‘We are condemned with diseases, nausea and open sores’

Vast amounts of oil and gas are entering Peru’s indigenous population as the government auctions off parcels of indigenous land reserves. report from The Guardian. Researchers are speaking out as companies begin to expand into the territories of some of the world’s last uncontacted people.

What’s happening?

The Peruvian Amazon rainforest is one of the world’s most biodiverse places, home to an incredible array of plant and animal species. It is also home to one of the world’s largest populations of ‘peoples in isolation and first contact’.

However, indigenous areas in the Amazon are currently under threat as the government auctions off land for oil and gas extraction. Peru’s existing and proposed oil and gas blocks overlap with 3.95 million hectares of indigenous reserves, according to a US newspaper analysis by Earth Insight.

As oil and gas spills cover the rainforest in a thick, black sludge, researchers warn of their health and consequences consequences for the environment. For the indigenous people living in the rainforest, the onslaught of pollution has already caused health complications. Women have reportedly experienced higher rates of nausea and miscarriages, while men have developed rashes and unexplained illnesses.

“Every time oil companies – or any extractivist company – come, they bring diseases. We are condemned with diseases, nausea and open sores,” says Colombian indigenous leader Fany Kuiru Castro. told The Guardian. “They endanger the lives and cultural existence of indigenous people. It is a silent genocide.”

Why is pollution in the Amazon important?

Oil and gas pollution in the Amazon has serious consequences for the health of the indigenous people living in the rainforest.

In 2016, Peru’s Ministry of Health sampled 1,168 people living near one of the country’s largest oil fields. The results were startling: half of the population studied tested positive for toxic metals — including arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury — at rates higher than those considered safe by the World Health Organization. Exposure to these metals can lead to various forms of cancer, kidney problems, neurological damage and reproductive complications.

In addition to the health risks, large oil and gas extractions also pose a serious ecological threat to the rainforest. Oil spills in the Amazon could completely wipe out fish populations, eliminating an important food source for indigenous people and contaminating drinking water.

What is being done about the large oil and gas extraction in the Amazon rainforest?

Indigenous leaders and activists are speaking out against the land auctions. Researchers are also sounding the alarm warn policymakers about the catastrophic health consequences of oil and gas pollution.

“The Amazon is suffering. Gas flares pollute the air. Oil spills pollute the water,” says indigenous leader Julio Cusurichi told The Guardian. “But we remain steadfast. We will continue to defend the country and the rights of our people at any cost, even our lives.”

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