Oil frontiers in the Peruvian Amazon. Impacts of oil extraction for the achuar of río Corrientes
- Autores: Martí Orta Martínez
- Directores de la Tesis: Joan Martínez Alier (dir. tes.), Agustín Lobo Aleu (codir. tes.)
- Lectura: En la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona ( España ) en 2010
- Idioma: español
- Tribunal Calificador de la Tesis: Victòria Reyes-García (presid.), Marie Laure Rival (secret.), Michael McCall (voc.)
- Materias:
- Enlaces
- Tesis en acceso abierto en: TESEO
- Resumen
This work deals with environmental, social, and cultural damage caused by oil exploration and exploitation at indigenous territories in the tropical rainforest. The thesis applies an environmental justice framework to assess oil impacts at two different scales. Firstly, it addresses oil impacts at a local scale, studying oil exploration and exploitation impacts on the Achuar territory of Rio Corrientes, in the northern Peruvian Amazon. Secondly, it addresses impacts at regional scale, scrutinizing the damages done by the oil industry in the Peruvian Amazon. Together the results presented here improve our understanding of socio-environmental consequences of the human patterns of consumption and production in an oil-based world economy.
Oil has been extracted from Achuar territory since the 1970s. In spite of early identification of negative impacts on the environment and repeated attempts by the Achuar to minimize those impacts, very little research has addressed specific environmental and health impacts on the area. Some recent governmental studies have shown extremely high blood lead and cadmium levels in Achuar communities. In chapter 1 we review the evidence of pollution and Achuar health status available in existing studies. We also review government and operating oil company actions undertaken over the last 40 years. We identify knowledge gaps and negligent actions on the part of the State and petrol companies which have hamper efforts to respond to the environmental and health situation From 2005 to 2009, the author collaborated with Achuar communities which sought to develop and implement novel methods for monitoring oil spills and other impacts caused by oil companies in their territory. A pioneering experience of indigenous cartography and environmental monitoring that aimed to trace the past and present damages done by the oil extraction industry. In chapter 2 we describe a protocol for the application of participatory geographic information systems (GIS) in conflicts over resource extraction, especially oil and gas. We analyze the achievements and shortcomings of the proposed methodology with regard to the empowerment of communities.
The Peruvian Amazon is home to extraordinary biological and cultural diversity. However, the rapid proliferation of oil and gas exploration zones now threatens the region's biodiversity, indigenous peoples, and wilderness areas. Chapter 3 analyzes official Peruvian government hydrocarbon information and generates a quantitative analysis of the past, present, and future of oil and gas activities in the Peruvian Amazon. We document an extensive hydrocarbon history for the region -over 104 000 km of seismic lines- highlighted by a major exploration boom in the early 1970s. We show that an unprecedented 48.6% of the Peruvian Amazon has been recently covered by oil and gas concessions, up from just 7.1% in 2003. These oil and gas concessions overlap 17.1% of the Peruvian Amazon protected area system and over half of all titled indigenous lands. We project a second exploration boom, characterized by over 20 000 km of new seismic testing and construction of over 180 new exploratory wells in remote, intact, and sensitive forest areas.
In chapter 4, we argue that the phenomenon of peak oil, combined with rising demand and consumption, is now pushing oil extraction into the most remote corners of the world. While conflicts spread on indigenous territories, new forms of resistance appear and indigenous political organizations are born and become more powerful. We review the impacts of oil exploration and exploitation and indigenous resistance throughout the oil history of the Peruvian Amazon, focusing, once again, on the Achuar people in Rio Corrientes. In a context of peak oil and growing global demand for oil, such devastating effects for minor quantities of oil are likely to increase and impact other remote parts of the world.
