"Anglo-French oil firm threatens Amazon reserve for isolated Indigenous people", 23 August 2022

...Isolated Peruvian tribes face a threat to their existence from a push to scrap a planned Indigenous reserve led by an Anglo-French oil company, Indigenous groups say.

...Perenco...filed an injunction in May for the repeal of a law offering preliminary government recognition to a proposed Napo-Tigre reserve. The first hearing is scheduled on 7 September. As well as stopping the new Indigenous sanctuary, Perenco is asking that it be incorporated into the procedure for approving the reserve in future.

In documents seen by the Guardian, the firm contests the existence of uncontacted Peruvians in the northerly Napo-Tigre region in which it drills, despite photographic evidence supporting their presence.

...Apu Jorge Pérez, president of the Interethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Rainforest (Aidesep), accused Perenco of “violating the human rights of our uncontacted brothers and sisters”...

On 25 July, Peru’s leftwing government officially recognised the existence of uncontacted peoples in the Napo-Tigre Reserve, the first step towards granting the region reserve status, nearly 20 years after it was first demanded by Amazonian Indigenous groups.

The reserve contains an oil concession called Block 67, close to the Ecuadorian border...

A spokesperson for the firm, now run by Hubert’s amateur racing driver son François, one of France’s richest men, said: “Perenco has been in Peru as an operator since 2008 and takes pride in having played its part in successfully developing Block 67, a project declared of national importance by the Peruvian government and which forms part of the country’s strategic goal of achieving energy independence.

“We work closely with the Arabela native communities living in the area and provide support to them in many ways (such as infrastructure projects, transport, health and employment) to improve their lives. Perenco takes its human rights and environmental responsibilities extremely seriously and adheres to all international regulations”...