Amazon Watch has distributed a press release commenting that the Peruvian Government is going to exclude isolated isolated indigenous peoples reserves from the Amazon Oil concessions:

The Peruvian government’s announcement that it is revising three rainforest oil concessions to exclude official reserves intended to protect some of the last native Amazonian populations still living in isolation received a warm welcome from indigenous and environmental organizations today.

Meanwhile, Peru’s human rights ombudsman has publicly launched an independent investigation of all 11 new Amazonian oil concessions being auctioned by Perupetro, Peru’s state-owned oil company, to ascertain whether they infringe the rights of indigenous communities and violate national laws.

Both measures follow heavy pressure from Peruvian indigenous leaders as well as environmental and human rights groups, who attended Perupetro’s presentation to US investors in Houston last week.

AIDESEP, an umbrella group representing indigenous communities from the Peruvian Amazon, has repeatedly warned that contact with outsiders could cause epidemics and psychological trauma. The organization greeted the government’s announcement positively but warned that another four concessions still intrude on proposed reserves for indigenous communities living in isolation.

The three concessions that will be redrawn are Blocks 132 and 138, both in the central Ucayali region of Peru’s vast tropical rainforest territories, and Block 133 in the southern Madre de Dios region. Those three concessions intrude on the State Reserves of Murunahua, Isconahua and Madre de Dios respectively.

Separately, the Peruvian government will allow a commission, from INDEPA, a government agency established to promote the culturally-appropriate development of indigenous Peruvians and Afro-Peruvians, 30 days to present a report on whether isolated native communities live in areas covered by four other concessions.

In total, Perupetro is tendering 11 Amazonian blocks, covering approximately 22 million acres of highly biodiverse, intact primary tropical rainforest. In none of the blocks has Perupetro obtained Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), an internationally-recognized human rights benchmark intended to protect the rights of indigenous communities.

For background on the struggle of indigenous peoples in the Amazon, visit www.amazonwatch.org.

Source: Amazon Watch