Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer

Autumn

2019

The Maijuna: Fighting for Survival in the Peruvian Amazon

Published
2019-12-19

Abstract

In 2015, following decades of illegal exploitation, the Maijuna indigenous group of the Peruvian Amazon and their allies successfully pushed the Peruvian Government to establish a protected area consisting of 391,039 hectares of Maijuna ancestral territory. However, this is imperiled by a government plan to build a road and development corridor through the reserve. Protecting indigenous ways of life is a matter of social justice for affected communities. It also is a matter of global health because of the vital role played by intact rainforests in stabilizing the climate and driving carbon, oxygen, and hydrological cycles—not just locally but globally.