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The Peruvian Amazon, the fourth largest extension of tropical rainforest in the world, is a battleground for indigenous rights and defense of critical environments. Key issues facing indigenous peoples are playing themselves out every day – territorial encroachment, illegal logging, government-sanctioned extraction of natural resources, construction of other mega projects, informal gold mining, among others. Peru is also a pilot country for projects to “reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation” (REDD). In the midst of all this, within strategic sections of the rainforest are some of the world’s last remaining indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation.
Daysi Zapata, Vice President of AIDESEP
One of the pioneer indigenous federations facing down these complex issues has been AIDESEP – the Inter-ethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Amazon. This week a delegation is in Washington, both on the occasion of the World Bank’s Forest Investment Program – which is considering a $50 million plan for the Peruvian Amazon – and the hearings of the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights. The organization’s Vice President, Daysi Zapata (Yine people), accompanied by forestry and climate change expert Roberto Espinoza, will outline both the ongoing threats but also the concrete alternatives AIDESEP is proposing.
Amazon Watch will host a public presentation and press conference with Daysi Zapata tomorrow at 12:30 pm on “Indigenous Rights in the Peruvian Amazon: Indigenous REDD and Uncontacted Peoples” at its Washington, DC headquarters. For more information and to attend the conference, please contact Amazon Watch’s Andrew Miller (andrew@amazonwatch.org).
