Peru
PERU RELEASES DEFORESTATION DATA
06/17/2013
Update Volume
43
Update Issue
17

Deforestation data opened up by the Peruvian government shows that the rate of forest clearing has slowed in recent years, though Peru's Amazon has lost more than 100,000 hectares annually since 2005. Overall, the area has gone from 80 to 78 percent forested from 2000. Peru's monitoring system, in development since 2009, is based mostly on satellite imagery and can detect changes as small as .09 hectares. "This is a big deal," said Greg Asner, a research at the Carnegie Institution for Science who has been working on the project.

PERU TO CLOSE ENVIRONMENTAL FINE LOOPHOLE
05/13/2013
Update Volume
43
Update Issue
14

Peru's government announced that it is trying to limit companies' ability to avoid fines by lodging years-long judicial appeals. The move comes from a proposal by President Ollanta Humala to require firms to pay a deposit equal to the fine before asking the courts to suspend it, and is part of a push to crack down on polluters in the nation's mining and energy industries. According to Hugo Gomez, the head of Peru's environmental enforcement agency, appeals filed effectively suspend penalties indefinitely, making environmental sanctions nearly useless.

PERU ADOPTS CLIMATE INITIATIVE
04/30/2012
Update Volume
42
Update Issue
12

Peru is the latest developing nation to adopt a domestic climate change initiative in the absence of a binding international pact. The nation adopted a resolution to lower carbon emissions. The long-term plan is based on South Africa's plan and aims to add more renewables to Peru's energy mix, curb illegal logging, and move to a low-carbon economy. Peru said that it is already feeling the effects of climate change, including melting glaciers and crop-destroying record rainfall.

Peru Dam Project May Destroy Millions of Acres of Jungle
01/10/2011
Update Volume
41
Update Issue
1

A hydroelectric dam project in Peru could destroy almost 3.7 million acres of jungle over the next 20 years, according to a study by ProNaturaleza, a Peruvian conservation organization. The nation is set to construct five dams as part of an energy agreement with Brazil. "There will be a serious impact on the Amazon ecosystems," said engineer Jose Serra of the project, which includes plans to build the largest dam in Peru and the fifth largest dam in Latin America.

You must be an ELR subscriber to access the full content.

You are not logged in. To access this content: