WCS 3-Sentence Science

Energy Development Reveals “Blind Spots” in Amazon Conservation

November 22, 2019

CREDIT: WCS PERU

Each year, Wildlife Conservation Society scientists publish more than 300 peer-reviewed studies and papers. “WCS 3-Sentence Science” is a regular tip-sheet — in bite sized helpings — of some of this published work.

Here we present work by WCS Peru’s Mariana Montoya on threats to Amazon ecosystems from extractive industry.

1. Prevailing approaches to Amazonian ecosystem conservation focus on terrestrial protected areas and Indigenous territories but do not offer sufficient insurance against the risks associated with energy development such as hydroelectric dams and increased oil and gas exploration.
2. Researchers explored three related areas of concern: the exclusion of subsurface rights on Indigenous lands; the absence of frameworks for freshwater ecosystem conservation; and downgrading, downsizing, degazettement (loss of protection), and reclassification of protected areas.
3. Authors consider these issues from the perspectives of multiple countries across the Amazon Basin, link them directly to energy development, and offer suggestions for addressing the challenges of energy development for Amazon ecosystem conservation through existing policies, new approaches, and international collaboration.

Study and Journal: “Energy development reveals blind spots for ecosystem conservation in the Amazon Basin” from Frontiers in Ecology
WCS Co-Author(s): Mariana Montoya, Country Director, WCS Peru

For more information, contact: Stephen Sautner, 718–220–3682, ssautner@wcs.org.