(attached to the housing authority). Currently the Peruvian government has issued over 1,200
land titles to Amazonian indigenous communities (in only 13.5% of the Peruvian Amazon) and
created five territorial reserves for the protection of indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation
(3.6% of the Peruvian Amazon) (IBC 2009a). Moreover, this plan only gave title to areas smaller
than the ones in actual use, under a concept of sedentary life and without recognizing the
territorial needs of hunter‐gatherer societies. It did not solve the problem on native
community titling.
In 1978 three Achuar traditional leaders travelled to Iquitos in order to get a land title and
stop the oil activities in their territories. They even managed to have a meeting on 12 August
1983 with the Peruvian President, Fernando Belaúnde Terry, to whom they asked for territorial
rights (Uriarte 2007). Three decades later and after long bureaucratic procedures the Achuar
people have only got a few small land titles which do not solve their problems or guarantee
their territorial rights. Indigenous peoples have often alleged that the Peruvian government
uses a strategy of “rocking and boring” them by not paying attention to their claims while
inviting them from time to time to go to distant Lima to have talks. Indigenous peoples believe
that government has little respect for their rights when establishing Amazonian policies.
Occupation of oil wells because of claims to health
Until 2006, the Achuar held meetings in Iquitos and Lima with the Congressional National
Commission for Andean, Amazonian and Afroperuvian Peoples (CONAPA, which later became
118
INDEPA), the Commission for the Amazon, Ecology and Environment from the Peruvian
Congress, the General Direction for Environmental and Energy Affairs (DGAAE) from the
Ministry of Energy and Mines, the Minister of Health, the Environmental Health Agency
(DIGESA), the Regional Health Department of Loreto (DESA Loreto), the Epidemiology Division
(DGE), and other state agencies; they also met the Ombudsman, Congressmen and the First
Lady (Orta‐Martínez 2007).
Historically, the Achuar have mobilized socially only in relation to the non‐fulfillment of oil
company‐indigenous agreements. But in 2006, after publication of the official report on the
alarming cadmium levels in their blood by the Ministry of Health, the patterns of Achuar
mobilization changed. The traditional leaders of the Achuar communities went to new
meetings in Lima whose objective was to set an emergency health plan. After elections held in
June 2006, they met with the new Alan García’s administration, but the government did
nothing to prevent new oil pollution. A meeting was arranged for the 26 September 2006, but
representatives of the administration did not attend. Annoyed with this cancellation, the
Achuar people decided to demonstrate in Iquitos, and to take action.
In October 2006, more than 800 Achuar from the Río Corrientes occupied most of the oil
facilities in Blocks 1AB and 8 to stop oil wells. They did not want to lift the occupation until the
Minister of Health and the Minister of Energy and Mines undertook to end the discharge of
formation waters into their rivers, one main pollution source. The Achuar stopped oil
extraction for two weeks until the government and Pluspetrol agreed to the reinjection of all
formation waters by July 2008 in Block 1AB, and by December 2008 in Block 8. They also
agreed to undertake remediation activities and to implement a health care plan along the Río
Corrientes basin, which included provisional emergency food and water supplies to avoid the
polluted Achuar’s normal sources (La Torre López and Napolitano 2007).
The oil company fulfilled their commitments to reinject formation water in the Río
Corrientes on time. Nevertheless, the formation waters in other river basins in Blocks 1AB and
8,‐the territory of the Kichwa indigenous people who did not join the Achuar’s strike, did not
start to be reinjected until one year later. At the end of 2009, the government still had not
fulfilled its commitments to build a hospital and truly implement the health care plan. In
March 2010 FECONACO demonstrated again in Iquitos to demand that the government fulfil
the 2006 agreements (Aidesep 2010). Meanwhile, Antonio Brack, the Environment Minister,
presented the Achuar case as a proof that today oil activities are healthy and that pollution is
119
an old problem (Felipe‐Gamarra 2009). The Achuar case could rather be interpreted as an
environmental justice movement claiming equal rights to health. Resorting to peaceful direct
action, they had a measure of success.
Court case
Extraterritorial legislations give the legal forum for plaintiffs from countries that extract
and export raw materials to bring their claims for damages in the importing countries which
are also home to the transnational corporations which (together with national companies) are
liable or should be liable for such damages. In their home countries the defendant
transnational corporations have assets available for paying damages and there is no
institutionalized corruption of the judicial system. The Alien Tort Claim Act (ATCA) of the
United States has been of particular interest. Thus, Freeport‐McMoRan, a mining company,
was accused, under the ATCA, of human rights and environmental violations in Indonesia
(Black 2004). Referring only to oil and gas, a group of Burmese villagers brought a case against
Unocal due to alleged human rights abuses committed during the construction of the Yadana
pipeline; cases have been brought against Shell and Chevron for damage to environmental and
human rights in Nigeria, against Texaco (now Chevron) for environmental abuse in the
Ecuadorian Amazon, against ExxonMobil for alleged complicity in human rights violations by
Indonesian military units, and against Talisman for alleged abuse of human rights in Sudan
(Bekele Woldemelekot 2008; Utting and Clapp 2008).
In May 2007, twenty‐five indigenous Achuar plaintiffs brought suit in the Superior Court of
the State of California against Los Angeles‐based Occidental Petroleum Corp. (Oxy), alleging
harm caused by Oxy over a thirty‐year period in the Río Corrientes basin. This was a class
action, where plaintiffs brought these claims on behalf of themselves and of all residents of
five Achuar communities (estimated to be approximately 2,500) that sustained the same type
of injuries and damages arising out of Oxy’s conduct. In April 2008, the judge of the U.S.
District Court for the Central District of California granted Oxy’s motion to dismiss and ruled
that the case was more appropriately heard in Peru under the legal doctrine so often applied
in such cases of forum non conveniens. The case is currently in the appeal process. The
plaintiffs are also considering taking legal action in a Peruvian court.
120
Oil conflicts: increasingly commonplace
Policy makers in Peru have begun to realize the actual number of hectares and resources
involved in phrases such as “rights to lands traditionally occupied”. They are not keen in
recognising the hard‐won advances in indigenous rights. The assertion “too much land and
resources for too few indigenous peoples” is another way of saying that there are political and
economic interests that want the land (Stocks 2005).
In October 2007, President Alan Garcia published a newspaper article titled The Dog in the
Manger syndrome (García Pérez 2007), which compared Amazonian indigenous people to a
dog growling over food that it will not eat but will not let others have. Alan Garcia wrote that
huge indigenous lands were idle and only a small portion were agricultural land. According to
him, “sacred and ancestral land rights” were excuses to prevent turning the Amazon into
productive lands by national and foreign investment in resource extraction, plantation forests
and agrofuels production. The indigenous population of the Peruvian Amazon was only
332,975 inhabitants (INEI 2008b), only 1.18% of total 28,220,764 Peruvian population (INEI
2008a), and owned 10.41% of Peru (Benavides 2009a).
In 2008, Alan García approved 104 decree‐laws under executive powers he had from the
Peruvian congress to facilitate implementation of the new US‐Peru Free Trade Agreement.
Indigenous people’s organizations argued that the government wanted to open up the
Amazon to private investment (agrofuel plantations, oil drilling, mining in the Cordillera del
Condor and elsewhere, plantation forestry), basically taking away land from indigenous
people, and allowing companies to operate in or take over community lands much more easily.
They also argued that the government did not observe the right of indigenous peoples to free,
prior and informed consent (ILO 1989; UN 2007), and that there were severe environmental
and health impacts associated with Amazonian hydrocarbon activities.
In mid‐2008 indigenous people’s organizations began a protest campaign and, in April
2009, after allegations of lack of proper dialogue, they started roadblocks at different points in
the Amazon and also in the highlands. Just one day after a new postponement of a debate in
Congress about repealing some of the decree‐laws in question, the police effort to clear the
blockade at Bagua in Northern Peru culminated in bloodshed on June 5th, when 24 police and
not less than 10 civilians were killed. Five leaders of the national indigenous organization ‐
AIDESEP‐ were ordered to be arrested on charges of sedition and for allegedly inciting
121
indigenous rebellion and violence. Three of them took refuge in the embassy of Nicaragua and
AIDESEP’s leader A. Pizango is still now in exile. Alan García blamed “foreign forces” for the
violence and spoke of a “conspiracy” to stop his government from exploiting natural resources
(Collyns 2009).
As the world economy uses more energy and oil, gas, coal, copper, bauxite, palm oil, paper
pulp and other raw materials, the commodity frontiers advance into the Peruvian Amazon as
in other territories undermining the conditions of livelihood and the very existence of
peripheral peoples, who complain accordingly (Martínez‐Alier 2002). Ecological distribution
conflicts have been increasing across the Peruvian Amazon (Figure 11). Fifteen open conflicts
related to hydrocarbon activities were reported in Januray 2010 (Defensoría del Pueblo 2005‐
2009). Similarly, our records indicate that indigenous peoples have organized major protests in
at least 19 blocks (see Table 5).
Figure 11. Evolution of socio‐environmental conflicts in Peru according to the Peruvian ombudsman (Source: Own
Policy recommendations
design based on data provided by Defensoría del Pueblo, Reporte de Conflictos Sociales, Jan 2005‐March 2010).
Finer et al. (2008) presented several policy recommendations aimed at reducing or
eliminating hydrocarbon‐related impacts. These recommendations include: 1) banning new oil
122
acce
s to avoid hydrocarbon‐related
impacts, stemming from and proposed by the ecological economics and political ecology
com
n international legal framework to get compensation for social and
environmental liabilities of oil companies, and prior to this, the obligation to count
r 2007). In the context of the
limate change debate, a new eco‐tax on oil exports by OPEC countries of about
ss roads through wilderness areas; 2) the implementation in national regulations of the
indigenous peoples’ right to reject a project planned on their territory after being properly
consulted (the FPIC); 3) the requirement of Strategic Environmental Assessment that analyse
the long‐term, cumulative, and synergistic impacts of multiple oil and gas projects across a
region; 4) the creation of Intangible zones for voluntary isolated indigenous peoples where any
commercial extractive activity is forbidden, as the Zona Intangible created by the Ecuadorian
government in 1999, whose boundaries were not set until 2007 after the Inter‐American
Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued “Precautionary Measures” in order to protect the
lives of the Tagaeri and Taromenane voluntary isolated (Finer et al. 2009); 5) emulating the
Ecuadorian government proposal of leaving 850 million barrels of heavy oil untapped in the ITT
field Yasuní National Park in exchange for compensation from the international community
(Finer, Moncel, and Jenkins 2009; Larrea and Warnars 2009).
Here, we gather several additional policy alternative
munity:
• A
such liabilities. It can help to internalize the negative externalities of the oil
industry that arise as cost‐shifting successes, and it could be achieved thanks to
current court cases, such as the case against Chevron‐Texaco in Ecuador and the
Oxy case in Peru (Black 2004), which can set a law of precedent; but also thanks to
a World Court with jurisdiction over transnational corporations. Two parallel
versions of a statute for this Court have been proposed by the U.N. Special
Rapporteur on Promoting Human Rights while Countering Terrorism (Scheinin
2009), and the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment (Nowak and Kozma 2009);
• The Daly‐Correa tax (Martínez‐Alier and Tempe
c
3% has been proposed, with the explicit aim of lowering a little the demand for oil
in order to diminish carbon dioxide emissions and oil extraction, but also recycling
the revenue towards poverty‐reduction, oil extraction impacts mitigation and
energy transition;
123
• Degrowth. Spurred by the first report to the Club of Rome in 1972, "The Limits to
rowth" (Meadows et al. 1972), economic degrowth leading to a steady state
the opening up of the oil frontier in socially
and environmentally sensitive areas would be necessary before such policies are implemented.
Suc
logical advances, such as air transportation services via helicopter to avoid road
access or directional drilling to reduce the number of drilling sites are also important to
min
Conclusions
G
economy in rich countries is now a topic for discussion due to the world economic
recession (Rijnhout and Schauer 2009). In a limited system, unlimited growth is
impossible. Economic growth increases the flows of energy and materials.
Degrowth, when substituting GDP by social and environmental indicators to trace
society’s success towards sustainability, will reduce oil demand, avoiding the
increase in the socio‐environmental liabilities of transnational oil companies and
the destruction of nature and human livelihoods at the oil frontiers, reinforcing
Environmental Justice worldwide.
The authors consider that a moratorium on
h moratorium was already been proposed by environmental groups (Oilwatch) and
indigenous organizations in Ecuador and Nigeria in 1997, to enable states and civil society to
assess the social, economic and environmental advantages and disadvantages of oil
exploration and extraction in comparison with the other alternatives in a multi‐criteria
paradigm.
Techno
imize impacts. However, technical improvements that minimize impacts are not enough on
their own since most oil impacts are long term, irreversible and accumulative.
he world economy from the point of view of its metabolism, we see that more
and materials and energy are used by the economy over time, thus requiring an advance
of t
Looking at t
more
he commodity frontiers. Apart from this worldwide trend, there are regional factors (not
discussed here) that are relevant to understand why there has recently been an expansion of
the oil frontier in the Peruvian Amazon: the style of political economy that shaped Peru’s
economic development in the last decades; the kind of political architecture, regionalism, and
racism found in Peru; the measures adopted by Alan García in 2008 to facilitate the
124
implementation of the US‐Peru Free Trade Agreement; the multi‐million oil investment inflows
and royalties, and the political relations between Lima elites and foreign companies. The
ultimate cause of the conflicts is nevertheless the increasing exosomatic energy metabolism of
the importing economies and also of Peru.
Even though this territory is a very minor source of world fossil fuels, an unprecedented
amount of the Peruvian Amazon is now covered by oil and gas concessions, spreading over the
mos
ude that there is a regional pattern of oil expansion in the Peruvian Amazon
that will deepen in the future and, therefore increasing oil impacts and conflicts are to be
exp
t intact parts of the territory, pushing on the agriculture, cattle and logging frontier;
overlapping with indigenous lands and also with the often unmapped territories of indigenous
people in voluntary isolation, threatening their life and livelihood, and their cultural patrimony.
Patterns of production and consumption in an oil‐based world economy are leading to a peak
in oil extraction. Even when energy use falls down a little, as in 2008‐09, there is a need for
fresh supplies of fossil fuels because energy cannot be recycled. Contrary to the intuitive but
erroneous idea of understanding peak oil as the end of the pollution problem and climate
change and the starting point for new renewable energy development, peak oil (along with
increasing oil prices) is spurring oil exploration all over the world and determining the re‐
evaluation and development of additional conventional resources and of unconventional
resources previously without commercial interest. In other words, peak oil implies for the time
being larger impacts of oil exploration and extraction at the commodity frontiers for the
remaining oil, for gas and for coal. The term commodity frontiers was coined by Jason W.
Moore (Moore 2000) to refer to environmental transformations, degradation and relative
exhaustion in one region after another due to natural resources production and extraction;
environmental transformations that were conditions as well as consequences of the expansion
of a world‐economy predicated on the endless accumulation of capital. Hence, the use and
abuse of nature by capital in the modern world undermines not only its own conditions of
production but the conditions of livelihood and existence of peripheral peoples, so that
ecological distribution conflicts keep increasing across the world (Martínez‐Alier 2002;
O'Connor 1988).
We can concl
ected. This pattern also applies in Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador (Finer et al.
2008), and also in other areas around the world.
125
Some authors have seen these environmental justice conflicts (the defense of indigenous
grou
or sociologist and social historians, the birth of new forms of resistance such as the
occ
nthropologists, conservation biologists, environmental sociologists and political scientists
sho
digenous peoples’ integration to the market due to the expansion pattern of
hyd
ps against oil extraction, but also against mining, large dams or logging) as manifestations
of identity politics, understanding conflicts mainly as a reaffirmation of identity. Identity is
however one language in which the fights against the unequal distribution of pollution burdens
and access to natural resources due to unequal property rights, and inequalities of power and
income among humans are expressed (Martínez‐Alier 2007). When some actors deploy, in
resource extraction or in pollution conflicts, the language of territorial rights and ethnic
resistance against external exploitation or pollution, this could be understood as a powerful
idiom in which structural conflicts are expressed. Other languages could be the value of local
livelihood, the sacredness of some places, the right to life, the supremacy of local democracy,
or the demand for monetary compensation for damages in a court case, the value of
biodiversity conservation.
F
upation of oil wells, and participatory monitoring using GIS, should certainly be of interest.
In the Peruvian Amazon, and particularly in the Corrientes case, indigenous resistance has
moved from land titling to institutional lobbying, and finally, to other forms of activism such a
roadblocks. Initially, indigenous peoples were confident that titling would provide them with
the tools for the effective exercise of their rights, but they soon realized that land titles were
not enough for preventing impacts from oil activities. Then they tried diverse tactics (from
institutional meetings to GIS monitoring looking for international awareness and solidarity).
Other tactics they have resort to are court cases. Roadblocks is a resistance method that
depends totally on themselves. Knowledge of their deteriorating health has been an important
factor determining changes in the resistance methods employed in the Río Corrientes.
Publication of health reports triggered the abandonment of ineffective past methods.
A
uld take into account the insights of the social metabolism approach. Indigenous peoples’
loss of livelihood with huge environmental consequences in the western Amazon region
cannot be understood unless we take into account the dependence of the world economy on
oil and gas.
In
rocarbon concessions should definitively be considered as one of the main environmental
impacts for the Amazon. This, together with the risk of contact (and elimination) of indigenous
126
127
he Peruvian Amazon annual oil production fuels less than 4 hours of world oil
consump
peoples in voluntary isolation, allows us to conclude that oil activities can not be considered
transient, neither when referring to oil extraction nor to oil exploration.
T
tion, and only 996 million barrels have been extracted from the Peruvian Amazon
until today. World oil consumption per day is in 2009 around 85 million barrels (EIA 2009b). At
the present rate, all the oil extracted in the Peruvian Amazon until today would fuel the world
economy for 12 days. Assuming major discoveries thanks to the new oil exploration boom in
the Peruvian Amazon (proved and unproved (probable and possible) reserves account for
3,900 million barrels), they will last only for a while. Are the social, environmental, economic
costs of oil exploration worthwhile? Are they commensurable with the benefits? Other
alternatives should be considered when defining the development strategy such as securing
human rights, stability and peace in the whole region, helping to avoid climate change, and
preserving unparalleled biodiversity at world level. In which units of account shall profits and
losses be counted? Which is the real “price” of oil?
Summary and main conclusions
The four chapters of this thesis, together with the Introduction, converge on the idea that oil
impacts are increasingly becoming a major environmental and human rights issue in the
Peruvian Amazon. Severe impacts in the areas affected by oil exploration and exploitation,
jointly with the advance of the oil frontier all over the Peruvian Amazon, make of oil activities
one major threat to indigenous peoples survival or well being, and to biodiversity conservation in
the region. Gas extraction, logging and tree plantations are other threats not analysed in this
thesis.
The four chapters (written between late 2007 and early 2010 on different aspects of the
same topic, and emphasizing different methodologies) point to the need for a rigorous policy
debate on current oil activities in the Peruvian Amazon to secure human rights, stability, peace,
cultural diversity, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable development in the whole region.
They urge the reader to realize that avoiding biodiversity loss and enforcing human and
indigenous peoples’ rights are not specialized topics of conservation biology, economic
geography and international law but are at the very centre of today’s main decisions on
economic and energy policies, environmental management, public policies on land rights, and in
general on governance at different scales.
This thesis is, therefore, not so much a monograph on a remote corner of the world (the
Achuar territory in Río Corrientes) but a study of central issues in international economics and
politics. Energy, environment, corporate liabilities and the human rights of indigenous people
are at the centre of today’s debates on the path that humanity should take in future.
Impacts and existing evidence
The thesis compiles evidence of the impacts of historical and contemporary oil activities
over indigenous people living in voluntary isolation in the Peruvian Amazon. Furthermore, we
have listed some of the most well documented impacts of oil activities on health of already
contacted indigenous people. Both, together with the comprehensive description of impacts
for the Achuar case study through a review of diverse official data sources, lead us to conclude
that there is enough evidence of impact to affirm that oil activities have negative effects on
human rights. Damage to human health and livelihood arises from the impact on nature where
129
people live, that is, pollution of water, soil and atmosphere (because of oil spills, gas flaring
and discharge of “formation” water) by oil companies.
Further, the identification of negative impacts on the environment by government
agencies since 1984, together with our field work evidence (2006‐2009) and other
documentation through interviews and physical inspection of oil operation procedures and
obsolete technology, lead us to the idea that the most important factors behind the oil impacts
are the deliberate violation of industry standards to reduce costs and the government
negligence and vulnerability to private pressure. There are other factors involved, for instance,
other government’s weaknesses, such as underfunding (lack of infrastructure and personnel),
the lack of expertise, and the lax national legislation. In our case study, these environmentally
and socially irresponsible behaviors are still more grave since they take place in areas of
sensitive biological and cultural diversity, where the industry standards should be stricter than
the state‐of‐the‐art regulations and technology in the home countries.
Oil exploration is an activity different from oil extraction. The impact from oil exploration
(seismic lines, drilling of preliminary well) is by itself very widespread, even when oil is not
found in quantities that warrant exploitation. One important finding of this thesis is that oil
exploration activities can not be considered short‐term and transient as argued by the oil
industry, since they put health of those living in voluntary isolation at risk due to outbreaks of
new diseases with high rates of mortality. Furthermore, oil exploration introduces de jure or de
facto changes in property rights in the jungle. Oil exploration is done under the protection of
legal concessions, it forces migration of the isolated indigenous people, usually small
populations with low demographic pressure who have been managing the natural resources
under rules that prevent overexploitation of forests. These populations often defend their
resources and livelihoods even with their own lives. Hence, oil exploration changes property
regimes in the tropical rainforest from the “commons” managed by isolated indigenous people
to (initially) free access to resources for loggers, miners, cattle ranchers, or small‐scale settlers
who come in the wake of the oil companies and who later claim their own rights to land.
This thesis also calls attention to the process of indigenous peoples’ integration into the
market economy, as a consequence of oil infrastructure and oil employment, as one of the
main potential changes in livelihood systems, and indirectly on biodiversity since market
demand increases the destruction of forests or of some species.
130
Oil frontiers advance in the Peruvian Amazon
The results presented reveal that there has been a huge advance of the oil frontier in the
Peruvian Amazon during the last six years (2004‐10), resulting in what we call here “the second
hydrocarbon boom” in the region. As shown through different indicators, an unprecedented
proportion of the Peruvian Amazon is currently under oil and gas exploration. There are more
active concessions now than at any other time in the Peru’s history, overlapping areas
untouched by the seismic testing wave of the 1970s. Today’s active concessions overlap
proposed territorial reserves (60.9%) and actual territorial reserves (17%) for the protection of
indigenous people in voluntary isolation, they also overlap titled indigenous territories (55%)
and natural protected areas (17%).
Why is the oil frontier advancing? Peru has probably witnessed already its Hubbert peak.
Oil extraction in the Peruvian Amazon steadily fell since 1979. It is still going down (although
gas extraction is sharply increasing). However, the high oil prices from 2003 at least until 2008
and beyond led to the granting of new concessions in the Amazon and other regions of Peru
for exploration of oil, including unconventional oil (tar sands). So, as Hubbert’s peaks are
reached in other countries also, there is a search for new supplies of oil. This is in accordance
with Jason Moore’s notion of “commodity frontiers” based on the endless increasing world
demand and the exhaustion of non‐renewable resources. However, there also are regional
factors that are relevant to understand why there has been such an expansion of the oil
frontier in the Peruvian Amazon.
An increase on oil exploration activities is to be expected as a response to the decline on
oil extraction. We anticipate also an increase on oil exploitation activities (extraction wells,
installations, roads and pipelines) as a consequence of rising world oil prices which turn small
oilfields and high‐cost exploitation projects into feasible ones while perhaps an increase on
conventional oil extraction in the Peruvian Amazon may not take place. Gas is however a
different story.
Accordingly, from the increase in oil activities and the impacts related to them, we expect:
• An increase in the vulnerability of the Peruvian Amazon, which would change its
global biodiversity conservation priorization. An increase in vulnerability will
131
change the classification of this region from a priority area of low threat but high
irreplaceability to a priority area of high threat and high irreplaceability.
• An increase of the total amount of impacts, despite technological improvements,
and a raise in environmental distribution conflicts claiming environmental justice
and respect for human and indigenous rights.
• An increase of the relevance of oil activities compared to illegal logging, as the
main factor jeopardizing the survival of indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation.
• Possibly, the birth of new forms of resistance, as Amazon indigenous groups
increase their organization and obtain international and national support (or
alternatively, increased repression, as shown in the events of June 2009).
New resistance methods: MELPGIS
The fields of ecological economics, and business economics and management, have
discussed which instruments –regulations, taxes, voluntary agreements, certification, tradable
permits, or the “triple bottom line” reports to shareholders and the public under the practices
of Corporate Social Responsability‐ are more effective in order to take into account the natural
environment and ecosystems in business practice. How to internalize the socio‐enviromental
costs in the companies’ accounts? In this thesis we touch on these issues at several moments.
We listed several instruments that have been proposed for the specific case of oil business.
The Daly‐Correa tax has been mentioned, aiming at lowering the demand for oil in order to
mitigate a little the impacts due to the advancement of the oil frontier caused by peak oil.
There is no international movement of “fair trade” in oil, as there is for coffee, for instance,
but there is increasing awareness in oil‐importing countries of the damage being done in
(some) exporting countries, like Nigeria, Ecuador and Peru. Also, an international legal
framework has been suggested to deal with the processes of transnationalization that
characterize globalization. Such international legal framework would allow the internalization
of the socio‐environmental liabilities of transnational coorporations. Such international
regulations can also help in the creation of intangible zones for indigenous peoples in
voluntary isolation. The Yasuni ITT proposal in Ecuador could be a model (if successful) for
neighbouring blocks in Peru (after the elections of 2011). Also the proposals of mandatory
132
Strategic Environmental Assessment can help to take into account in the decision‐making
process the long‐term, cumulative, irreversible and synergistic impacts of multiple oil and gas
projects across a wider region and along history.
But, which are the most effective instruments today for the peripheral peoples to
denounce and to deal with impacts of oil exploration and exploitation? This thesis makes a
major contribution to this question. We conclude that land titling is useful but not effective
enough as a way to ensure indigenous rights, since titling do not provide them with the tools
for the exercise of their rights in practice and land titles are not enough for preventing impacts
from oil activities. Therefore, new resistance methods have appeared. They fit with the
widespread idea –with which the author of this thesis concurs‐ that conflicts can be seen as
engines that drive institutional transformations.
Why is the demand for territorial rights and land titling not enough? To face the impacts,
indigenous people movements have focused long ago on the recognition of their territories
through collective land titles, giving continuity to a process that go back many decades in all
the countries of the Amazon basin and, around which the indigenous movement appeared and
gained strength. Nevertheless, and despite the fact that indigenous people have achieved
some success thanks to land titling, today, when indigenous territories are (as during the
rubber boom) no any more marginal lands but lands with potential exploitation of wood,
agrofuels, mining or oil and gas, it is clear that titled indigenous lands are not synonymous with
secure property rights and control of ancestral territories.
As a consequence, new resistance methods are spreading among indigenous
organizations. In the Achuar case study we document (in chapter 4) the raise of activism in the
form of institutional lobbying, roadblocks, court cases and participatory monitoring. Parallel to
that, languages used by indigenous people have shifted from territorial rights and identity to
claims to health (and soon perhaps, to environmental justice). Such changes have been
promoted by the belated appearance of severe health problems.
In this thesis we present (in chapter 2) the implementation of a relatively new form of both
monitoring and resistance (by a team of which the author of this thesis was a member), that is,
participatory monitoring of oil spill and other damage using GIS (or Monitoring Environmental
Liabilities through Participatory GIS, MELPGIS), which has achieved a measure of success and
133
certaintly arisen many expectations. This methodology allows the documentation of impacts,
the compilation of evidences of these impacts, and their use by and for indigenous people.
Firstly, MELPGIS provides indigenous people with a mechanism to register impacts of oil
activities continuosly in time and space at no extra‐cost and autonomously in locations without
the regular presence of official environmental inspectors. It dispels ignorance and advances
knowledge in the remote oil frontier, where, despite its biological and cultural significance, no
records were kept before. The poor daily practice in waste management, quality and security
of installations and infrastructure, and the non‐implementation of contingency plans due to
negligence, cost‐cutting and corruption are to be exposed by the indigenous peoples
themselves. Secondly, these strong and irrefutable photographs and videos of oil impacts,
although not as scientifically sound as chemical analyses, turn into proofs that cannot be easily
rejected. Finally, these photographs, videos, voice recordings or GPS readings are new tools
that can be used, allowing the indigenous population and supporting NGOs to lobby for more
eco‐friendly operations, irreversibly changing the direction of the negotiation between
indigenous people and oil companies and/or state agencies, and hopefully leading oil
companies to improve their modus operandi and the government to better supervise oil
activities. It also links the indigenous people with the mass media and might also have
contributed already or contribute in the long run to raise oil consumers’ awareness. There is
also information sharing among indigenous groups inside Peru or in other neighbouring
countries, that will influence the conditions under which free, prior and informed consent
(under Convention 169 of ILO or other legislation) may or not be given to oil exploration or
exploitation in other territories.
Summing up, MELPGIS can help to obtain new data and to democratise both the processes
of conducting research for environmental impact assessments and of taking decisions. It shifts
the controversies between indigenous peoples and extractive industry companies from the
scientific arena (chemists from the oil company implausibly assuring there is no pollution) to
another arena where other types of evidence are relevant. The method obtains, and in fact
relies on community involvement and pressure, which are along with government involvement
among the most important factors behind progress towards fulfilment of the promises of
corporate social responsability.
Despite such improvements in knowledge and awareness, in the last two years we have
directly observed increasing alcoholism (promoted by alcohol gifts from the oil companies),
134
bribery of indigenous leaders, and the sponsored birth of new indigenous organizations under
oil companies’ control. All these events are major negative forces for the future of the Achuar
people of the Río Corrientes.
This methodology (MELPGIS) could also be applied to impacts from tree plantations or
agrofuels, and in general to ecological conflicts on resource extraction, transport and waste
disposal.
***
The thesis, therefore, traces the expansion of the oil frontier in the Peruvian Amazon
providing data not known systematically before. This is done in the context of an analysis of
world demand and supply of oil, taking into account the approaching “peak oil”. It focuses on
the Northern region of the Amazon of Peru, particularly the Achuar territory (where Oxy,
Petroperú and Pluspetrol have operated), and describes the main impacts on human welfare
and ecosystems. It follows the recent history of different forms of resistance against socio‐
environmental impacts from oil activities by the Achuar people, with a chapter that describes
in detail the deployment of novel GIS‐based monitoring by some of their groups.
New questions and further research / Research gaps
To face the urgency and great challenge of avoiding the severe impacts of oil and gas
activities and the advance of the hydrocarbon frontier in the tropical rain forests, we have
identifyed several questions that deserve further research.
Colonization (settlement of small farmers) and illegal logging due to the opening up of
remote areas and indigenous peoples’ integration into the market economy seem to be the
major factors driving biodiversity loss. Comprehensive studies should be conducted on
quantifying the effect of oil and gas exploration and explotation on indigenous peoples
integration into the market economy. Among other factors, research should be conducted on
sources of cash into communities, access to technology (speedboats, outboard motors, power
saws, fuel) thanks to company‐indigenous agreements, new access roads (seismic lines and
later pipelines). Oil companies favour increase of the access to external markets, migration and
settlements but detailed research is lacking.
135
136
As regards indigenous and human rights, there is increasing need for research worldwide
on the links to extractive industries (mining, fossil fuels, and biomass). One of the gravest
violations of human rights in the Peruvian Amazon is the new contact of indigenous people in
voluntary isolation, due to the risk of new diseases. However, there is neither an official
agency nor a NGO dealing specifically with this issue. A more thorough compilation of past
contacts would help to gauge the liabilities of oil and gas activities in this respect, while a
register of current cases is also needed.
Impacts on health have been a key factor triggering community pressure for
improvements on social and environmental corporate behaviour. However, although pollution
has been quite clearly proved, there are substantial gaps in our understanding of the health
impacts generated by the activities of Occidental Petroleum, Petroperu and Pluspetrol in
Achuar territory and by oil exploitation in indigenous peoples in general. A study in
environmental epidemiology including ecotoxicology is urgently needed to better establish the
relations between petroleum contamination detected in surface water, sediments and soils,
the presence of these substances in the human population and in plants and animals, and
possible long term effects on the health of the Achuar and other indigenous peoples whose
territories have been overlapped by oil activities. Such research will surely have great impact
on civil society (as we have seen in this thesis) and might, therefore, change the course of
events.
Oil activities have severely affected human rights and the environment in the Peruvian
Amazon. Heavy pollution is still present in the area so government remediation plans or court
cases claiming payment for environmental liabilities (under the ATCA or other legislation) are
to be expected in the coming years. Both require a detailed cartography and quantification of
impacts to establish the monetary compensation for damages and to design and implement
the remediation plans (as in the case of the Chevron‐Texaco in Ecuador, and in the Oxy court
case from the Achuar in Peru). Remote sensing can contribute to the detection and
identification of oil impacts. In effect, carrying out temporal studies that employ change
detection techniques to monitor the evolution or appearance of oil impacts, and creating
spectral libraries containing specific spectral signatures that relate to different types of oil
impact will ease the identification of impacts and the quantification of hectares affected.
Whether such monitoring can be done by or with the help of the indigenous populations
themselves remains an open question.
References
Abbot J, C. R., Dunn C, Harris T, de Merode E, Porter G, Townsend J, Weiner D. 1998. Participatory GIS: opportunity or oxymoron? PLA Notes (33):27–34.
Aidesep. 2005. 25 años en defensa de los pueblos indígenas. Voz Indígena 27. ———. 2010. Apus de las comunidades del río Corrientes lograron acuerdos importantes con
el gobierno regional de Loreto. AIDESEP Noticias, 19 March. Álvarez‐Alonso, J. 2004. Amenaza de genocidio en Loreto. Semanario Kanatari, July. ———. 2008. Perú: los sobrevivientes. Servindi, 14 November. Apoyos & Asociados. 2006. Pluspetrol Norte S.A. Credit Rating. Mayo 2006. Asner, G. P. 2001. Cloud cover in Landsat observations of the Brazilian Amazon. International
Journal of Remote Sensing 22 (18):3855 ‐ 3862. Baillie, J. E. M., C. Hilton‐Taylor, and S. N. Stuart. 2004. 2004 IUCN Red List of Threatened
Species. A Global Species Assessment. Gland: IUCN. Baum, F., C. MacDougall, and D. Smith. 2006. Participatory action research. Journal of
Epidemiology and Community Health 60 (10):854‐857. Bedoya, M. 2004. Gold Mining and Indigenous Conflict in Peru: Lessons from Amarakaeri
Actions in Madre de Dios. In Beyond the Silencing of the Guns, eds. C. K. Roy, V. Tauli‐Corpuz and A. Romero‐Medina. Baguio City: Tebtebba Foundation.
Bekele Woldemelekot, W. 2008. Liability of transnational corporations for indigenous peoples human rights violations. Master thesis, 106: University of Tromsø.
Benavides, M. 2009a. Amazonía 2009. Áreas protegidas y territorios indigenes. Notas para el mapa [cited 16 September 2009. Available from http://raisg.socioambiental.org/files/Amazonia_Peruana.pdf.
———. 2009b. Mapa Amazonía Peruana. Instituto del Bién Común (IBC) [cited. Available from www.ibcperu.org/mapas/mapa‐amazonia‐peruana.php.
Beristain, C., D. Páez, and I. Fernández. 2009. Las palabras de la selva. Estudio psicosocial del impacto de las explotaciones petroleras de Texaco en las comunidades amazónicas de Ecuador. Bilbao: Instituto Hegoa‐ UPV/EHU.
Berkes, F., D. Feeny, B. J. McCay, and J. M. Acheson. 1989. The benefits of the commons. Nature 340 (6229):91‐93.
Black, E. C. 2004. Litigation as a Tool for Development: The Environment, Human Rights, and the Case of Texaco in Ecuador. Journal of Public and International Affairs 15.
Brooks, T. M., R. A. Mittermeier, G. A. B. da Fonseca, J. Gerlach, M. Hoffmann, J. F. Lamoreux, C. G. Mittermeier, J. D. Pilgrim, and A. S. L. Rodrigues. 2006. Global Biodiversity Conservation Priorities. Science 313 (5783):58‐61.
Butler, R. 2006. Amazon Conservation Team Puts Indians on Google Earth to Save the Amazon [cited. Available from http://news.mongabay.com/2006/1114‐google_earth‐act.html.
Byrne, J., N. Toly, and Y.‐D. Wang. 2006. Introduction: Modern energy and modern society. In Transforming Power: Energy, Environment and Society in Conflict, eds. J. Byrne, N. Toly and L. Glover. New Brunswick: Transaction Books.
CAAIA. 2005. informe de la gestión correspondiente al periodo legislativo 2004 – 2005. Lima: Comisión de Amazonía, Asuntos Indígenas y Afroperuanos.
Casafranca, A. 2008. Ojos que no ven Análisis de una Sentencia Peruana Pueblos Indígenas en Aislamiento Vs. Empresas Petroleras (Lotes 67 y 39). Boletín Derecho Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (DAR) nº 69, 4 August.
Ciriacy‐Wantrup, S. V., and R. C. Bishop. 1975. Common property as a concept in natural resources policy. Natural Resources Journal 15:713.
137
Cleveland, C. J., R. Costanza, C. A. S. Hall, and R. Kaufmann. 1984. Energy and the United‐States‐Economy ‐ a Biophysical Perspective. Science 225 (4665):890‐897.
Collyns, D. 2008. Peru tribe battles oil giant over pollution. BBC News, 24 March. ———. 2009. Peru polarised after deadly clashes. BBC News, 10 June. Chambers, R. 1994. The origins and practice of Participatory Rural Appraisal. World Dev.
22:953. ———. 1997. Whose Reality Counts? Putting the First Last. London: Intermediate Technology
Publications. Chapin, M., Z. Lamb, and B. Threlkeld. 2005. Mapping indigenous lands. Annual Review of
Anthropology 34 (1):619‐638. Chapin, M., and B. Threlkeld. 2001. Indigenous Landscapes: A Study of Ethnocartography.
Arlington, VA: Center for the Support of Native Lands. Defensoría del Pueblo. 2005‐2009. Reporte de Conflictos Sociales. Lima: Adjuntía para la
Prevención de Conflictos Sociales y la Gobernabilidad ‐ Defensoría del Pueblo. ———. 2006. Informe Defensorial N° 101: Pueblos indígenas en situación de aislamiento y
contacto inicial, 108. Lima: Defensoría del Pueblo. DESA. 2005. Monitoreo anual del río Corrientes del Programa Nacional de Vigilancia y
Monitoreo de los Recursos Hídricos. Informe Técnico No 101‐2005‐GR‐DRS‐ Loreto. Iquitos: Dirección Regional de Salud de Loreto (Ministerio de Salud).
Descola, P. 1994. In the Society of Nature: A Native Ecology in Amazonia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
———. 2005. Las lanzas del Crepúsculo. Relatos JÃíbaros. Alta Amazonia. Buenos Aires: Fondo de Cultura Económica de Argentina.
Devarajan, S., and A. C. Fisher. 1981. Hotelling's "Economics of Exhaustible Resources": Fifty Years Later. Journal of Economic Literature 19 (1):65‐73.
DGAA. 1996. Resolución Directoral No 030‐96‐EM/DGAA, Niveles máximos permisibles para efluentes líquidos producto de actividades de explotación y comercialización de hidrocarburos. Lima: Ministerio de Energía y Minas.
DGE. 2006. Analysis de situación de salud del Pueblo Achuar. Lima: Dirección General de Epidemiología, Ministerio de Salud.
DIGESA. 2006. Evaluación de resultados del monitoreo del río Corrientes y toma de muestras biológicas, en la intervención realizada del 29 de junio al 15 de julio del 2005 Informe No‐2006/DEPA‐APRHI/DIGESA 32. Lima: Dirección General de Salud Ambiental (Ministerio de Salud).
Doan, T. M., and W. A. Arriaga. 2002. Microgeographic variation in species composition of the herpetofaunal communities of Tambopata Region, Peru. Biotropica 34:101‐17.
Doyle, J. 1994. Crude Awakenings: The Oil Mess in America: Wasting Energy Jobs and the Environment. Washington, DC: Friends of the Earth.
Dukes, J. S. 2003. Burning Buried Sunshine: Human Consumption of Ancient Solar Energy. Climatic Change 61 (1):31‐44.
Dunn, C. E., P. J. Atkins, and J. G. Townsend. 1997. GIS for Development: A Contradiction in Terms? Area 29 (2):151‐159.
EIA. 2008a. Annual Energy Review 2008. Washington, DC: Energy Information Administration. ———. 2008b. Country analysis briefs: Peru. U.S. Energy Information Administration [cited.
Available from http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/index.html. ———. 2009a. Country analysis briefs: Brazil. U.S. Energy Information Administration [cited.
Available from http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/Brazil/Oil.html. ———. 2009b. International Energy Statistics. Total Consumption of Petroleum Products. US
Energy Information Administration [cited. Available from http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/cfapps/ipdbproject/IEDIndex3.cfm?tid=5&pid=54&aid=2.
———. 2009c. Internationl Energy Outlook 2009, 284. Washington: US Energy Information Administration.
138
———. 2009d. United States Crude Oil Import Costs. Annual: 1968‐2008 [cited. Available from http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/international/oilprice.html.
———. 2010. International Energy Statistics. Crude Oil Proved Reserves. US Energy Information Administration [cited. Available from http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/cfapps/ipdbproject/IEDIndex3.cfm?tid=5&pid=57&aid=6.
EPA. 2004. Soil, Ground Water and Sediment Standards for Use Under Part XV.1 of the Environmental Protection Act.
Epstein, P. A., and J. Selber. 2002. Oil: A life cylce analysis of its health and environmental impacts, 73. Boston: The Center for Health and the Global Environment, Harvard Medical School.
Eskeland, G. S., and A. E. Harrison. 2003. Moving to greener pastures? Multinationals and the pollution haven hypothesis. Journal of Development Economics 70 (1):1‐23.
Fals‐Borda, O. 1973. Reflexiones sobre la aplicacion del metodo de Estudio‐Accion en Colombia. Revista Mexicana de Sociología 35 (1):49‐62.
Fals‐Borda, O., and C. R. Brandao. 1987 Investigacion participativa. Montevideo: Instituto del Hombre.
Fals‐Borda, O., and M. A. Rahman. 1991. Action and knowledge : breaking the monopoly with participatory action‐research. London: Intermediate Technology Publications.
FAO. 2006. Global forest resources assessment : progress towards sustainable forest management, 320. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
FECONACO. 2005. Pronunciamiento de Belén de Plantanoyacu del 17 de noviembre del 2005. Belén de Plantanoyacu: Federación de Comunidades Nativas del Río Corrientes
———. 2007. Memorial de las comunidades achuares, kichwas y urarinas del río Corrientes, dirigido a la Presidencia del Consejo de Ministros solicitando se declare la Emergencia en Salud y ambiente en la cuenca del rio Corrientes, 19 July 2007. Iquitos: Federación de Comunidades Nativas del Río Corrientes
Felipe‐Gamarra, L. 2009. Extracción de petróleo implica un impacto... pero ahora es mínimo. El‐Comercio, 20 June 2009.
Ferguson, M. A. D., and F. Messier. 1997. Collection and analysis of traditional ecological knowledge about a population of arctic tundra caribou. Arctic 50 (1):17‐28.
Finer, M., C. N. Jenkins, S. L. Pimm, B. Keane, and C. Ross. 2008. Oil and gas projects in the Western Amazon: threats to wilderness, biodiversity, and indigenous peoples. PLoS One 3 (8):e2932.
Finer, M., R. Moncel, and C. N. Jenkins. 2009. Leaving the Oil Under the Amazon: Ecuador's Yasuní‐ITT Initiative. Biotropica 42 (1):63‐66.
Finer, M., V. Vijay, F. Ponce, C. N. Jenkins, and T. R. Kahn. 2009. Ecuador's Yasuní Biosphere Reserve: a brief modern history and conservation challenges. Environmental Research Letters (3):034005.
Fortune. 2005. Fortune Global 500. The world's largest corporations [cited. Available from http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/global500/2005/index.html.
———. 2009. Fortune Global 500. The world's largest corporations [cited. Available from http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/global500/2009/full_list/.
Fox, J. 2002. Siam mapped and mapping Cambodia: boundaries, sovereignty, and indigenous concepts of space. Soc. Nat. Resour. 15:65.
Freeman, M. 1976. Inuit Land Use and Occupancy Project : a report. Ottawa: Dept. of Indian and Northern Affairs, Minister of Supply and Services Canada.
Freire, P. 1968. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Seabury Press. Funtowicz, S. O., and J. R. Ravetz. 1994. The worth of a songbird: ecological economics as a
post‐normal science. Ecological Economics 10 (3):197‐207. García Pérez, A. 2007. El síndrome del perro del hortelano. El Comercio, 28 October 2007. Giampietro, M., and D. Pimentel. 1993. The Tightening Conflict: Population, Energy Use, and
the Ecology of Agriculture. Negative Population Growth forum series.
139
Glasson, J., R. Therivel, and A. Chadwick. 2005. Introduction to Environmental Impact Assessment. London: Taylor and Francis.
Godoy, R., V. Reyes‐García, E. Byron, W. R. Leonard, and V. Vadez. 2005. The effect of market economies on the well‐being of indigenous peoples and on their use of renewable natural resources. Ann. Rev. Anthropol. 34 (1):121.
Goldman, E. S., L. La Torre López, and M. Lya Ramos. 2007. A legacy of harm. Occidental Petroleum in indigenous territory in the Peruvian Amazon, 60. Lima: Earth Rights International, Racimos de Ungurahui, Amazon Watch.
Goldstein, A. M. 2003. Una muerte en Sión, 25'15". Perú: FECONACO & Películas Atabamba. Greenberg, J. A., S. C. Kefauver, H. C. Stimson, C. J. Yeaton, and S. L. Ustin. 2005. Survival
analysis of a neotropical rainforest using multitemporal satellite imagery. Remote Sens. Environ. 96 (2):202.
Groot, R. S. d. 1992. Functions of nature : evaluation of nature in environmental planning, management and decision making. Amsterdam: Wolters‐Noordhoff.
Groth, F. H. 1998. GeoTechnologies assist with Amazon oil exploration impact study [cited. Available from http://www.eomonline.com/Common/Archives/1998nov/98nov_groth.html.
Guha, R. 1989. The Unquiet woods : ecological change and peasant resistance in the Himalaya. Bombay: Oxford University Press.
Guha, R., and J. Martínez Alier. 1997. Varieties of environmentalism : essays north and south. London: Earthscan.
Hall, C. A., and C. J. Cleveland. 1981. Petroleum Drilling and Production in the United States: Yield per Effort and Net Energy Analysis. Science 211 (4482):576‐579.
Hall, C. A. S., R. Powers, and W. Schoenberg. 2008. Peak oil, EROI, investments and the economy in an uncertain future. In Biofuels, solar and wind as renewable energy systems: benefits and risks, ed. D. Pimentel. Colorado: Springer Science.
Hames, R. 2007. The Ecologically Noble Savage Debate. Annual Review of Anthropology 36 (1):177‐190.
Hardin, G. 1968. The Tragedy of the Commons. Science 162 (5364):1243‐8. Harley, J. B. 1988. Maps, knowledge, and power. In The Iconography of Landscape: Essays on
the Symbolic Representation, Design and Use of Past Environments, eds. D. Cosgrove and S. Daniels, 277–312. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press.
Hornborg, A., J. R. McNeill, and J. Martinez‐Alier. 2007. Rethinking Environmental History: World‐System History and Global Environmental Change. Lanham, MD: Altamira Press.
Hubbert, M. K. 1949. Energy from Fossil Fuels. Science 109 (2823):103‐109. Hurtig, A. K., and M. San Sebastián. 2002. Geographical differences in cancer incidence in the
Amazon basin of Ecuador in relation to residence near oil fields. Int J Epidemiol 31 (5):1021‐7.
———. 2004. Incidence of childhood leukemia and oil exploitation in the Amazon basin of Ecuador. Int J Occup Environ Health 10 (3):245‐50.
IBC. 2009a. Mapa Amazonía Peruana 2009. Lima: Instituto del Bien Común. ———. 2009b. Mapa de Comunidades Nativas y Comunidades Adicionales, Julio 2009. Lima:
Instituto del Bien Común. ———. 2009c. Más indicios de indígenas en aislamiento en el lote 107. Instituto del Bien
Común, October 28th, 2009 [cited. Available from http://ibcperu.nuxit.net/index_ant.php?lg=ES&slt_rb=1008#00100.
IIAP. 1985. Evaluación del contenido de metales pesados en tejidos de peces de consumo humano. Iquitos: Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana.
———. 1987. Proyecto contaminación ambiental en la amazonía peruana. Evaluación hidrobiológica del río Corrientes. Iquitos: Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana.
140
———. 1998. Delimitación del territorio Amazónico con criterio ecológico y criterio hidrográfico. Iquitos: Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana.
ILO. 1989. Convention concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries (ILO No. 169). 72 ILO Official Bull. 59: International Labour Organisation.
ILV. 2006. Pueblos del Perú. Lima: Insituto Lingüístico de Verano. INDEPA. 2009. Mapa etnolinguístico del Perú. Instituto Nacional de Desarrollo de Pueblos
Andinos, Amazónico y Afroperuanos [cited 16 September 2009. Available from http://www.indepa.gob.pe/archivos/mapa.swf.
INEI. 2008a. Censos Nacionales 2007: XI de Población y VI de Vivienda, 474. Lima: Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática.
———. 2008b. II Censo de Comunidades Indígenas de la Amazonía Peruana 2007, 1452. Lima: Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática.
Jobin, W. 2003. Health and equity impacts of a large oil project in Africa. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 81:420‐426.
Jochnick, C., R. Normand, and S. Zaidi. 1994. Rights violations in the Ecuadorian Amazon: the human consequences of oil development. Health and Human Rights 1 (1):83‐100.
Jordan, G. 2002. GIS for community forestry user groups in Nepal: putting people before the technology. In Community participation and geographic information systems, eds. W. J. Craig, T. M. Harris and D. Weiner, 232–45. London: Taylor and Francis.
Kimerling, J. 1991. Amazon crude. New York: Brickfront Graphics Inc. Klare, M. T. 2002. Resource wars: the new landscape of global conflict. New York: Metropolitan
/ Owl books. ———. 2004. Blood and oil: the dangers and consequences of America's growing petroleum
dependency. New York: Metropolitan Books. Korovkin, T. 2003. In Search of Dialogue? Oil Companies and Indigenous Peoples of the
Ecuadorian Amazon. Canadian Journal of Development Studies 32 (4):632‐663. Kubiszewski, I., and C. J. Cleveland. 2009. Energy return on investment (EROI) for photovoltaic
energy. In Encyclopedia of Earth, ed. C. J. Cleveland. Washington, D.C.: Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment.
La República. 2008. Indígenas denuncian derrame petrolero. La República, 14 February. La Torre López, L. 1999. All We Want is to Live in Peace: Lessons learned from oil operations in
indigenous territories of the Peruvian Amazon. Lima: Working Group Racimos de Ungurahui / Netherlands Committee for IUCN the World Conservation Union.
La Torre López, L., and D. Napolitano. 2007. Cover Essay—English Version: The Achuar and “Production Waters”. EcoHealth 4 (1):110‐114.
Larrea, C. 2009. Yasuní‐ITT: An Initiative to Change History. Quito: Gobierno Nacional de República del Ecuador.
Larrea, C., and L. Warnars. 2009. Ecuador's Yasuni‐ITT Initiative: Avoiding emissions by keeping petroleum underground. Energy for Sustainable Development 13 (3):219‐223.
Maffi, L. 2001. On biocultural diversity: linking language, knowledge and the environment. Washington, DC: Smithson. Inst. Press
———. 2005. Linguistic, cultural and biological diversity. Annual Review of Anthropology 34 (1):599‐617.
Margalef‐López, R. 1974. Ecología. Barcelona: Omega. ———. 1992. Planeta azul, planeta verde / Ramon Margalef. 1a ed. ed. Barcelona: Prensa
Científica. Martínez‐Alier, J. 1987. Ecological economics: energy, environment and society. Edited by K.
Schlüpmann. Oxford :: Basil Blackwell. ———. 2002. The Environmentalism of the Poor, A Study of Ecological Conflicts and Valuation.
Cheltenham, UK / Northampton, MA, USA.: Edward Elgar.
141
———. 2006. Energy, Economy and Poverty: the Past and Present Debate. In Transforming Power: Energy, Environment and Society in Conflict, eds. J. Byrne, N. Toly and L. Glover. New Brunswick: Transaction Books.
———. 2007. Identity and Power in Ecological Conflicts. International Journal of Transdisciplinary Research 2 (1):17‐41.
Martínez‐Alier, J., and J. Roca Jusmet. 2001. Economía ecológica y política ambiental. 2a ed. México: Fondo de Cultura Económica.
Martínez‐Alier, J., and L. Temper. 2007. Oil and Climate Change: Voices from the South. Economic and Political Weekly 42 (50).
Meadows, D. H., D. L. Meadows, J. Randers, and W. W. Behrens III. 1972. The Limits to Growth. Washington, D.C.: Potomac Associates, New American Library.
MEM. 1970‐1971. Padrón General de Hidrocarburos. Lima: Ministerio de Energía y Minas. ———. 1986. Anuario Estadístico de Hidrocarburos 1976‐1985. Lima: Ministerio de Energía y
Minas de Perú. ———. 1996. Anuario Estadístico de Hidrocarburos 1989‐94. Lima: Ministerio de Energía y
Minas de Perú. ———. 1996–2009. Anuario Estadístico de Hidrocarburos. Lima: Ministerio de Energía y Minas
de Perú. ———. 1998. Evaluación ambiental Territorial de las Cuencas de los ríos Tigre‐Pastaza, 65.
Lima: Ministerio de Energía y Minas. ———. 2000. Anuario estadístico de hidrocarburos. Año1999, 153. Lima: Ministerio de Energía
y Minas de Perú. ———. (nd). Protocolo de Monitoreo de Calidad de Agua, Norma técnica para diseños
ambientales. Dirección General de Asuntos Ambientales Energéticos, Ministerio de Energía y Minas [cited 25/09/07. Available from www.minem.gob.pe/dgaae/.
Messina, J. P., S. J. Walsh, C. F. Mena, and P. L. Delamater. 2006. Land tenure and deforestation patterns in the Ecuadorian Amazon: Conflicts in land conservation in frontier settings. Applied Geography 26 (2):113‐128.
Mogollón, C. E. 2008. Explorando las profundidades de Perú. Lima: Schlumberger. Moore, J. 2000. Sugar and the Expansion of the Early Modern World‐Economy. Commodity
Frontiers, Ecological Transformation, and Industrialization. Review ‐ Fernand Braudel Center 23 (3):409‐433.
Moore, J. W. 2003. The Modern World‐Systemas environmental history? Ecology and the rise of capitalism. Theory and Society 32 (3):307‐377.
Napolitano, D. 2007. Towards Understanding the Health Vulnerability of Indigenous Peoples Living in Voluntary Isolation in the Amazon Rainforest: Experiences from the Kugapakori Nahua Reserve, Peru. EcoHealth 4 (4):515‐531.
Napolitano, D. A., and A. S. Ryan. 2007. The dilemma of contact: voluntary isolation and the impacts of gas exploitation on health and rights in the Kugapakori Nahua Reserve, Peruvian Amazon Environmental Research Letters 2 (4):12.
National Research Council. 2003. Oil in the Sea III: Inputs, Fates, and Effects. Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences.
Nepstad, D. C., C. M. Stickler, B. Soares‐Filho, and F. Merry. 2008. Interactions among Amazon land use, forests and climate: prospects for a near‐term forest tipping point. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. 363 (1498):1737‐46.
Neumayer, E. 2001. Pollution Havens: An Analysis of Policy Options for Dealing With an Elusive Phenomenon. The Journal of Environment Development 10 (2):147‐177.
New Scientist. 2007. Peruvians sue oil giant over Amazon pollution. NewScientist.com News Service. NewScientist.com, News Service, 11 May 2007
Nowak, M., and J. Kozma. 2009. A world court of human rights, 88: Swiss Initiative / University of Vienna.
142
O'Connor, J. 1988. Capitalism, nature, socialism a theoretical introduction. Capitalism Nature Socialism 1 (1):11 ‐ 38.
O'Rourke, D., and S. Connolly. 2003. Just oil? The distribution of environmental and social impacts of oil production ans consumption. Annual Review of Environment and Resources 28 (1):587‐617.
Obermeyer, N. J. 1998. PPGIS: the evolution of public participation GIS. Cartogr. GIS. 25:65. Odum, E. P. 1985. Fundamentos de ecologíaa / Eugene P. Odum ; traducción Ramón Elizondo
Mata. México: Interamericana. Oliveira, P. J. C., G. P. Asner, D. E. Knapp, A. Almeida, R. Galván‐Gildemeister, S. Keene, R. F.
Raybin, and R. C. Smith. 2007. Land‐use allocation protects the Peruvian Amazon. Science 317 (5842):1233.
ONERN. 1984. Inventario y evaluación de recursos naturales de la microregión Pastaza‐Tigre. Lima: Oficina Nacional de Evaluación de Recursos Naturales.
Orta‐Martínez, M. 2007. Etnocartografía de impactos de la actividad petrolera en el río Corrientes. Conflictos petroleros en la amazonía peruana. El territorio Achuar. Master Thesis, 137: ICTA‐Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.
OSINERG. 2004. Informe Lotes 1‐AB y 8. Respuesta al Oficio No 0075‐2004‐JDC/CR del Congreso de la República Lima: Organismo Supervisor de la Inversión en Energía.
———. 2007. Derrames reportados: 1998‐2006 [Includes: informes preliminares de derrame o fuga de petróleo crudo o derivados, remitidos por Oxy‐Perú y Pluspetrol del Norte S.A. a OSINERG durante el periódo 1998–2002]. Lima: Organismo Supervisor de la Inversión en Energía.
Oxy. 1996. Programa de Adecuación y Manejo Ambiental del Lote 1‐AB. Lima: Occidental Peruana Inc.
Pacific Credit Rating. 2005. Pluspetrol Norte S.A. Lima: Pacific Credit Rating. Panayotou, T. 1993. Empirical Tests and Policy Analysis of Environmental Degradation at
Different Stages of Economic Development. ILO Technology and Employment Programme Working Paper, WP238. Geneva: International Labor Office.
Peralta Liñán, N. 2006. Se evaluará presencia de plomo. El Comercio, 29/10/06 Pereda, C., M. A. de Prada, and W. Actis. 2003. Investigación acción participativa: propuesta
para un ejercicio activo de la ciudadanía. Madrid: Colectivo Ioé. Perúpetro. 2009. Lotes de Contratos de Operaciones Petroleras y Cuencas Sedimentarias, 31
Diciembre 2009. Lima: Perúpetro. Petroperú. 1970‐89. Informe Estadístico Anual. Lima: Petróleos del Perú. ———. 1970‐95. Memoria Anual. Lima: Petróleos del Perú. ———. 1982. Informe Estadístico de Petroleos del Perú 1970‐1981, 69. Lima: Petróleos del
Perú. ———. 1991. Petróleos del Perú en cifras 1969‐89. Lima: Petróleos del Perú. ———. 1992. Estadísticas de las Operaciones 1991, 80 (com a mínim. Desconec total). Lima:
Petróleos del Perú. ———. 1994a. Estadísticas 1993, 102 (com a mínim. Desconec total). Lima: Petróleos del Perú. ———. 1994b. Petroperú en Cifras 1993, 33. Lima: Petróleos del Perú. Pimm, S. L., G. J. Russell, J. L. Gittleman, and T. M. Brooks. 1995. The Future of Biodiversity.
Science 269 (5222):347‐350. Pitman, N. C. A., H. Mogollón, N. Dávila, M. Ríos, R. García‐Villacorta, J. Guevara, T. R. Baker, A.
Monteagudo, O. L. Phillips, R. Vásquez‐Martínez, M. Ahuite, M. Aulestia, D. Cardenas, C. E. Cerón, P.‐A. Loizeau, D. A. Neill, V. P. Núñez, W. A. Palacios, R. Spichiger, and E. Valderrama. 2008. Tree Community Change across 700 km of Lowland Amazonian Forest from the Andean Foothills to Brazil. Biotropica 40 (5):525‐535.
Pluspetrol Norte S. A. 1997‐2002. Monitoreo de efluentes del Lote 1‐AB, 1997‐2002. Lima: Pluspetrol Norte, SA.
143
Pluspetrol Norte SA, and Pampa Hermosa. 2003. Convenio suscrito entre la empr esa PLUSPETROL NORTE S.A. y la Comunidad Nativa PAMPA HERMOSA, 4. CN Pampa Hermosa.
Poole, P. 2003. Cultural mapping and indigenous peoples. A report for UNESCO (unpublished). ProNaturaleza. 2009. Proyecto de repoblación de taricayas en el río Corrientes. Viajeros
Online. Revista Viajeros. Conservación y Cultura, 27 November. Puertas, P., and R. E. Bodmer. 1993. Conservation of a high diversity primate assemblage.
Biodiv. Conserv. 2 (6):586‐93. Quarles, M. 2009. Evaluation of the success of remediation efforts at petroleum‐impacted sites
in the Corrientes region of northern Peru. Santa Fe, NM: E‐Tech International. Rambaldi, G., R. Chambers, M. McCall, and J. Fox. 2006. Practical ethics for PGIS practitioners,
facilitators, technology intermediaries and researchers. Participatory Learning and Action (54).
Reason, P., and H. Bradbury. 2001. Handbook of action research: participative inquiry and practice. London: SAGE.
Repsol‐YPF. 2006a. Cuentas anuales de Repsol YPF, SA y sociedades participadas que configuran el grupo Repsol YPF (grupo consolidado) correspondientes al ejercicio 2005. Madrid: Repsol YPF, SA.
———. 2006b. Informe anual 2005. Madrid: Repsol‐YPF, SA. Rijnhout, L., and T. Schauer. 2009. Socially Sustainable Economic Degrowth. Proceedings of a
workshop in the European Parliament on April 16, 2009. Vienna: The Club of Rome / European Support Centre.
Robinson, S., and M. Brandon. 2008. Amazon. Bruce Parry explores the greatest river on Earth. Episode 2. United Kingdom: BBC.
Rogalski, F., and M. Wolodzko. 2005. Estudio técnico: delimitación territorial a favor de los pueblos indígenas en situación de aislamiento voluntario ubicados en la cuenca alta de los Rios Curaray, Napo, Arabela, Nashiño, Pucacuro, Tigre, y afluentes. Lima: Asociación Interétnica de Desarrollo de la Selva Peruana.
Rosenfeld, A. B., D. Gordon, and M. Guerin‐McManus. 2001. Reinventing the well: approaches to minimizing the environmental and social impact of oil development in the tropics. In Footprints in the Jungle, eds. I. A. Bowles and G. T. Prickett, 55‐72. New York: Oxford University Press.
Rumazo‐González, A. 1946. La región amazónica del Ecuador en el siglo XVI. Sevilla: Escuela de Estudios Hispanoamericanos.
Rundstrom, R. A. 1995. GIS, Indigenous Peoples, and Epistemological Diversity. Cartography and Geographic Information Science 22:45‐57.
Sabin, P. 1998. Searching for middle ground: Native communities and oil extraction in the Northern and Central Ecuadorian Amazon, 1967‐1993. Environmental History 3 (2):144‐168.
San Sebastián, M., M. Armstrong, J. A. Cordoba, and C. Stephens. 2001. Exposures and cancer incidence near oil fields in the Amazon basin of Ecuador. Occupational and Environmental Medicine 58 (8):517‐522.
San Sebastián, M., M. Armstrong, and C. Stephens. 2001. La salud de mujeres que viven cerca de pozos y estaciones de petró leo en la Amazonía ecuatoriana. 9:375.
———. 2002. Outcomes of pregnancy among women living in the proximity of oil fields in the Amazon basin of Ecuador. International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health 8 (4):312‐319.
Scott, J. 1985. Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Scheinin, M. 2009. Towards a World Court of Human Rights. Research report within the framework of the Swiss Initiative to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the
144
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 53: Swiss Initiative / European University Institute.
SERNANP. 2009. Mapa de Áreas Naturales Protegidas. Lima: Servicio Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas por el Estado.
SICNA. 1997. Información sobre las CCNN del Distrito Trompeteros, Provincia Loreto, Departamento Loreto. Iquitos: Sistema de Información Sobre Comunidades Nativas del Perú.
Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. 2009. Informe Fase II: Proyecto de Biodiversidad Lote 39. Integrando la Conservación de la Biodiversidad en las Operaciones de Repsol en el Lote 39. Washington, DC: National Zoological Park.
Spadaro, J. V., and A. Rabl. 2004. Pathway analysis for population‐total health impacts of toxic metals emissions. Risk Analysis 24 (5):1121‐1141.
Stocks, A. 2005. Too much for too few: Problems of Indigenous Land Rights in Latin America. Annual Review of Anthropology 34 (1):85‐104.
Suarez, E., M. Morales, R. Cueva, V. U. Bucheli, G. Zapata‐Rios, E. Toral, J. Torres, W. Prado, and J. V. Olalla. 2009. Oil industry, wild meat trade and roads: indirect effects of oil extraction activities in a protected area in north‐eastern Ecuador. Animal Conservation 12 (4):364‐373.
Sukhdev, P. 2008. The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity. Wesseling: European Communities.
Surrallés, A. 2007. Los Candoshi. In Guía etnográfica de la alta amazonía, eds. F. Santos and F. Barclay, 390. Lima: Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute / Insituto Francés de Estudios Andinos.
Surrallés, A., and P. Garcia‐Hierro. 2004. Tierra Adentro, Territorio Indígena y Percepción del Entorno. Documento No. 39. Lima: IWGIA.
Survival International. 2008. Report to CERD, 4. London: Survival International. ter Steege, H., and et al. 2003. A spatial model of tree α‐diversity and β‐density for the
Amazon Region. Biodiv. Conserv. 12 (11):2255. Terborgh, J. W., S. K. Robinson, T. A. Parker, C. A. Munn, and N. Pierpont. 1990. Structure and
organization of an Amazonian forest bird community. Ecol. Monogr. 60 (2):213. Terrades, J. 1989. Sistemes Naturals. Vol. 14, Història Natural dels Països Catalans. Barcelona:
Enciclopèdia Catalana. The Economist. 2009. The outlook for the oil price: Bust and boom. The Economist, May 21st
2009. Thomsen, J. B., C. Mitchell, R. Piland, and J. R. Donnaway. 2001. Monitoring impact of
hydrocarbon exploration in sensitive terrestrial ecosystems: perspectives from Block 78 in Peru. Footprints in the Jungle 1:90.
Toledo, V. 2001. Indigenous people and biodiversity. In Encyclopedia of Biodiversity, ed. S. Levin, 330–340. San Diego: Academic Press.
Transparency International. 2009. Progress report on enforcement of the OECD convention on combating bribery of foreign public officials in international business transactions, 72: Transparency International.
Tsoskounoglou, M., G. Ayerides, and E. Tritopoulou. 2008. The end of cheap oil: Current status and prospects. Energy Policy 36 (10):3797‐3806.
UN. 2007. United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 15: United Nations. ———. 2009. State of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. ST/ESA/328. New York: United Nations.
Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. UNEP‐IE/E&P‐Forum. 1997. Environmental management in oil and gas exploration and
production. An overview of issues and management approaches. UNEP IE/PAC Technical Report 37 / E&P Forum Report 2.72/254. Oxford: UNEP Industry and Environment / Oil Industry International Exploration and Production Forum.
145
146
UNPFII. 2009. Report of the international expert group meeting on extractive industries, Indigenous Peoples’ rights and corporate social responsibility, 28. New York: Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
Uriarte, L. M. 2007. Los Achuar. In Guía etnográfica de la alta amazonía, eds. F. Santos and F. Barclay, 390. Lima: Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute / Insituto Francés de Estudios Andinos.
USAID. 2005. Development of an Integrated Intervention Plan to Reduce Exposure to Lead and Other Contaminants in the Mining Center of La Oroya, Perú. Atlanta: Peru Mission: United Nations Agency for International Development.
Utting, P., and J. Clapp. 2008. Corporate Accountability and sustainable development. Edited by J. Martínez‐Alier and P. Kumar, Ecological economics and human well‐being. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Vigo Bonada, J. 2008. L'Alta muntanya catalana : flora i vegetació. 2a ed ed. Barcelona :: Centre Excursionista de Catalunya / Institut d'Estudis Catalans.
Viña, A., F. R. Echavarria, and D. C. Rundquist. 2004. Satellite Change Detection Analysis of Deforestation Rates and Patterns along the Colombia‐Ecuador Border. AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment 33 (3):118‐125.
Wallerstein, I. 2007. The ecology and the economy: What is rational? In Rethinking Environmental History: World‐System History and Global Environmental Change, eds. A. Hornborg, J. R. McNeill and J. Martínez‐Alier. Lanham, MD: Altamira Press.
Watson, F. 1996. A view from the forest floor: the impact of logging on indigenous peoples in Brazil. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 122 (1):75‐82.
Webb, R., and G. Fernández‐Baca. 1990‐2009. Anuario estadístico: Perú en números. Lima: Instituto Cuánto.
Wernham, A. 2007. Inupiat Health and Proposed Alaskan Oil Development: Results of the First Integrated Health Impact Assessment/Environmental Impact Statement for Proposed Oil Development on Alaska’s North Slope. EcoHealth 4 (4):500‐513.
Working Group on article 8J and related provisions of the Convention on biological diversity. 2003. Composite report on the status and trends regarding the knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communitites. Regional report: South America. UNEP/CBD/WG8J/3/INF/10. Montreal: UNEP/CBD.
Wunder, S. 2003. Oil Wealth and the Fate of the Forest. New York: Routledge.
Acronyms and abbreviations ACGIH American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists
ACT Amazon Conservation Team
AIDESEP Asociación Interétnica de Desarrollo de la Selva Peruana
API American Petroleum Institute
ATCA Alien Tort Claim Act
ATI Achuarti Iruntramu
BH Biodiversity Hot Spots
BLL Blood Lead Levels
BLS Barrels
BOE Barrel Oil Equivalent
BP British Petroleum
BTL Biological Tolerance Limits
CAAIA Comisión de Amazonía, Asuntos Indígenas y Afroperuanos
CBERS China‐Brazil Earth‐Resources Satellite
CCPAE Consell Català de la Producció Agrària Ecològica
CDC Center for Disease Control
CE Crisis Ecoregions
CIDOB Confederación de Pueblos Indígenas de Bolivia
COBNAEP Coordinadora Binacional de Nacionalidad Achuar del Ecuador y Perú
COFOPRI Organismo de Formalización de la Propiedad Informal
COICA Coordinadora de las Organizaciones Indígenas de la Cuenca
Amazónica
CONAPA Comisión Nacional de Pueblos Andinos y Amazónicos
CONFENIAE Confederación de las Nacionalidades Indígenas de la Amazonia
Ecuatoriana
CPD Centers of Plant Diversity
DEM Digital Elevation Model
DESA Dirección Regional de Salud
DFG Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
DGAAE Dirección General de Asuntos Ambientales Energéticos
147
DGE Dirección General de Epidemiología (Ministerio de Salud del Perú)
DIGESA Dirección General de Salud Ambiental (Ministerio de Salud del Perú)
E&P‐Forum oil industry international Exploration and Production Forum
EBA Endemic Bird Areas
EIA United States Energy Information Administration
EIS Environmental Impact Studies
EKC Environmental Kuznets Curve
EPA United States Environmental Protection Agency
EROI Energy Return On energy Investment
FAO United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization
FECONACO Federación de Comunidades Nativas del río Corrientes
FF Frontier Forests
FORMABIAP Programa de Formación de Maestros Bilingües de la Amazonía
Peruana
FPIC Free, Prior and Informed Consent
G200 Global 200 ecoregions
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GIS Geographic Information Systems
GPS Global Positioning System
HBWA High‐Biodiversity Wilderness Areas
IACHR Inter‐American Commission on Human Rights
IBC Instituto del Bien Común
ICTA Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals
IEMT Indigenous Environmental Monitoring Team
IIAP Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonia Peruana
ILO International Labour Organisation
ILV Insituto Lingüístico de Verano
IM Indigenous mapping
INDEPA Instituto Nacional de Desarrollo de los Pueblos Andinos, Amazónicos
y Afroperuano
INEI Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática
INRENA Instituto Nacional de Recursos Naturales
IO Indigenous Organization
IO Indigenous Organization
148
IPC International Petroleum Company
ITT Ishpingo, Tambococha, Tiputini oil block
LPG Liquefied Petroleum Gas
LW Last of the Wild
MAB UNESCO’s programme Man and the Biosphere
MC Megadiversity Countries
MELPGIS Monitoring Environmental Liabilities of extractive industry through
Participatory GIS
MINEM Ministerio de Energía y Minas del Perú
MoH Ministry of Health
NAE Nación Achuar del Ecuador
NGO Non‐Governmental Organization
NIMBY Not In My Backyard
ONERN Oficina Nacional de Evaluación de Recursos Naturales
ONIC Organización Nacional Indígena de Colombia
OPEC Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
ORACH Organización Achuar Chayat
OSINERG Organismo Supervisor de la Inversión en Energía
OXY Occidental Petroleum Corporation
PAMA Programa de Adecuación y Manejo Ambiental
PAR Participatory Action Research
PDA Personal Digital Assistant
Petroperú Petróleos del Perú
PGIS Participatory Geographic Information Systems
PRA Participatory Rural Appraisal
SERNANP Servicio Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas
SICNA Sistema de Información sobre Comunidades Nativas del Perú
SIG Sistemes d’Informació Geogràfica
SIL Summer Institute of Linguistics
SPOT Satellite Pour l'Observation de la Terre
SWOT Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats analysis
TEA Technical Evaluation Agreements
TEEB UNEP Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity project
UAB Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
149
150
UN United Nations
UNEP United Nations Environment Programme
UNEP‐IE UNEP Industry and Environment office
UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
UNI União das Nações Indígenas (Brazil)
UNPFII UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
UPC Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya
USAID United States Agency for International Development
WHO World Health Organization
WWF World Wide Fund for Nature
YPF Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales
Agraïments
Als Achuar del Río Corrientes, que ens van obrir les portes de casa seva, malgrat la llarga
història d’abusos.
A la FECONACO, a l’equip de monitors ambientals, Racimos de Ungurahui i Shinai, per la
seva voluntad de canvi i el treball a favors dels pobles indígenes.
Al Joan Martínez Alier, per la llibertat i la confiança que ofereix als seus estudiants, com a
principal guia d’aprenentatge.
I, especialment, a totes aquelles dones i aquells homes que busquen i indaguen
insaciablement, per construir un món més just i més sostenible. A tots i totes aquelles que es
dediquen a despertar inquietuds i somnis col∙lectius, entre altres, aquest.
Gràcies aleshores, a la Cristina O’Callaghan, Lily La Torre, Gregor MacLennan, Tomás
Maynas, Domingo Hualinga, Henderson Rengifo i Petronila Nakaim, al Sharian; al Segundo
Walter Hualinga, Andrés Sandi Mucushua, Gonzalo Payma, Óscar Gutiérrez, Aurelien Stoll,
Sylvia Cyborowski, Wendy Pineda, Dora Napolitano, Aliya Ryan, Conrad Feather i Pepe Álvarez;
a José Chimboras, Gil Dahua, Ramón Salas, Guevara Sandi, Miguel Carijano, José Tamani,
Patricio Piñola, Wilson Sandi i Niver Peraza; al Mikel Zabala i Victoria Reyes, Jaime Paneque i a
l’Agustí Lobo; al David Llistar, Mónica Vargas, Marc Gavaldà, Salvador Pueyo; al Miquel Far i al
Toni Verger; al Xavier Fàbregas, Raül Ramos, Sara de la Cal, Tura Puntí, Mireia Bartrons, Eulàlia
Martí, Amèlia i Aaron; a la Judit Quintana, Marc, Laura, Enric Batllori i Roger Canal; a l’Àlex
Bota, al Gorka, Christian, Pepe Bonet, Montse Bobés, Mireia Gasol, Pili i les Martes; al Joan
Manuel, Mercè, Anna i Gemma; a Betesa, la Gleva i a Cal Cases; a tots aquells fueguitos de
colores, que s’encenen i encenen per contagi, il∙luminant la nit.
151