“Court blocks oil drilling in Peruvian Amazon”, 16^th April 2020

…The Sierra del Divisor was set aside as a national park in 2016, but the national oil company, Perupetro, planned to exploit the area for oil extraction. An Indigenous coalition went to court to try to block the project, and they recently won the lawsuit. The suit was filed by the Regional Organization of Indigenous People of the East, or ORPIO…

The area has already felt the impact of fossil fuel exploration…Reflection seismology studies, the clearing of forests for roadways and installation of heavy equipment have already begun in one section of Sierra del Divisor…

An extremely sensitive area known as Lot 135, located on the edge of the River Yaquerana, is of particular concern…

Should petroleum extraction begin, the isolated Indigenous communities who live in the national park could face infection from diseases introduced by oil extraction company workers…

Since the Indigenous groups living in isolation don't have any social relationship to the Peruvian people, ORPIO, the Regional Organization of Indigenous People of the East, took on the responsibility of defending and protecting them…In 2016, ORPIO filed a lawsuit against the Peruvian government for violating the communities’ fundamental rights to health and subsistence…