Respol Ready To Cut 282 Miles Of Survey Lines In Peruvian Forest Home Of Uncontacted Tribes

[hatrack]

Repsol YPF, a Spanish-Argentine oil company, plans to cut 454 kilometers (282 miles) of seismic lines in a territory of the Peruvian rainforest known to be home to uncontacted indigenous peoples, according to a press release from Survival International. To construct seismic lines paths will be cleared in the forest and explosives set-off regularly. Seismic lines allow energy companies to locate oil deposits by creating a cross sectional view of the subsurface.

Repsol YPF has submitted its oil exploration plans, which also include constructing 152 heliports, to Peru's Energy Ministry for approval. Home to two uncontacted tribes, the area, known simply as Lot 39, is also one of the most biodiverse places in the world according to a recent study in PLoS ONE that looks at the impact of oil and gas exploration in the western Amazon.

"What would the uncontacted Indians in this region make of seismic lines and heliports? They're likely to respond in one of two ways—either by fleeing, or by attacking people they will view as hostile invaders. Either way, the consequences will be profoundly damaging. Repsol and the Peruvian authorities should know by now that you simply can't look for oil in rainforest belonging to uncontacted Indians in a safe manner," says Stephen Corry, director of Survival International, in a press release.

Indigenous tribes that have had little or no contact with the outside world are especially vulnerable to disease, since they have not developed immunity to a variety of even common illnesses.

EDIT

http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0421-hance_repsol.html

[damntexdem]

1. And there's the point: "rainforest belonging to uncontacted Indians."

Or for that matter, rainforest belonging to contacted native peoples. It's time that indigenous tights to areas inhabited were recognized as trumping development plans.

[Statistical]

2. It is like a real world "Avatar".

Imagine what that would seem like from the eyes of the indigenous people.