Ecology & Sustainability



Ecology & Sustainability

Introduction

The western Amazon, including the lowland Peruvian Amazon, had long been considered as region, possessing exceptional cultural and biological diversity. Huge oil and gas reserves underlie this landscape. Many of them are yet unexploited. Extraordinary exploration and development is being led in the region because of the growing global demand. However, it is indicated by recent analysis that the biodiversity of region, indigenous ethnic groups, peoples, and wilderness areas is threatened by increase of oil and gas exploration zones at a rapid pace.

For the better analysis of this situation, a comparative two peer reviewed articles regarding the threatening of biodiversity in Western Amazon are discussed in this paper.

Discussion & Analysis

Methodology/ Findings

A study is conducted by Finer et. al. (2008) for investigating the threats imposed to biodiversity, wilderness, and indigenous individuals in the Western Amazon because of Oil and Gas Projects. According to the study, the mega- diverse western Amazon is now covered by blocks of oil and gas, exceeding over 180 in number. The zoning of areas is done for the sake of exploration & development. The countries that are included in Western Amazon are Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, and western Brazil. Over a vast area of more than 688,000 km2, the swath of these oil and gas blocks are stretched. It is found by the study that the most part of the Amazon, enriched with species, is overlapped by these blocks. Moreover, the study also entails that indigenous territories are too overlapped by a number of the blocks. These indigenous areas include both titled territories and regions dwelled by peoples who prefer to live in isolation voluntarily. Oil and gas blocks, in Ecuador and Peru, now cover over 2/3rds of the Amazon. Major exploration activities are increasing rapidly in Bolivia and Western Brazil.

Two ...