Representatives of Peru's Amazonian indigenous alliance AIDESEP and affiliated regional organizations opened meetings in Lima Feb. 15 with the National Institute for the Development of Andean, Amazonian and Afro-Peruvian Peoples (INDEPA) to arrive at a "plan for protection of indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation and initial contact."

AIDESEP and the regional organizations FENAMAD (Madre de Dios), ORAU (Ucayali) and ORPIO (Loreto) secured from INDEPA a commitment to draw up a management plan for the Madre de Dios Territorial Reserve for Isolated Peoples within 90 days. One of five such reserves in Peru, this Territorial Reserve was created in 2002 for the protection Mashco-Piro, Yora and Amahuaca bands in voluntary isolation in the rainforest. However, the government has done little to secure the reserve from encroaching development interests. (FENAMAD, Feb. 15)

However on Feb. 4, just days before the talks opened, President Alan García introduced a bill that would allow the forcible removal of local populations from lands slated for development projects found to be in the "public interest." Indigenous rights advocates are lobbying against the bill. (Servindi, Feb. 10)

See our last post on the Peru and the struggle for the Amazon

Please leave a tip or answer the Exit Poll.