Indigenous communities in Peru 'living in fear' due to deforestation, drug trafficking

[Judi Lynn]

by Yvette Sierra Praeli on 2 December 2022 | Translated by Sarah Engel

The territory belonging the Indigenous Kakataibo community of Puerto Nuevo comprises some 680 square kilometers (263 square miles) of rainforest between the regions of Huánuco and Ucayali in central Peru. Or, more accurately, it once did. Satellite data from Global Forest Watch show the territory was relatively unscathed until 2013 when deforestation surged; by 2021 the territory had lost nearly 15% of its tree cover.

Global Forest Watch data and imagery suggest forest loss in the territory may have accelerated further in 2022, and local and regional authorities have uncovered many new incursions into Indigenous land.

“We found them cutting down trees with a chainsaw,” said the leader of a Puerto Nuevo patrol group who wished to remain anonymous for safety concerns. “They were hardly an hour and a half away [from the community], and we confiscated their machinery, like five chainsaws, fuel and a motorcycle that they had at that time.”

The leader said the patrol group visited the site in early September after being tipped off by Peruvian environmental organization Association for Research and Integrated Development (AIDER). In addition to active deforestation, the leader said the group also uncovered residential structures and illegal fields of coca, a shrub used in the production of cocaine.

More:
https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/indigenous-communities-in-peru-living-in-fear-due-to-deforestation-drug-trafficking/