Marseille, September 9, 2021.- The Members’ Assembly of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) approved the adoption of Motion 013 for the protection of Andes-Amazon rivers in Peru in the face of major road and energy infrastructure projects.
In this regard, Cristina López, representative of the DAR (Law, Environment and Natural Resources in Spanish) Civil Association, one of the organizations co-sponsoring said motion, points out:
“It is particularly relevant so that the State does not neglect the socio-environmental safeguards in infrastructure during the economic reactivation and promotes measures that guarantee that Amazonian rivers and the territories of local populations can continue their functions as ecosystems and that are not significantly affected by infrastructure projects in this region, including the Amazon Waterway Project ”.
As recalled, this project generates risks regarding food security and access to drinking water in the surrounding communities. Its environmental impact study was subject to more than 400 observations from government institutions and civil society; and the prior consultation agreements have not been fully complied with after more than 4 years since the concession contract was signed. This project has also been monitored by different organizations, such as Amazonas Peru Waterkeeper.
Within the Motion’s framework, the IUCN World Conservation Congress urges Peru to re-evaluate the prioritization of the Amazon Waterway Project under the current technical conditions in the project list of the National Infrastructure Plan for Competitiveness, and to prioritize sustainable alternatives to promote a safe and improved Amazonian river transport, free of dredging and adapting transport to the rivers’ features by creating a space for proposals and technical dialogue, guaranteeing the effective and informed participation of indigenous peoples and local communities.
It also recommends our country to develop a framework to protect Peru’s free-flowing rivers, and to comply with the standards set up by ILO 169, in relation to free, prior and informed consent, and the rights of prior consultation as conditions for the development of infrastructure projects that affect indigenous peoples’ rights.
In addition, it urges the State to inform the communities that would be directly and indirectly affected by the Chadin II and Veracruz hydroelectric dams, that two of the environmental licenses for the projects have already expired, and that without a valid environmental license the concessionaires cannot exercise any rights, among other actions.
The vote for the Motion took place in the IUCN World Conservation Congress that runs from September 3rd to 11th, 2021 in Marseille (France) and brings together in a face-to-face and virtual mode more than 4000 participants including scientists, public policy experts, business leaders and professionals.
This Motion was pushed through by Law, Environment and Natural Resources (DAR), the Association of Amazonians for the Amazon (AMPA), the Center for Conservation, Investigation, and Management of Natural Areas – Cordillera Azul (CIMA), the Coordinating Body of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA), Bank Information Center, the Peruvian Society for Environmental Law (SPDA), the Mountain Institute – Andean Mountain Institute Association, The WILD Foundation, and Wetlands International.
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