On the 19th of September, during a quiet afternoon of monitoring at the colpita at Posada, the usual hussle and bussle of the happy little Cobalt-winged Parakeets was interrupted by a surprise attack from a Collared Forest Falcon. The avian predator made its move despite being heavily outnumbered. It swooped in fast and the poor victim had no chance of escape. We believe death was quick and relatively painless. There is general amazement that the Forest Falcon managed to get so close to the colpita without the alarm being raised.
We have just received an email from Juan Grados, a biologist from La Molina, about a new directive being considered by the Peruvian Government, with pressure from Oil exploration companies, which will decrease the size of the Bahuaja Sonene National Park by around 20%. This national park is the heart of the protected areas around which the Tambopata National Reserve is molded. Exxon Mobil is one of the companies involved in getting this passed. A copy of the declaration follows.
AIM: Stop the Bill to reduce the size of Bahuaja-Sonene National Park META: No a la ley que modifica la delimitacion del Parque Nacional Bahuaja-Sonene This petition will be presented to the congress members involved in approving the bill. SUMMARY: (Sumiso en castellano viene pronto) A consortium of oil companies have been behind a new bill put in front of the Peruvian government. This bill aims to reduce the area of Bahuaja-Sonene National Park by 19.22%. Not just any 20%, but the very heart of one of Peru's most imporant National Parks, an area known as Candamo.
This just in from Emma Hume:
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Hey Alan,
The following webpage has been set up to help coordinate action against the proposed bill to reduce the size of the Bahuaja Sonene National Park
salvemoscandamo.com
This is a translation into spanish of the original petition text posted previously. Traducido por Ursula Showing
Un consorcio de companias petroleras, esta detras de un nuevo proyecto de ley euq el gobierno peruano quere promover. Esta ley apunta reducir el Area del Parque Nacional Bahuaja Sonene en un 19.22 % y no cualquier 20%, si no el corazon mismo de uno de los mas importantes parques nacionales del Peru, el area conocida como Candamo.
By Daniel Howden and Jules Steven in La Paz Published: 05 October 2007 Vast areas of Brazil and Paraguay and much of Bolivia are choking under thick layers of smoke as fires rage out of control in the Amazon rainforest, forcing the cancellation of flights. Satellite images yesterday showed huge clouds of smoke and much of the Amazon basin burning as fires, originally set by ranchers to clear land, have raged into the forest itself.
Reports from the field indicate that not only at TRC, but that also Posada, have been experiencing some early wet weather. After a hot and smokey dry season the rainforest must be welcoming the early relief. TRC normally experiences higher rainfall due to it's proximity to the Andes. Before the new lodge was contructed a flood in 2003 had the Tambopata River so high that water was running beneath the lodge. We don't expect this to happen anytime soon as the parched earth is sucking up every drop that falls.
Ernesto Raez Luna
Today, both the Minister of Energy and Mines, Mr. Juan Valdivia, and his vice-minister, Mr. Pedro Gamio, went on record and denied the existence of a bill to mutilate Bahuaja Sonene. They claimed that no entry of the bill has been recorded in the Peruvian Congress.
This is misleading, since the bill was prepared by the Executive, not by any congress group, and we have copies of the official opinion against the bill issued by the National Parks superintendent, Mr. Luis Alfaro (who subsequently and simultaneously would have resigned and got fired).
