Shipibo video testimonies document destruction of their forests for palm oil by RSPO member

In the territory of the Shipibo people of the Peruvian Amazon, the indigenous community of Santa Clara de Uchunya are facing the devastation of their ancestral forests and rivers. This is due to the expansion of a palm oil plantation operated by Plantaciones de Pucallpa S.A.C, a member of the Round Table for Sustainable Palm Oil. 

This video, based on community testimonies, shows the impacts which the community are suffering as a result of this appropriation of their traditional lands and the fight to defend their territorial and cultural rights. It also documents the Peruvian government’s own failure to legally recognise Santa Clara’s territory.

The community's efforts to gain recognition of their rights over their territory span more than 30 years and have now reached a critical point. The case of Santa Clara de Uchunya is emblematic of ongoing land struggles and insecure tenure facing over 1,200 communities in the Peruvian Amazon whose application for land title remains unrecognised.