Almost the entire Ombú oil block, operated by Emerald Energy, overlaps Colombia’s Macarena Special Management Area, created to conserve connectivity between the Andean, Amazon and Orinoquía natural regions. The project, now suspended after social protests, exposes the tensions caused by hydrocarbon extraction in protected areas without clear regulations.
Tag: protected areas
Eneva is authorized to drill the only active gas block on Indigenous Land in the Legal Amazon
Over 75% of the Krenyê territory, in the Brazilian Maranhão state, overlaps a block granted for fossil exploration where drilling could begin in 2026. Allegedly to help the energy transition, expansion of production at the Parnaíba Thermoelectric Complex bets on energy generation and the transformation of the MATOPIBA area into a logistics corridor for gas and grains, impacting quilombola territories and protected areas.
Fueling Ecocide: 7,000 protected areas are threatened by oil and gas projects worldwide
The “Fueling Ecocide” investigation, led by Environmental Investigative Forum (EIF) and European Investigative Collaborations (EIC), reveals that oil and gas licences overlap with 7,000 protected areas worldwide. The total overlap is 690,000 km², an area bigger than the size of France — despite existing regulations and ongoing efforts to safeguard key biodiversity zones.
Urban heat islands in Belém and Manaus measure up to 10°C hotter than nearby forest areas
Amazonian capitals are among the least vegetated cities in Brazil. An exclusive analysis by InfoAmazonia shows temperature differences between tree-covered and treeless areas in the two Amazonian capitals.
Perenco: no word from oil firm about environmental damages in Peruvian Amazon
Anglo-French multinational Perenco claims to adopt sustainable practices around the world, ignoring its 58 environmental violations in the Peruvian Amazon that affect ecosystems and its people, as shown by an investigation conducted by InfoAmazonia and international allies. In the department of Loreto, local indigenous communities directly and indirectly influenced by Block 67 were not aware that the company had been sanctioned for environmental violations.
Hydrocarbon licenses and protected areas: Perenco’s global system of abuses
The global investigation “Perenco System” carried out by InfoAmazonia and its international partners reveals the systemic aspect of France’s second largest oil and gas operator abusive extractive practices through the world: Perenco.
Ferrogrão railway line will affect six indigenous lands, 17 conservation units and three isolated tribes
Exclusive survey reveals a much greater impact than estimated by agribusinesses. Ministry of Indigenous Peoples shows concern and demands consultation, but Lula’s minister of transport is optimistic about project launched by Bolsonaro.
The challenge of eliminating deforestation as demand for beef rises
Lula promises to eliminate deforestation by 2030, but projections from the Ministry of Agriculture indicate a 17% increase in beef production in the next ten years, which could lead to the deforestation of one million hectares per year until 2030. Alternatives to further clearing of the forest are the restoration of the pastures and an increase in productivity, allied with oversight measures that put an end to illegal land grabs.
Accelerated deforestation in the last months of 2022 poses challenges for Lula’s environmental policy
Not only were INPE’s DETER deforestation alerts in 2022 the highest in history, they surpassed the average for the previous 12 months by 25%. The state of Amazonas ranked second among those Brazilian states inside the Legal Amazon that lost the most rainforest.
Brazil was responsible for 70% of the CO2e emissions from deforestation in Pan-Amazonia over the last 35 years
A MapBiomas study released at COP27 on changes in land use in threatened South American ecosystems found that expanding farming and cattle raising activities were drivers for the loss of Amazonian forests between 1985 and 2020.