摘要：The Peruvian Amazon is home to extraordinary biological and cultural diversity, and vast
swaths of this mega-diverse region remain largely intact. Recent analysis indicates,
however, that the rapid proliferation of oil and gas exploration zones now threatens the
region's biodiversity, indigenous peoples, and wilderness areas. To better elucidate this
dynamic situation, we analyzed official Peruvian government hydrocarbon information
and generated a quantitative analysis of the past, present, and future of oil and
gas activities in the Peruvian Amazon. We document an extensive hydrocarbon
history for the region—over 104 000 km of seismic lines and 679 exploratory and
production wells—highlighted by a major exploration boom in the early 1970s. We
show that an unprecedented 48.6% of the Peruvian Amazon has been recently
covered by oil and gas concessions, up from just 7.1% in 2003. These oil and gas
concessions overlap 17.1% of the Peruvian Amazon protected area system and
over half of all titled indigenous lands. Moreover, we found that up to 72% of the
Peruvian Amazon has been zoned for hydrocarbon activities (concessions plus
technical evaluation agreements and proposed concessions) in the past two years,
and over 84% at some point during the past 40 years. We project that the recent
rapid proliferation of hydrocarbon zones will lead to a second exploration boom,
characterized by over 20 000 km of new seismic testing and construction of over 180 new
exploratory wells in remote, intact, and sensitive forest areas. As the Peruvian
Amazon oil frontier rapidly expands, we conclude that a rigorous policy debate is
urgently needed in order to avoid the major environmental impacts associated with
the first exploration boom of the 1970s and to minimize the social conflict that
recently led to deadly encounters between indigenous protesters and government
forces.
