Oil and Gas Projects in the Western Amazon: Threats to Wilderness, Biodiversity, and Indigenous Peoples

Matt Finer,Stuart L Pimm,Brian Keane,Carl Ross,Clinton N Jenkins,Dennis Marinus Hansen

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0002932

Abstract

BackgroundThe western Amazon is the most biologically rich part of the Amazon basin and is home to a great diversity of indigenous ethnic groups, including some of the world's last uncontacted peoples living in voluntary isolation. Unlike the eastern Brazilian Amazon, it is still a largely intact ecosystem. Underlying this landscape are large reserves of oil and gas, many yet untapped. The growing global demand is leading to unprecedented exploration and development in the region.Methodology/Principal FindingsWe synthesized information from government sources to quantify the status of oil development in the western Amazon. National governments delimit specific geographic areas or “blocks” that are zoned for hydrocarbon activities, which they may lease to state and multinational energy companies for exploration and production. About 180 oil and gas blocks now cover ∼688,000 km2 of the western Amazon. These blocks overlap the most species-rich part of the Amazon. We also found that many of the blocks overlap indigenous territories, both titled lands and areas utilized by peoples in voluntary isolation. In Ecuador and Peru, oil and gas blocks now cover more than two-thirds of the Amazon. In Bolivia and western Brazil, major exploration activities are set to increase rapidly.Conclusions/SignificanceWithout improved policies, the increasing scope and magnitude of planned extraction means that environmental and social impacts are likely to intensify. We review the most pressing oil- and gas-related conservation policy issues confronting the region. These include the need for regional Strategic Environmental Impact Assessments and the adoption of roadless extraction techniques. We also consider the conflicts where the blocks overlap indigenous peoples' territories.

Highlights

The western Amazon includes parts of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and western Brazil (Figure 1)
National governments delimit specific geographic areas or ‘‘blocks’’ that are zoned for hydrocarbon activities, which they may lease to state and multinational energy companies for exploration and production
The threat to amphibians is of particular concern, because so much of their global diversity is concentrated in the western Amazon, and because they are already the most threatened vertebrate taxa worldwide [5]

Summary

Introduction

The western Amazon includes parts of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and western Brazil (Figure 1). The western Amazon is the home to many indigenous ethnic groups, including some of the world’s last uncontacted peoples living in voluntary isolation [11,12,13]. Underlying this landscape of extraordinary biological and cultural diversity are large reserves of oil and gas, many yet untapped. Record oil prices and growing global demand are stimulating unprecedented levels of new oil and gas exploration and extraction It is the nations of the region, and not the indigenous peoples who live on much of the land, who assert their constitutional ownership of subsoil natural resources. The growing global demand is leading to unprecedented exploration and development in the region

Methods

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion