News stories by Milagros Salazar, page 3

LIMA, Feb 13 (IPS) - Representatives of native communities in the Amazon region of Peru, where the first ever "prior consultation" about a project affecting their territory will be held, have pressured the authorities into promising that their views will be taken into account every step of the way. But the government's word is no longer enough to assuage their mistrust.

LIMA, Jan 17 (IPS) - Peru's economic growth is largely dependent on its wealth of natural resources, which provide over 50 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) and 80 percent of exports. In view of this fact, the government is developing a project for the valuation and protection of this natural bounty.

PUERTO MALDONADO, Peru, Dic 27 (IPS) - "When someone in Peru sneezes, someone in Brazil catches a cold. When a barrel of oil is produced in Ecuador, a neighbouring country ends up buying it," says prominent environmentalist Yolanda Kakabadse.

LIMA, Dic 12 (IPS) - At the end of every month, with the skill of an environmental engineer, Wilson Sandi prepares a work plan that will be used by Achuar indigenous people, like him, to document the scars left by 40 years of oil drilling in the Peruvian Amazon region of Loreto.

LIMA, Oct 16 (IPS) - The titling of the lands of indigenous and peasant communities has been at a practical standstill for two years, with many of the corresponding files lost or incomplete. But the promotion of foreign investment is moving full steam ahead in the same regions.

, Sep 05 (IPS) - Peru will debut a new mechanism for prior consultation with indigenous peoples by seeking their approval for a new stage of oil drilling operations in the infamous Lot 1AB in the northeastern Amazon region of Loreto.

LIMA, Aug 30 (IPS) - Of the 69,000 people killed during the 1980-2000 armed conflict in Peru, at least 16,000 were buried in secret unmarked graves. So far, only 2,064 of these bodies have been recovered, and just 50 percent have been identified, according to a new report.

LIMA, Jul 31 (IPS) - A random review by the Peruvian government of 205 environmental impact assessments approved between 2001 and 2010 revealed that 86 percent lacked complete information on how they had received the green light from the authorities.

LIMA, Jul 06 (IPS) - In under two days, five demonstrators were gunned down by security forces in the northern Peruvian highlands region of Cajamarca, where a state of emergency has been declared.

One of every two Peruvians knows what 'biodiversity' means, and most would stop buying products that are not socially or environmentally responsible, according to an international survey that for the first time included this megadiverse South American country.