Site of the proposed Inambari Dam in the Peruvian Amazon. Brazil Eyes the Photo: Nathan Lujan Peruvian Amazon WILD RIVERS AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AT RISK he Peruvian Amazon is a treasure trove of biodiversity. Its aquatic ecosystems sustain Tbountiful fisheries, diverse wildlife, and the livelihoods of tens of thousands of people. White-water rivers flowing from the Andes provide rich sediments and nutrients to the Amazon mainstream. But this naturally wealthy landscape faces an ominous threat. Brazil’s emergence as a regional powerhouse has been accom- BRAZIL’S ROLE IN PERU’S AMAZON DAMS panied by an expansionist energy policy and it is looking to its In June 2010, the Brazilian and Peruvian governments signed neighbors to help fuel its growth. The Brazilian government an energy agreement that opens the door for Brazilian com- plans to build more than 60 dams in the Brazilian, Peruvian panies to build a series of large dams in the Peruvian Amazon. and Bolivian Amazon over the next two decades. These dams The energy produced is largely intended for export to Brazil. would destroy huge areas of rainforest through direct flood- The first five dams – Inambari, Pakitzapango, Tambo 40, ing and by opening up remote forest areas to logging, cattle Tambo 60 and Mainique – would cost around US$16 billion, ranching, mining, land speculation, poaching and planta- and financing is anticipated to come from the Brazilian National tions. Many of the planned dams will infringe on national Development Bank (BNDES). parks, wildlife sanctuaries and some of the largest remaining wilderness areas in the Amazon Basin. By changing the natu- The Peruvian government is hoping that the dams will boost ral cycles of the region’s river systems – the lifeblood of the foreign exchange earnings from energy exports, increase tax Amazon rainforest – large dams threaten the rainforest and the revenue, and help build local economies through the ser- web of life it supports. vices and jobs required during dam construction. In a rush to International Rivers | 2150 Allston Way, Suite 300, Berkeley, CA 94704 | Tel: + 1 510 848 1155 | internationalrivers.org FEBRUARY 2011 facilitate private investment, on their lands – first by rub- the government is pushing ber-tappers and missionaries, through two laws that would and later by settlers, guerril- expedite approvals of dams, las, coca growers and traffick- pipelines and road projects, ers – brought about enslave- and exempt them from ment, torture, displacement obtaining environmental cer- and massacres. During the tifications as a prerequisite for internal war in Peru in the concession approval. 1980s and 1990s, the Maoist guerrilla group Shining Path The electricity inter-con- gained control over areas of nection between Brazil and the Ene and Upper Tambo Peru is part of a broader rivers. Many Ashaninka energy integration scheme were forcibly displaced or in Latin America. The dams Girl bathing on the Ene River, which is threatened by the Pakitzapango Dam. Photo: Jonathan McLeod enslaved, and close to 6,000 would enable the integration were killed. Thirty to forty of Brazil with the national communities disappeared. systems of the Andean region, and in turn the Brazilian con- nection would link Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay to the Yet, the resiliency of the Ashaninka is extraordinary, and rest of South America. Brazilian electric utility Eletrobras is they maintain their ethnic identity. Today, they are fighting leading the evaluation of the projects’ feasibility in coopera- against illegal logging and coca growing, and are working tion with Brazilian private companies such as Engevix, OAS, on managing and protecting their forests. The Ashaninka Andrade Gutierrez and Odebrecht. Organization of the Rio Ene (CARE), initially created in 1993 to support the Ashaninkas after the war, is the leading ASHANINKA REJECT PAKITZAPANGO DAM Ashaninka organization working in defense of communities, One of the first projects in line to be built is the forests, and lands, and to protect the Ene River. Pakitzapango Dam, which would wall off the Ene River with a 165-meter-high dam. The project is being developed Pakitzapango Energia, S.A.C. obtained a temporary conces- by Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht and electric utility sion to conduct feasibility studies for the project in 2008. To Eletrobras, which estimate that it will generate 2,000 mega- counter this, CARE presented a legal administrative action watts (MW) mostly for export to Brazil. In addition to the against the project before the Ministry of Energy and Mines Pakitzapango Dam, the Tambo 40,Tambo 60 and Sumabeni (MINEM) in 2010. MINEM established that the feasibil- dams are also planned in the Ene-Tambo River Basin. ity studies were not concluded within the time allowed, and resolved not to renew the temporary concession to Ten Ashaninka communities with close to 10,000 people liv- Pakitzapango Energia. MINEM’s decision has been appealed, ing on both sides of the Ene River would be displaced and and the case may end up in the Constitutional Court. their livelihoods harmed by Pakitzapango alone. The health Stopping construction of the Pakitzapango Dam and others of the Ene River is crucial for the Ashaninka indigenous planned for the Ene-Tambo River Basin is crucial for the people, who depend on its fish resources, the fertile soils survival of the Ashaninka as a people. of its floodplains, and the many foods and products in the surrounding forests. They also cultivate small plots of land on which they grow manioc, yams, peanuts, bananas and PAKITZAPANGO THREATENS AREAS OF pineapples. The forest provides edible and medicinal roots, HIGH BIODIVERSITY honey, and materials to make baskets and mats. Yet the res- Large areas of the region where the Pakitzapango Dam ervoir would flood 734 square kilometers of forests, arable would be built are protected by the Otishi National Park, lands and water sources upon which the Ashaninka depend. which connects to the Vilcabamba–Amboró Binational Corridor that links Peru and Bolivia, forming one of the Even though Peru ratified Convention 169 of the last remaining contiguous forest ecosystems in the Andean- International Labor Organization (ILO), which requires Amazonian region. Mainly mountainous with large areas that indigenous and tribal peoples be consulted on issues of minimally disturbed forests, the area is endowed with that affect them, the Ashaninka people whose lands are astounding biodiversity characterized by endemic wild flora legally protected have not been consulted about the and fauna, some in danger of extinction. Pakitzapango Dam. Otishi (which means “summit” in Arawak) extends for 7,093 The Ashaninka are one of the largest indigenous groups in sq km, and was created in 2003 to conserve the stability the Peruvian Amazon, numbering close to 70,000. Although and integrity of the soils and the waters of the Ene, Tambo the Spaniards never conquered the Ashaninkas, the intrusion and Urubamba river basins. Otishi National Park is home BRAZIL EYES THE PERUVIAN AMAZON “For us the river does Dams in the Peruvian Amazon not generate money, the river gives us food, ,48,726 5LR0RURQD 5LR3DVWH]D 5LR$PD]RQDV gives us life. The dam &2/20%,$ builders and oil, mining, (48$'25 3RQJRGH 5LR0DUDxyQ and lumber companies 0DQVHULFKH 3(58 5HQWHPD 5LR8FD\DOL want our resources, but &XPED %5$6,/ we want development in 02<2%$0%$ &KDGLQ &+$&+$32<$6 concert with our culture. /D%DOVD /,0$ 5LR0DUDxyQ Dams are not a part of 5LR+XDOODJD 38&$//3$ our development.” %2/,9,$ 5LR7DPD\D — Ruth Buendia Mestoquiari, &+,/( 5LR3DFKLWHD President of CARE 5LR,QX\D 5LR7DPER 5LR8UXEDPED 7DPER3WR3UDGR 3DTXLW]DSDQJR 5LR(QH 0DQWDUR 5LR0DQWDUR +8$1&$<2 3RQJRGH0DLQLTXH /D*XLWDUUD 6XPDEHQL 9L]FDWiQ 5LR,QDPEDUL &XTXLSDPSD 38(5720$/'21$'2 +8$1&$9(/,&$ ,QDPEDUL $<$&8&+2 &86&2 $%$1&$< 5LR$SXULPDF Ruth Buendia Mestoquiari. Photo: Jonathan McLeod Map not to scale. to a large number of bird species, small and large mammals, drought to Brazilian dams Jirau and Santo Antonio on the amphibians, insects, butterflies, and much more. New species Madeira River. Companies in EGASUR – the Brazilian- have been discovered here that are endemic to the region. Peruvian consortium created to build the project – have stated they have received promises of a $2.5 million loan The Ashaninka Communal Reserve and the Machiguenga from the Brazilian National Development Bank (BNDES) Communal Reserve were created as buffer zones to Otishi. for the project. Communities fear that construction of the Pakitzapango Dam and the associated transmission line corridor would The Bahuaja-Sonene National Park, a world-class sanctuary open the buffer zones to logging and petroleum interests. of high biodiversity, would be threatened as new roads are Roads would make possible a wave of colonization, disrupt- built, leading to increased colonization, forest burning, cattle ing indigenous communities and causing environmental ranching and large farms, hunting, and erosion. destruction, which eventually would reach Otishi. Fifty small towns would be either flooded by the dam or INAMBARI DAM their economy and transportation harmed, and close to Another project likely to be fast-tracked under the Brazil- 15,000 people would be displaced. Most people are migrants Peru Energy Agreement is the Inambari Dam on the from the highlands of Puno State, who began to arrive 50 Inambari River in Puno, Cusco and Madre de Dios states, years ago. The newcomers began to grow cacao, pineapple, 300 km from the Brazil border. If built, the massive $4 bil- bananas and manioc. Others do small-scale fishing, or arti- lion project would form a reservoir of 410 sq km. The dam sanal gold mining along the Inambari. A 100 km stretch of would be the first in a proposed cascade which, as well as the Inter-Oceanic Highway (built by Brazil, not yet paid for generating electricity, would also send water during times of by Peru) would also be flooded.