In 2011, Peru once again became the world’s leading producer of coca. According to a report by the UN, more than 60,000 hectares were under coca cultivation in 2012, compared to 48,000 hectares in Colombia. However, it is estimated that the annual rate of deforestation caused by coca is 1,500 hectares, accounting for a little less than 1% of Peru’s total deforestation. There is considerable demand in Peru for unprocessed coca leaves, but, according to the UN report, such demand could be satisfied by cultivating less than 7,000 hectares. This suggests that the majority of coca produced in Peru is used for processing cocaine, which tells us there is ongoing demand for it in regional markets and Europe.
Clearing forest to grow coca is an important cause of deforestation in Peru, although much less so than in the past. It has long been cultivated in areas such as the Monzón, Apurímac and Ene (VRAE) valleys. New areas now include the upper River Tambopata in Puno, the upper River Urubamba, and lower Amazon river. According to estimates, cultivation peaked in 1992 and then declined to 39,000 hectares, but has recovered in recent years. In addition to causing deforestation, coca has the potential to destroy the environment because of the rapid loss of soil fertility once it is planted, forcing cultivators to move to other areas and meaning that it expands more quickly than other crops.
Moreover, cocaine production involves using highly toxic substances such as kerosene, sulphuric acid and acetone which are later dumped into rivers and lakes. In addition to its environmental impacts, coca cultivation involves other dynamics. It appears that drug traffickers collaborate closely with loggers, who clear the forest to sell the wood and thereby open up an area for coca to be planted. Indeed, the colonists who have the biggest impact on indigenous peoples in Ucayali and the lower River Urubamba have migrated from the VRAE. The colonists don’t simply invade: “They bring with them a [mix] of illegal activities: logging, coca, gold-mining. Indigenous leaders trying to stop it receive death threats, and some have been assassinated.”
One crop has emerged that is significantly increasing deforestation rates: papaya. According to official figures, there are 10,000 hectares of papaya cultivation in these three regions – 5,000 hectares in Ucayali – producing approximately 180,000 tons. In Peru, papaya is almost entirely for consumption (99%) inside Peru, and supermarket chains like Wong and Metro have entered the production chain.
The problem with papaya is that there are no varieties resistant to what is known as ‘papaya ringspot virus’, which reduces production by 60%. The only way to avoid the virus is to establish plantations in new locations. The involvement of the supermarket chains explains the surge in popularity of papaya as a crop, and the current solution to the virus means farmers are being aggressive in finding new land as they need to open up new land every 4 years. This is why ‘papayeros’ are now appearing on the agricultural frontiers of Loreto, Ucayali, Amazonas, San Martín and Madre de Dios. Assuming that farmers must open up new land every four years, this means they must deforest approximately 2,500 hectares per year in order to maintain current levels of production. Renting land is the most common way of obtaining access to it. In the Paranapura river basin, papaya farmers pay a fee between 800 and 1,200 soles per year per hectare to small holders or even indigenous people.
This is how the papayeros operate: “They clear 10 to 15 hectares of forest completely, which is much, much bigger than what is cleared traditionally. They remove all the vegetation, they make channels, they do the sowing, and they use herbicides, pesticides and fertilizer which, along with their litter, contaminate the water. It’s already a problem for some communities. Sometimes the papayeros take advantage of the situation and illegally take out wood.”
“The papayeros are agricultural businessmen with a lot of capital and they are mainly from San Martín. They rent land from communities and small-scale farmers. That’s how they’re able to access new land so quickly. By renting, they avoid problems caused by multiple ownership, the authorities, and overlaps. Some indigenous communities in Madre de Dios experimented with renting land for papaya and other crops, but in the end they stopped because of the deforestation and contamination.”
Oil palm is replacing other crops as a source of oil for human consumption worldwide. The biggest producer is Malaysia (4 million hectares), followed by Indonesia, (3 million hectares). In Peru, despite efforts made by the state for 40 years to encourage oil palm (because oil palm was seen as better to grow than coca), official figures show that in 201261 there were 57,752 hectares – much less than the 370,000 in Colombia and 230,000 in Ecuador. However, one recent study found that in San Martín and Ucayali alone approximately 100,000 hectares of oil palm were established between 2000 and 2009 by large- and small-scale producers.
According to this study, small-scale plantations cover 80,000 hectares. Of that 80,000, 24,000 hectares (30%) have replaced primary forest. Large-scale plantations cover 20,000 hectares, with 14,000 (70%) replacing primary forest. This means that a total of 38,000 hectares of primary forest were cleared in order to establish oil palm plantations in 9 years, at an average of 4,200 hectares per year. This is significant for Peru, although it is low in comparison to south-east Asia.
Other figures suggest that a massive expansion of oil palm is coming. Peru currently imports a considerable amount of oil palm, and this is used by those promoting the expansion to justify future growth alongside an argument that approximately 140,000 more hectares are required to satisfy demand in Peru.
One of the Shawi communities reported the deforestation of more than 50 hectares of their traditional territory: “The Romero group has cut down more than 50 hectares of forest within the ancestral lands of the community. We have denounced them for environmental crimes to the environmental prosecutor in Yurimaguas. In this area there were old farms and virgin forest as well, it was an area where the people used to go and hunt and fish but now it’s all deforested.”
“Perhaps 80% of the communities in this region have been impacted by deforestation connected to the Romero group’s oil palm plantations. Land of some communities was first affected and then the forest was cleared after they employed the [part of] the law allowing them to change the land use category. Now some people from these communities are working as workers on the plantations while the communities bordering them have less access to the forest. Members of other communities find themselves unable to cross the plantations and are blocked by armed guards. That’s to say, freedom of movement along traditional paths has been restricted."
There are serious impacts on indigenous peoples and their use of the forest: "The Romero group has stolen an area within our communities where we used to hunt and obtain food for our families. Now no one can enter. The rivers are all blocked as they have to be diverted elsewhere... ancestral areas and forests have been destroyed... they only had permission for agricultural activities but they arrived with documents backing them up..."
Oil palm cultivation in Peru is facilitated by a loophole in the legislation. According to the current Forestry Law, primary forests can’t be used for agriculture or anything else affecting the forest canopy, but the Ministry of Agriculture can make an exception if it deems the land in a particular area of primary forest suitable for agriculture. This is what is known as ‘greater land use capacity’ and overrides the forestry law so that the ownership of the land changes.
Cocoa, coffee and bananas are crops receiving most support from the central and regional governments. Some crops, like coffee and rice are very well-established, but others, like sacha inchi or copoazú in Madre de Dios, are newer. San Martín produces more agricultural products than any other region. While rice has been cultivated there for many years, the regional government is now promoting cocoa, coffee, sacha inchi, and palmito. In 2012, there were 405,000 hectares of coffee under cultivation in Peru. Between 2002 and 2012, the area under cultivation increased by 140,000 hectares at an average of 14,000 hectares per year.
As yet, there are no studies that indicate how many of the new plantations were established on former plantations, degraded, secondary, or primary forests and so there is no way to estimate the deforestation resulting from its cultivation. To produce all of these crops, third parties often obtain land from the state and buy or rent to small-scale farmers or sometimes members of indigenous communities. In other cases, it is indigenous peoples themselves who find the capital to establish production on a small scale. State support comes and goes, although, it has increased in recent years, possibly because of DEVIDA (a national commission for development and a life without drugs) to substitute coca plants used to make cocaine with alternative crops such as palm and cocoa for chocolate. Unfortunately, the State often fails to match production with a secure market. In other words, the State encourages production, but doesn’t support the commercialization of the future product.
“In Loreto the regional government supported sac ha inchi cultivation, but didn’t do any feasibility studies and so the plantations failed. Despite that, Agrobanco is carrying on with it. It’ll probably fail again and the only things to show for it will be deforestation. There are many cases of people getting excited, deforesting 3 to 5 hectares, and then finding themselves in debt because they had to abandon cultivation because the yield is too low or there’s no market.”
(Adapted from "Revealing the Hidden: Indigenous Perspectives on Deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon")
Capital - Money
Coca - Leaves that can be processed to turn into the drug cocaine
Cocoa - Beans that can be processed to turn into chocolate
Colonists - People who take over another country or area
Cultivation - The act of helping something grow (cultivators - those who help something grow)
Degraded / degradation - To lose health, to become worse
Import - To buy and receive products from another country
Indigenous - Native to a place; can refer to plants, animals, people who are originally from a particular location
Primary / virgin forest - Original plant growth in an area
Secondary forest - Plants that have grown up after original plants have been removed somehow (being cut, burned, or otherwise destroyed)
Small-scale farming - To operate a farm independently, not as part of a larger company
Soil fertility - The nutrient level of dirt to enable new plants to grow well
Sowing - The act of planting
Yield - The amount of something that can be sold or used
