Title: Community involvement and dialogue processes in environmental justice in Peru
1Community involvement and dialogue processes in
environmental justice in Peru
- Doris Balvín
- Asociación Civil Labor
- January 2007
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2Mining in Peru
- Represent currently more than 50 of the Peruvian
national income. - The high growth of the sector during 1990 was
promoted by an aggressive policy in which
environmental and social issues were less
important.
3Environmental Impacts of mining
- Changes on the natural regime of the water
resources. - Negative impact on the quantity and quality of
water. - Air pollution
- Negative impact on ecosystems.
4Previous approaches to mining gave rise to
substantial environmental legacy
5La Oroya old mining industrial complex
6The negative impacts of huge mining operations
are more extensive in water, air and forest
7For example Yanacocha Mine impacts 4 water
catchments because it is located on the
continental divide.
8Soil removal can adversely affect the surface and
subsurface water for community uses
9Deterioration of the quality of water by acidic
drainage.
10Community involvement and environmental justice
in Peru
- Expectations on development with different
perspectives. - Competing interests opposed for the use of water.
- Different conceptions and cultural values.
- Existing legal rights on the use of water and
land use by mines and communities - Inadequate institutional framework.
11Community Rights and Environmental Justice
- Access to the use of natural resources water,
air, forest - Diminution of the access to environmental
quality. - Air and water contamination impacts on health.
- Cultural
- The displacement of communities and changes on
their traditional life. - Economics
- Lost of the traditional economic activities and
emergence of others in which new stakeholders
will appear and displace the others.
12Tambogrande conflict 2001
13Cerro Quilish Conflict 2004
14La Oroya conflict 1915-2007
15Southern Peru Conflict 1960 - 2007
16Social and environmental conflicts
- Mining has a multiple impact on the way of living
of communities - It has to do with the debate of models of
development. - Who receive the impacts of the deterioration and
reduction of the environment? - It has to do with the debate on the rights of
the different stakeholders in the areas where
mining takes place.
17Mining Dialogue Group
- It was created as an initiative to reduce the
confrontation between stakeholders involved in
mining and community issues. - Its major commitment is to build bridges between
the different stakeholders creating a dialogue
culture - This dialogue space started in 2001.
- Includes stakeholders that normally are not
working together (community based organizations,
NGOs, enterprises, international cooperation,
consultants, government people, universities).
18Key policy recommendations
- To establish an Independent Environmental
Authority with strong enforcement powers. - To strengthen the environmental institutions by
improving the management tools for sustainable
development and specially in environmental
health. - To prevent and remediate the mining pollution
legacy that has high impact on environment by
allocating economical resources and technology. - To promote corporate social responsibility in
mining companies by disseminating the best
standards.
19Rights, culture and conflicts
- To recognize that water implies management of
conflicts the government must create
institutional channels for conflict resolution
and dialogue with civil society. - To recognize and to protect the uses and
ancestral customs of water management. - To respect the different cosmovisions around the
use and management of the water.
20Conclusions
- No more freedom in lifestyle mining comes with
development for the country not necessarily for
the poor. - Mining investment will not solve poverty problems
if environmental issues are not taken into
account specially health. - Access to justice is not equal. Communities
affected by mining are requested to prove the
impacts on their health. - Measurements are important but also Health
Department must have an Environmental Heath
Program.
21Gracias
- More information in www.labor.org.pe
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