Peru government has received fierce criticism from Environmental and human rights group for its decision to auction off large tracts of the Amazon to oil and gas companies. The have argued that the Peruvian government has been ceaselessly opening up Amazon area for oil and gas companies and the amount that it has given for the exploration has risen from 13 percent to 70 percent in just two years.
The environmental group has raised concern that this decision has put the biodiversity of the Amazon at grave risk and it also threatened the lives of native people. Reacting to criticism, Peruvian president Alan Garcia has said that the plans are part of the investment program to tackle widespread poverty.
However, it is increasingly becoming difficult for any government to strike a balance between development and environmental concerns. In fact, the governments are hard pressed for the need of capital to aggravate nations economy and energy resources provides quick and big money and precisely why governments are easily lured by this preposition.
In the meantime, the state run agency Peru Petro is trying hard to attract US oil companies to buy 11 drilling concessions in the jungle. These drilling areas are almost equal to the size of US state of Maine. And if the total area, signed over or up for auction, taken into consideration the size becomes equal the size of California.
Human Rights group have alleged that the Peruvian government has ignored the international norms pertaining to the consent of aboriginal communities. Some tribes of the basin are so isolated that have no contact with outside world.