Save Candamo Alliance

Introduction

In September 2007 a proposed bill was to be deliberated by the Peruvian Congress to reduce the size of a key National Park by 200 000 ha. Candamo is a megadiverse site and cannot be allowed to be the target of gas companies, as it's natural resources are far more valuable in the long term. For more information, please see the text in the petition. Since then, a local and international outcry has seen the halting of the movement of this bill through congress, and most recently, a denial of its existence. This site contains information on the background of this attempt to desecrate one of Peru's most sacred natural resources.

UPDATES:

21 October

From the Peruvian Ambassador to the United Kingdom:

Estimado(a) señor(a):

Me dirijo a usted en relación a su petición para mantener la intangibilidad del Parque Nacional Bahuaja Sonene. Sobre el particular, es grato comunicarle que la iniciativa para reducir el área de dicho parque fue considerada solamente a nivel técnico intermedio, pero fue descartada en las más altas instancias políticas pues se consideró que resentaba implicancias negativas para el medio ambiente y no se encontraba acorde con las políticas de conservación que el actual gobierno viene desarrollando.

Atentamente,

Ricardo V. Luna

Embajador del Perú en el Reino Unido

Bahuaja declared untouchable - article

18 October

Good news all around: Diario Gestion published a front-page article voicing concern regarding plans to decrease the size of the national park. The original article can be accessed via their website - but you have to pay for access. Otherwise view images of the article here.

Possibly in response to Earl Blumenauer's concern the vice minister of energy, Pedro Gamio, tried to deny the existence of the bill. See the article here or Correo webpage here.

La Republica has published an editorial featuring Luis Alfaro and his condemnation on the current Peruvian government stance towards the environment. You can read the full article here, in spanish.

A rally in support of salvemoscandamo.com was held in Puno in support of the protected areas act.

16 October

American based Peruvian photographer Eduardo del Solar will be auctioning a photo to help raise funds for the alliance from his Peruvian collection at his first Birds of the Americas exhibit. The exhibit will run through November 30, 2007. The Boston Nature Center is hosting a Wine/Seltzer & Cheese reception on opening day, Saturday October 20th , from 2 PM to 4 PM. Click here for the invitation

Black gold of a different kind - CECOVASA are a Peruvian company that operate in the buffer zone of the Bahuaja Sonene National Park that have been awarded prizes for their organic coffee. This flies in contrast to a recent weak and unfounded attack from the Peruvian Minister of Energy and Mining that NGOs are against the development of the Peruvian economy. Read that story here.

12 October

Good news - we have US Congress member Earl Blumenauer to thank for taking the time to sign a letter to the Peruvian Ambassador voicing concerns regarding the proposal to reduce the size of the Bahuaja Sonene National Park. You can view the letter here.

An update from Mr Holle:

1. This bahuaja cut seems to be part of a larger government offensive against protected areas and indigenous communities in favor of large mining and oil. Wild rumors are flying around.

2. Press is responding, we got good coverage in Caretas, Perus time magazine today and get front page of Somos the weekly magazine from El Comercio. Next week theyre holding a forum, with lots of local reps in Madre de Dios.

3. Government hasn’t said a thing in a while. Do not know if that is good or bad.

Dr Ernesto Raez, former head of Conservation International Peru, has put this document together after attending the Second Latin American Parks Congress, in Bariloche (Argentina).

8 October:

A turbulent end to the week saw the approval of the Free Trade Agreement (TLC) between Peru and USA ratified by USA senate finance committee, although it still awaits approval in the Senate and Congress. On a more positive note, it was also confirmed from various sources that for the time being the bill is on hold.

More good news from the conference in Argentina on mining in protected areas, where representatives of 35 countries of the region denounced mining in protected areas. See El comercio article (in spanish) for more on this.

Amazon Watch gives a good summary of the situation and recommend action to take.

5 October:

Statement from Mr Holle on action progress and policy: “Action has to be taken on two congressional fronts: Peru and USA. Peru is not too complicated, there are many of us with access to one or more congressmen and we probably can get the ears of many of them, but depending a lot on party lines, and public opinion.

However the key congressional front is the US front. There we are finding out who the key people negotiating the Free Trade Agreement are and with that in mind, we go out and meet (we is anybody from the conservation front). That is where we are at - attempting to meet the right person and either elicit a statement along the lines of ¨"This would really slow down the TLC" or even better, amend the TLC saying "It is forbidden to cut protected areas". Either way, we need the signatures, so let’s keep this going”

For more information on the TLC

3 October:

The original target for the Care2.com petition was 1000. This petition was set up on Sunday 30 September. The 1400 signatures gathered by Tuesday 2 October was passed to a sympathetic congress member on that day. The original petition has now been encorporated into a broader protest against the proposal, the Save Candamo Alliance.

If you are able to offer the support of your organisation, company, university, please email us a link together with a suitable image.

Current Park Limits:

Proposed Park Limits:

A selected summary of comments from the first 1000 people to sign - the voice of the people

The Oil and Gas companies

This site is hosted by macawmonitoring.com

This initiative is supported by:

The Tambopata Reserve Society (A UK based charity who can take UK donations addressed to the Save Candamo Alliance)