The Ashaninka people are the largest indigenous group of the central Peruvian Amazon region. In the 1980s decade they suffered the impacts of the violent conflicts between the Shining Path (the rebel Maoist guerilla group Sendero Luminoso) and the governmental troops. It has been estimated that 10% of the Ashaninka population was killed due to these confrontations in which they were not involved. The Forestry Act was the subject of fierce protests during its discussion and approval. Still, it came into force. And in 2003, the first public auction of forest concessions were granted in the Ucayali region, located in the Central Forest in the Amazonian part of the eastern Andean foothills in Peru. This process, managed by the Amazonian Forest Consortium, completely ignored any prior consultation with the local indigenous peoples. Trees cutting in Ashaninka territory caused deforestation, forced displacement, deteriorated indigenous’ livelihoods as well as it was the main cause of the conflict and violence that spread through the region. In September 2014, four Ashaninka leaders were killed by illegal loggers. The murders remained unpunished. The AIDESEP continues denouncing the inadequacy between the State’s pretended good intentions as with the signature of an agreement with Norway and Germany in 2014 aiming to reduce deforestation and the actual national policies favoring the extension of plantations, as for instance of palm oil. The Ashaninka people are also endangered by other projects. In 2010, as the result of an energy agreement with Brazil, the Peruvian national government plans ahead the construction of two dams on the rivers Ene and Tambo. The woman Ruth Buendía Mestoquiari, President of CARE, received the Goldman Environmental Price in 2014 for her struggle and leadership. Another conflict description on the Atlas gives specific input about the Ashaninka peoples’ mobilization against the mega-dams. |
The Ashaninka have been resisting the colonization of their territory for centuries but the rainforest frontier keeps moving forward. It was first for timber but it is also now for plantations.
| Name of conflict: | Deforestation & colonization of Indigenous Ashaninka Territory, Peru |
| Country: | Peru |
| State or province: | Atalaya Province (Ucayali Region) |
| Accuracy of location | HIGH (Local level) |
| Project details: | In 2003, four Spanish-Peruvian companies were granted a 40 year concession for the exploitation of 40,000 hectares of forest. Soon after they made a consortium that allowed them to log more than 180,000 hectares of forest. |
| Project area: | 182414 |
| Type of population | Rural |
| Affected Population: | 99,117 |
| Start of the conflict: | 2000 |
| Company names or state enterprises: | Partes y Piezas SAC from Peru SAC-Anaconda from Peru SAFI Peru from Peru SAC-Shihuahuaco from Peru CFA from Spain |
| Relevant government actors: | Instituto Nacional de Recursos Naturales (INRENA) - Peru, Government of Peru, Minitry of Economy and Finance - Peru |
| Environmental justice organizations (and other supporters) and their websites, if available: | La Comunidad Asháninka Marankiari Bajo (CIAMB) - Peru, Organización Indígena de la Región Atalaya (OIRA) - Peru, Asociacion Interetnica de Desarrollo de la Selva Peruana (AIDESEP) - Peru, Forest People Programme - UK, World Movement for Tropical Forests |
| Intensity | HIGH (widespread, mass mobilization, violence, arrests, etc...) |
| Reaction stage | PREVENTIVE resistance (precautionary phase) |
| Groups mobilizing: | Indigenous groups or traditional communities International ejos Local ejos Neighbours/citizens/communities Social movements Ethnically/racially discriminated groups |
| Forms of mobilization: | Involvement of national and international NGOs Official complaint letters and petitions Public campaigns Street protest/marches |
| Environmental Impacts | Visible: Biodiversity loss (wildlife, agro-diversity), Loss of landscape/aesthetic degradation, Deforestation and loss of vegetation cover Potential: Air pollution, Food insecurity (crop damage), Global warming, Noise pollution, Soil contamination, Soil erosion, Surface water pollution / Decreasing water (physico-chemical, biological) quality, Groundwater pollution or depletion |
| Health Impacts | Visible: Accidents, Malnutrition, Deaths |
| Socio-economical Impacts | Visible: Increase in Corruption/Co-optation of different actors, Displacement, Lack of work security, labour absenteeism, firings, unemployment, Loss of livelihood, Loss of traditional knowledge/practices/cultures, Violations of human rights, Land dispossession, Loss of landscape/sense of place, Increase in violence and crime, Militarization and increased police presence |
| Project Status | In operation |
| Conflict outcome / response: | Deaths, Assassinations, Murders Land demarcation Migration/displacement Strengthening of participation |
| Development of alternatives: | The stop of the legal and illegal timber exploitation, the retrieve of the lands to their initial owners, and the restoration of the area. Granting the indigenous peoples with property title registration. |
| Do you consider this an environmental justice success? Was environmental justice served?: | No |
| Briefly explain: | Timber exploitation and plantations' multiplication continues to be the main activity in the area and there is a high amount of illegal logging. |
| Related laws and legislations - Juridical texts related to the conflict |
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| Contributor: | Lucie Greyl |
| Last update | 22/02/2016 |