National parks - biodiversity
In order to protect its exceptional biodiversity, Peru has established a network of protected areas, which represent about 14% of the territory, some of which are now managed by indigenous communities. Among the national parks, we can mention :
Huascarán NationalPark : managed by the National Service of Protected Areas by the State, this park known by the mountaineers shelters the highest peak of the country, the Huascarán and preserves the remarkable biodiversity of the White Mountain Range. It is a Unesco World Heritage Site.
Manú National Park : classified as a Unesco World Heritage Site, it protects part of the country's Amazonian forest and its exceptional biodiversity.
Bahuaja SoneneNational Park or Cordillera Blue Park: it shelters a remarkable biodiversity within its forests and its tropical humid savanna.
In terms of the fight against biopiracy, i.e. the patenting of living organisms (medicinal plants and traditional knowledge linked to plants), the country is a pioneer, with the establishment of a national commission against biopiracy, which was responsible for the lifting of patents on the maka and sacha inchi.
Facing the destruction of life
Mining, legal and illegal, as well as oil exploration, have deleterious effects on living organisms. These activities lead to the fragmentation of natural environments, but also to deforestation and the appropriation of the lands of indigenous communities. They also contribute to the contamination of the environment, including humans. Nearly a third of the country's population is likely to be exposed to heavy metal pollution, and mining projects are generating more and more reactions from the population. In 2015, following violent protests against a proposed processing plant at a mining site, the country declared a state of emergency in six provinces. The responsibility of the state and regional power in terms of public health was recognized in 2020 by the country's Justice, which also enjoined these authorities to implement actions. In 2019, it was the turn of the Amazonian region of Madre de Dios, to be subjected to a state of emergency, following violence related to illegal gold mining. The gold mining is indeed responsible for serious pollution with mercury and feeds criminal networks. Military and police operations have been carried out locally in an attempt to put an end to illegal gold mining activities in the area. Faced with the health aspect of the situation, a network of women from several communities created a national platform in 2017 to identify people exposed to heavy metals (cadmium, lead, mercury, arsenic, etc.), ensure rapid medical care and push the state to implement concrete actions.
Preserve forests
Deforestation is a major issue in Peru, which has already ceded a large part of its Amazonian forest to oil companies. In addition to this situation, there is the destruction linked to the illegal exploitation of certain precious essences (mahogany) and those linked to drug trafficking (illegal coca plantations). These situations generate ecological and human catastrophes, since they destroy the last old forests of the country, where indigenous populations live. These communities, thus exposed to new pathogens, are also subjected to threats, aiming at chasing them out of their territory, sometimes even going as far as assassinations. But initiatives are also developing to propose the safeguarding of ancient forests. For example, there is a nursery of local species dedicated to reforestation and wood exploitation. This project aims to replace eucalyptus and pine plantations, exogenous species, by reforestation with local species, more adapted to the environment and more resistant to climate change. It also aims to promote the exploitation of these new plantations, in order to protect the old forests from deforestation.
Towards food resilience
Peru is a country particularly vulnerable to global warming, which has seen the melting of half of the surface of its glaciers in the space of fifty years, an alarming situation in a country that is home to more than two-thirds of the world's tropical glaciers. Global warming is also increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme events (floods, landslides, drought), all of which could eventually threaten the country's water reserves, but also its food resilience and energy production (hydroelectricity). In response to this situation, the country has put in place a national strategic plan on food security and agricultural adaptation to climate change, with the support of UN agencies. It aims in particular to protect small-scale food-producing agriculture. Local initiatives, sometimes supported by NGOs, are also flourishing to develop traditional know-how (terrace cultivation, choice of local varieties) and to train in agroecological techniques.
The prevalent issue of waste
The country is facing an important plastic pollution, exacerbated by the lack of water sanitation, collection and treatment of waste. In Lima, where illegal dumps threaten to contaminate the rivers that supply the city with water, the municipality has chosen to raise awareness with the help of vultures equipped with cameras and trackers... that fly over the piles of waste. In 2021, Peru, along with Rwanda, is initiating a draft resolution to establish an international agreement to prevent and reduce plastic pollution.
For sustainable mobility
Citizen movements are developing, as in Lima, to promote cycling as a tool for ecological transition and solidarity. Even if it's not all plain sailing, the use of bicycles has grown considerably in the capital, and cycle paths enable you to cover fairly long distances. Cohabitation with drivers remains complicated, and you need to be careful, but from Miraflores, for example, there's a fully cycleable track that takes you to the city's historic center or the Chorillos district in one direction, or San Isidro in the other, along the promenade overlooking the Pacific. Another option is to walk along the beach below, through a number of neighborhoods. In short, from now on you'll have to rely on your bike, and that's just as well!
