ACTION ALERT

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WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

Shell Oil to Drill on Uncontacted Indian Land in Peru

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Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises

http://forests.org/

1/14/97

OVERVIEW, SOURCE & COMMENTARY by EE

Rainforest Action Network reports in their Jan./Feb. 1997 action alert on

plans by Shell Oil to drill on rainforest covered land set aside by Peru's

government as homeland for uncontacted indigenous peoples. Given Shell's

appalling environmental and social conduct when operating in contact with

indigenous peoples, we can expect continued exploitative behavior in the

Peruvian rainforests. An appeal is made for letters to Shell.

g.b.

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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:

Date: Tue, 14 Jan 1997 17:33:20 -0800 (PST)

From: ranmedia@ran.org (Mark Westlund)

Subject: Shell Oil to drill on uncontacted Indian land

RAINFOREST ACTION NETWORK

Action Alert: January, February 1997

SHELL OIL SET TO DRILL FOR GAS ON

UNCONTACTED INDIAN LAND

Unless it can be stopped, Shell Oil will be drilling for natural gas this

July in a rainforest area that Peru's government set aside as a homeland

for uncontacted indigenous peoples. The 40-year, $2.7 billion project will

be one of the largest gas operations in South America. However, should

Shell's crews expose the isolated Indian groups to western diseases, the

impact could erase these peoples from the Earth. Also, Shell's drilling

operations could harm nearby Machiguenga Indian communities.

Based on Shell's shameful disregard for indigenous people in Nigeria,

international human rights organizations expect the worst. In November

1995, Nobel Peace Prize nominee Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight fellow Ogoni

tribesmen were executed for opposing Shell's Niger Delta operations. Oil

pollution destroyed the traditional Ogoni fishing and farming life, and -

says Wall Street Journal - turned the region into "a ravaged environment."

Peru's Nahua and Kugapakori Reserve is a 2,200 square mile area in the

Urubamba River valley bordering Manu National Park, about 300 miles east of

Lima. The Nahua and Kugapakori Indians are semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers

whose cultures honor their natural surroundings. Their own well-being is

inseparable from the well-being of the rainforest; it is their source of

food, shelter, and the focus of their spiritual life. The Nahua and

Kugapakori's survival depends on their continued stewardship of a clean,

intact rainforest ecosystem.

Shell's plans to drill on the reserve will force the Nahua and Kugapakori

to compromise their traditional way of life, robbing them of their basic

human right to determine their own future.

When Shell Oil conducted preliminary exploration of the region in the

mid-'80s, opening the rainforest to outsiders, certain Nahua groups were

exposed to a whooping cough and influenza epidemic that killed off an

estimated fifty per cent of the population. Local Indians believe the

surviving Nahua have fled deep into the rainforest.

Shell acknowledges the consequences of its planned drilling operations,

stating in information prepared for its field staff that "due to their

geographic isolation [the Nahua and Kugapakori] have no antibodies against

common western diseases like flu, whooping cough and small pox/chicken pox.

This means that a common flu could easily turn into pneumonia and become

fatal."

Shell's operations will also create havoc with established Indian

communities. Future roads into its well sites will open the region to

loggers and settlers. Shell's first gas well will be drilled inside the

Machiguenga village of Cashiriari. Dozens of other Machiguenga communities

are located alongside the rivers inside Shell's area of operation, each one

facing the likelihood that drilling waste will contaminate its water

supply. The Machiguenga Indians are organizing in response to Shell's

project and have formed "watchdog brigades" to keep an eye on company

activities and to stand up for their rights.

What You Can Do

Since some of the gas Shell will pull from Peru's Nahua and Kugapakori

Reserve will be exported to the United States, we in the industrial north

have an obligation to let Shell know that we hold them responsible for the

Indians' survival. Postage to Peru is U.S. 60 cents. Here is a sample

letter:

Mr. Alan Hunt, General Manager

Shell Prospecting and Development (Peru)

Av. Nicol s Arriola No. 740

Lima 13, Peru

fax 011-5112-242-037

Dear Mr. Hunt:

I am writing to express my concern over Shell's plans to drill for natural

gas inside the Nahua and Kugapakori Reserve in the Peruvian Amazon. As you

are aware, these two groups of indigenous peoples are extremely vulnerable

to outside diseases, and another epidemic like the previous one during

Shell's exploration activities in the 1980s could prove genocidal for them.

In addition, the Nahua and Kugapakori have rights as human beings to

maintain their traditional and autonomous way of life without interference

from the outside world.

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