Indigenous federation sues Peru over new national park

Oil and gas concession overlaps 1.3m hectare "protected area" inhabited by indigenous peoples in "isolation"

One of the almost 100 resolutions adopted by the World Conservation Congress (WCC) held in Hawai'i in September 2016 was that "protected areas" such as national parks should be "no go" for mining, oil and gas operations, agriculture, dams, roads and pipelines. Another resolution was that indigenous peoples' territories overlapped by "protected areas" should be recognised and respected, calling upon International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) members, non-member States and others to do so.

While it might not seem particularly significant or startling to demand that "protected areas" should be, er, protected from such damaging activities as oil operations, and while WCC resolutions aren't legally-binding on anyone, such calls do urgently need to be made. Take as an example Peru, the country that, according to the IUCN, established more "protected areas" than any other in 2016. Undoubtedly its most important conservation achievement in recent years has been the creation of the 1.3m hectare Sierra del Divisor National Park, although approximately 40% is included in an oil and gas concession ultimately controlled by a Canadian-headquartered company, Pacific Exploration and Production.