Peruvian police reportedly shot indigenous protesters from helicopters — as peaceful protesters were protecting their ancestral land. Online affinity campaign demanding Peru respect indigenous rights continues.

TAKE ACTION! Peru’s police have clashed with Amazon tribes opposed to foreign companies opening oil wells and mines in their rainforests without their consent. Police reportedly shot at protesters from helicopters, killing as many as twelve blockading a road to protect their land. Amazon Watch and Western media report indigenous protesters outside of Bagua, in a remote area of northern Peruvian Amazon, were forcibly dispersed by tear gas and real bullets. Reuters reports 12 protesters were killed, while Agence France-Presse puts it at 9. It may have been worse.

The threat of continued violence is real and imminent. Some 30,000 indigenous people have blockaded roads, rivers and railways for months to demand repeal of new laws that allow oil, mining and logging companies to enter indigenous territories without their consent or even any consultation. Reinhard Behrend, Rainforest Rescue’s Director, notes “it is important to realize that our overconsumption in the rich and emerging nations is at the root cause of deadly conflict for rainforests and Indians. We ask people to eliminate their use of industrially harvested timbers, oil and minerals from the world’s rainforests, and protest this senseless violence at Peru embassies all over the world.”

Indigenous communities complain that some 70% of Peruvian Amazon territory is now leased for oil and gas exploration, putting at risk their own lives and the biodiversity of the Amazon. Some of the controversial laws encouraging foreign investment in the Amazon were passed last year as President Garcia moved to bring Peru’s regulatory framework into compliance with a free-trade agreement with the United States.

“The same indigenous abuses suffered historically to access resources for the West continue to this day. All Earth’s citizens must demand the Peru government respect indigenous land rights, and pursue locally controlled ecologically sustainable development in the Amazon based upon the benefits of standing trees and intact ecosystems,” says Dr. Glen Barry, Ecological Internet’s President.

By Rainforest Rescue and Earth’s Newsdesk, Ecological Internet

CONTACT: Dr. Glen Barry, glenbarry@ecologicalinternet.org
Reinhard Behrendt, info@regenwald.org

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Ecological Internet provides the world’s largest and most used climate and environment portals at http://www.climateark.org/ and http://www.ecoearth.info/ . Rettet den Regenwald (Rainforest Rescue) organizes protest actions and email protests against rainforest destruction by loggers, oil and mining companies, and development projects.

Ecological Internet and Rainforest Rescue have been campaigning against the spread of industrial, monoculture oil palm plantations in primary rainforests for years, with some success, but the threat keeps on escalating. This is largely due to the extent to which oil palm has emerged as a cheap food ingredient [ark] in industrial nations. This is one manner where each of our behaviors are impacting rainforests and ultimately climate [ark] and biodiversity.

Palm oil [search] is very likely to be found in your margarine, bread, biscuits and candy bars — frequently listed as “vegetable oil” in the ingredients. Thirty square miles of carbon and biodiversity rich habitat are being cleared a day to provide you these products, largely in Malaysia and Indonesia, but increasingly threatening primary forests wherever they are found, including in the Amazon.

When the rainforests disappear almost all of the wildlife including the orangutans, tigers, sun bears, bearded pigs and other endangered species as well as the indigenous people, are gone forever. They are replaced by toxic, water hungry palm-oil plantations stretching for mile after mile, producing the cheapest cooking oil in the world for everyday food — and increasingly biodiesel to power our cars.

As long as primary ancient forests that make Earth habitable are being replaced with toxic oil palm plantations, it is ludicrous to speak of “sustainable” oil palm. Increasingly rainforests are threatened by industrial agriculture as land becomes scarce and the wants of soaring populations continue to grow.

Global ecological sustainability and local well-being depends critically upon ending all industrial development — logging, plantations, mining, dams, etc. — in the world remaining old forests. The amount of primary and old growth forests that have been lost has already overshot the carrying capacity of Earth. In other words, there are not enough old forests to maintain climatic and hydrological cycles, and the biosphere in total. What remains must be fully protected and assisted to expand through natural regeneration and human assisted restoration.

There exists great potential to compensate local peoples and governments for full protection of their primary rainforests, and for allowing them to regrow. But this is only appropriate if these areas are strictly protected from all industrial activities, local peoples give their consent and will benefit from standing forests, and it is not an excuse to do environmental harm elsewhere.

We encourage you to take responsibility for the ingredients in your food, ensuring it is as oil palm free as possible. And of course, please continue to be active in our campaigns highlighting the dangers of industrial agriculture, biofuels and biomass energy in relation to rainforests, climate and biodiversity.

Blog entry with Rainforest Rescue