A court in Peru's Loreto region on Jan. 22 issued an order blocking all oil exploration or exploitation within a vast area of the Amazon rainforest along the Brazilian border, citing the presence of isolated or "uncontacted" peoples in the zone and the impossibility of obtaining their "prior consultation [9]." The order affects Lots 135, 138 and 31B, which lie within Sierra del Divisor National Park [10], straddling the regions of Ucayali and Loreto. The case was brought in 2017 [11] by the Regional Organization of Indigenous Peoples of Oriente (ORPIO [12]), challenging the move by state agency PeruPetro [13] to auction leases for the designated blocs.
"This ruling is historic because it is the first in favor of indigenous people in voluntary isolation against oil companies. Almost 98% of the territory of the indigenous people in voluntary isolation was above three oil lots," said Maritza Quispe, a lawyer for Peru's Legal Defense Institute (IDL [14]), which represented ORPIO in the case.
ORPIO and allied anthropologists documented the presence of indigenous peoples in isolation or initial contact (PIACI [15]) within the Sierra del Divisor. They are believed to be of the Shipibo [16], Conibo [17] and Isconahua [18] ethnicities. Under Peru's Prior Consultation Law [19], their informed consent is necessary before any development proceeds within their territory, yet their isolated status must be respected. PeruPetro may appeal to Peru's Constitutional Tribunal [20]. (Gestión [21], Reuters [22], Jan. 22; CounterVortex interview with IDL)
