Peru : Monoculture sweeps Amazon Forests
▻http://farmlandgrab.org/post/view/23921-peru-monoculture-sweeps-amazon-forests
According to the Peruvian Eco-Development Society (SPDE), “companies with interests and investments in palm oil crops have been acquiring rural land through offers to small farmers to force them to sell their land, through land invasion and through direct negotiation with public employees.”
“The Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation (MINAGRI) and the regional governments of Loreto and Ucayali continue to promote deforestation to [cultivate] African oil palm by classifying forests as rural lands, by re-classifying forest land for agro-industrial purposes, by authorizing land use changes, and by approving environmental impact studies for agro-industrial projects,” pointed out the SPDE.
According to the MINAGRI, there are 600,000 hectares (1.5 million acres) of land in the Peruvian forest with the potential to grow oil palm crops. Currently, about 60,000 hectares (152,300 acres) are cultivated with this plant, mostly in the Amazonian departments of Huánuco, Loreto, San Martín and Ucayali.
However, Peruvian authorities are not taking into consideration the effects of this business on the environment.
#Pérou #déforestation #huile_de_palme #monoculture #environnement
