Devastation of Ancestral Lands in Peru’s Amazon. 6000 Hectares of Forests Destroyed, Converted to Palm Oil Plantations

27 November 2017

 - On the eve of the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil’s (RSPO) annual meeting, the Shipibo Konibo community of Santa Clara de Uchunya has condemned the failure of the organisation’s complaints mechanism to secure justice for their community. They have called on the RSPO to implement urgent reforms if it wishes to be a credible body for certifying sustainable palm oil and eliminating human rights and environmental abuses associated with the palm oil sector.

To date approximately 6000 hectares of the community’s forests have been destroyed for conversion to palm oil plantations. Fences and security systems now prevent community members from accessing any remaining forests vital to their subsistence and the company continues to expand its operations despite suspension orders from the RSPO and Peruvian government and ongoing investigations by environmental prosecutors. All of the community representatives have been issued with death threats for their opposition.