Amazon highway between Peru and Brazil rejected by indigenous peoples’ organisations in Peru

A collective of indigenous organisations and local NGOs in Ucayali province in Peru have rejected Peruvian government plans to construct a highway between Peru and Brazil. The organisations highlight that the road would have major and irreversible effects on the area that includes indigenous peoples’ customary lands that remain unrecognised, the Isconahua reserve for isolated peoples and the Sierra del Divisor natural protected area. Despite this, the organisations point out that the Peruvian government has failed to comply with its own laws requiring prior consultation with affected peoples and violated obligations to uphold indigenous peoples' rights under international treaties ratified by the country. The collective of organisations is now calling on the Peruvian government to declare the project unviable.

Read the statement by the Regional Group for Monitoring Megaprojects in Ucayali, November 2012 in English or in Spanish.