An amendment to a Peruvian law has shaken environmentalists who warn it may accelerate Amazon deforestation in the name of economic progress, with one critic calling it "gravely concerning." The AP reports the change to the Forestry and Wildlife Law allows landowners and companies to convert forested lands without state authorization and even legalizes such deforestation retroactively. This amendment—which was passed in December 2023, largely upheld by the Constitutional Court, and enacted in March—is designed to bolster the country's agricultural sector, but critics say it effectively privatizes forests that are part of the national patrimony.
Peru's swath of the Amazon is the second largest on planet, covering nearly 70 million hectares or 60% of the country; it's vital for biodiversity and climate stability and is home to more than 50 Indigenous peoples. The Forestry and Wildlife Law as it was originally passed in 2011 required approval for land-use changes as well as environmental studies prior to any such changes. But as Context reports, even before the amendment deforestation was already a problem in Peru, which lost about 150,000 hectares of forest in 2022, a 6% year-over-year increase. The total size of the Peruvian Amazon shrank by 2.7 million hectares between 2001 and 2021.
Amazonian rainforest expert Marc Dourojeanni told the New Internationalist the change "will without doubt accelerate deforestation, going precisely against the worldwide trend of extreme concern regarding climate change." With domestic legal options exhausted, opposition groups may take this battle to international tribunals. (This content was created with the help of AI. Read our AI policy.)
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