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21.04.2017

Peru: Palm oil plantations destroy rainforest

Study trip with the Mayor of Cologne

In March 2017, Andreas Wolter, Mayor of the City of Cologne and Climate Alliance Ambassador of the UN Climate Conference in 2016, travelled to Ecuador and Peru with Thomas Brose, Executive Director of Climate Alliance. The occasion of the delegation trip was a preparatory meeting of COICA in Quito for the UN Climate Conference in Bonn in November, and a return visit to the Peruvian region Ucayali in the Amazon lowlands in the municipalities of Yarinacocha and Santa Clara. The indigenous Shipibo-Conibos, which are living there, suffer mainly from pressure from the massive expansion of palm oil plantations in their areas. Despite the legal recognition of their territory, the State reserves the right of disposals and obtains licenses for palm oil plantations. “The indigenous population sees themselves not only endangered in their rights but also in their existence,” explains Mayor Wolter.

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Photo of the study trip (from the left): Eider José Perasan Ramirez (Vice-President of Climate Alliance and Coordinator for Environment, Climate Change and Biodiversity of the COICA), Mayor Andreas Wolter, Edwin Vásquez Campos (General Coordinator of the COICA) and Thomas Brose