Bogota, Colombia (AP) – A recent amendment to Peru’s forestry and wildlife law is drawing strong opposition from environmental and indigenous groups to warn it could accelerate deforestation in the Amazon rainforest under the guise of economic development.
The amendment eliminates the requirement that a landowner or company obtains a state authorization before converting woodland for other purposes. Critics say the change can legalize years of illegal deforestation.
“For us, this is very worrying,” said Alvaro Masquez Salvador, a lawyer for the Indigenous Peoples Program at the Peruvian Academy of Law Defense.
Musquez added that reforms set disturbing precedents by “effectively privatizing” lands that “effectively define Peru’s constitution as national heritage. “Forests are not private property, they belong to the state,” he said. ”
The amendment’s supporters enacted in March said they would stabilize Peru’s agricultural sector and provide farmers with greater legal certainty.
The Associated Press sought comments from multiple representatives of Peru’s agribusiness sector and law supporters Congresswoman Maria Zeta Chunga (Maria Zeta Chunga). Only one person in the agribusiness responded, saying they did not want to comment.
Legal reversal and unconstitutional amendment
According to the Nonprofit Rainforest Trust, Peru has the second largest share of more than 70 million hectares of Amazon rainforest, accounting for 60% of Peru’s territory. It is one of the most biodiverse areas on the planet and is also home to more than 50 indigenous peoples, some of whom live in voluntary quarantine. These communities are important guardians of ecosystems, and their protected rainforests are by absorbing large amounts of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, a major driver of climate change.
The Primitive Forestry and Wildlife Act was adopted in 2011 and requires national recognition and environmental studies before any changes in forest land are used. But recent reforms have steadily weakened these protections. The latest amendment allows landowners and companies to bypass the approval and even retroactively legalize past deforestation.
After a group of lawyers raised constitutional challenges, the Constitutional Court in Peru upheld the amendment. Although the court rejected some parts of the amendment, it left behind a complete final provision of the law that validates past changes in illegal land use. Legal experts say this is the most dangerous part.
In its ruling, the Court acknowledged that consultations should be made on legal reforms and that the Ministry of Environment’s role in forest zoning should be confirmed.
Environmental lawyer César Ipenza summed up like this: “The court acknowledged the violation of indigenous rights and (the tribe) should have consulted, but it still endorses the most harmful parts.”
Support from a strong alliance in agribusiness
The push behind the reform reflects the dynamics of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, where political and economic forces weaken environmental protection in favor of agribusiness. Although Brazil’s efforts were led by a highly organized lobby of industrial agribusinesses, the Peruvian version involved a loose but strong alliance.
In Peru, support interests from agribusiness, looters and figures related to illegal mining and drug trafficking. Small and medium-sized farmers who are worried about protecting their land have also been under efforts.
“What we’re seeing is a convergence of legal interests and illicit interests,” said Vladimir Pinto, Peru’s field coordinator, Amazon Observer, Peru.
Is the amendment compliant with EU regulations?
Julia Urrunaga, director of the Peruvian Bureau of the Nonprofit Environmental Investigation, warned that the Peruvian government is now “misunderstood” that these amendments are necessary to comply with EU regulations that will soon require companies like soybeans, beef, beef and palm oil to prove that their goods are not sourced from illegal Daowei land.
She said that if products related to illegal deforestation are later legalized and allowed to enter the market, it will weaken the effectiveness of demand-side regulations in the EU.
“This conveys a false message to global markets and weakens efforts to curb deforestation through trade restrictions,” Urunaga said.
Olivier Tublux, head of the European Union’s economic and trade department, denied that recent changes in the law are related to EU’s deforestation regulations.
In an interview with Peruvian media, Tubleux said the regulation aims to prevent the purchase of deforestation-related products without legal reforms, but rather edible and sustainable in commodities such as coffee, cocoa and wood.
Indigenous communities in Peru say their communities are under threat
In the absence of further litigation in domestic courts, civil society groups are preparing to bring the case to the International Tribunal, warning that the ruling sets dangerous precedents for other countries seeking to circumvent environmental laws under the banner of reform.
For many Indigenous leaders, the law is a direct threat to their territory, communities and lifestyle.
Julio Cusurichi, a board member of the Peruvian Rainforest Development Association, said the measure would allow tempting land hospitality and intensify environmental oversight in already vulnerable areas.
“Our community has historically protected not only our land, but the planet,” Kusurich said.
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