National Public Radio features Madre de Dios
The Peruvian department of Madre de Dios, home to Camino Verde's reforestation efforts, is often considered the Earth's last remaining bastion of tropical rainforest. Indeed, there is no other single expanse of relatively untouched tropical forest anywhere on Earth to match the region's size and biodiversity. In truth, the pristine preservation of Madre de Dios has had as much to do with the region's historic isolation as it does the intentional effort to create reserves and national parks, though these protected areas (Manu National Park, Tambopata National Reserve, Bahuaaja-Sonene National Park) are indeed significant.
Now, in the beginning of the twenty-first century, the isolation that has kept the forests of Madre de Dios wild-- but has also kept stunted the region's economy-- is becoming a thing of the past. Funded primarily by Brazil, the Inter-Oceanic highway that will cross the Amazon and link Brazilian commerce to Peru's Pacific ports is now a reality. Paving of the road is well underway, with the extensive Brazilian route completed and the Peruvian side being quickly brought up to speed. Though both governments pay lip service to the importance of protecting the environment, little has been done to prepare to buffer the road's imminent ecological consequences.
The forests of Madre de Dios have long enjoyed a relatively harmonious existence, sustainably providing for the people of one of the Amazonian regions with the lowest population densities (around 100,000 people in an area the size of Austria or South Carolina). The Inter-Oceanic highway also threatens to destroy this delicate balance between people and ecosystem. An unprecedented population boom in the area, mostly highland Andean immigrants coming down into the forest to harvest gold dust from the riverbanks, has catapulted the department into an ongoing period of runaway growth. More people means more farms, and more farms means less forest. More than ever before, the last great tropical forests on our planet stand directly in harm's way.
It is this very situation which has now attracted the attention of National Public Radio. To listen to reports on the Inter-Oceanic highway and goldmining in Madre de Dios, follow the links below:
NPR Multimedia Site for this story.
14 September- The Amazon Road: Paving paradise for progress?
15 September- Interoceanic highway leads to Peru´s gold mines
16 September- In Brazil, nut-growing region faces threat
