Peruvian rainforest case study

Where is the Peruvian Rainforest located

The Peruvian Rainforest is located between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, In South America in the Eastern part of Peru and it takes up around 60% of the country.  

The Peruvian rainforest is home too….

an estimated 44% of all bird species and 63% of mammals

Why is the Peruvian Rainforest important

as it has valuable Archaeology, Biodiversity (3000 known animals) , Medical plants helping treat diseases e.g cancer, indigenous tribes living within the rainforest

How does Timber threat the Peruvian Amazon

• there are many varieties of Hardwood

• an estimated 95% of logging is illegal

What is deforestation

the cutting down of trees, transforming a forest into cleared land for other uses such as building or growing crops

How does Energy use threat the Peruvian Rainforest

• there are valuable reserves of oil and natural gas in the Peruvian Amazon.

• China has invested in oil exploitation in Madre de Dios region, an area that is home to more than 10 per cent of the world’s bird species and a popular destination for eco-tourists.

• The extraction of oil can lead to oil leaks and serious pollution of water courses

How does Mining cause threat to the Peruvian Rainforest

• gold is found in alluvial (river) deposits in the Peruvian Amazon. This is exploited by huge machines and often involves the blasting of river banks and the removal of rainforest to provide access to remote areas.

• Mercury is used in the operation and this is highly toxic, causing considerable harm to aquatic ecosystems and poisoning local tribes who depend upon rivers for food and water

• An area where this has been happening is Madre de Dios. In 2018 870 square miles of rainforest was destroyed for illegal mining. 

How do roads cause threat to the Peruvian Rainforest

• one of the most significant threats to Peru’s rainforests in the southeastern part of the country is the Trans-oceanic Highway

• a road project that will connect Pacific ports to a major highway in Brazil. Environmentalists and local indigenous groups are concerned that the improved road will lead to deforestation and will worsen illegal logging in the region’s protected areas.

• In 2015, plans were announced to extend Peru’s ‘jungle highway’ through Manu National Park described by UNESCO as a place where biodiversity ‘exceeds that of any other place on earth’. 

How does Agriculture cause threat to the Peruvian Rainforest

• increasingly lowland areas are being deforested to create land for farming, particularly for growing soybeans and for rearing cattle.

• Fires used to clear land can sometimes burn out of control, wiping out valuable habitats and killing animals. 

How is Illegal mining managed in the Peruvian rainforest

In areas like Madre de Dios, the lure of gold mining and the fact that areas can be more easily accessed by the Oceanic Highways has caused much illegal logging that can be hard to stop as people can make 10-100 times more in a day from gold than they make in a month from farming. To reduce this the area declared a state of emergency in 2019 and established 7 army bases to tackle illegal mining. The army has powers to arrest miners and destroy their platfoms and camps. However, this aggressive policy has reduced rates of deforestation in this area substantially. 

How do we manage the Peruvian Rainforest sustainably

Since 2000, management plans are required for all forest-related harvesting activities by the Peruvian government. The emphasis is on sustainable management in line with the requirements of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). With so much illegal logging and such a vast area to police, implementation of this law faces huge problems. 

What is the Manu conservation corridor

Purus-Manu Conservation Corridor in the Madre de Dios region in southeast Peru close to the border with Brazil. It is made up of the Alto Purus and Manu National Parks together with several territorial reserves for indigenous communities. 

The Purus-Manu Conservation Corridor project supports long term biodiversity conservation in 

benefiting the native communities living in the Corridor. Comprising an area of over 10 million hectares, this is the largest preserved area in the Peruvian Amazon. It is recognised as being one of the most biodiverse regions in the world.