Community involvement and dialogue processes in environmental justice in Peru

1
Community involvement and dialogue processes in
environmental justice in Peru

• Doris Balvín
• Asociación Civil Labor
• January 2007

2
Mining in Peru

• Represent currently more than 50 of the Peruvian
  national income.
• The high growth of the sector during 1990 was
  promoted by an aggressive policy in which
  environmental and social issues were less
  important.

3
Environmental Impacts of mining

• Changes on the natural regime of the water
  resources.
• Negative impact on the quantity and quality of
  water.
• Air pollution
• Negative impact on ecosystems.

4
Previous approaches to mining gave rise to
substantial environmental legacy
5
La Oroya old mining industrial complex
6
The negative impacts of huge mining operations
are more extensive in water, air and forest
7
For example Yanacocha Mine impacts 4 water
catchments because it is located on the
continental divide.
8
Soil removal can adversely affect the surface and
subsurface water for community uses
9
Deterioration of the quality of water by acidic
drainage.
10
Community involvement and environmental justice
in Peru

• Expectations on development with different
  perspectives.
• Competing interests opposed for the use of water.
• Different conceptions and cultural values.
• Existing legal rights on the use of water and
  land use by mines and communities
• Inadequate institutional framework.

11
Community Rights and Environmental Justice

• Access to the use of natural resources water,
  air, forest
• Diminution of the access to environmental
  quality.
• Air and water contamination impacts on health.
• Cultural
• The displacement of communities and changes on
  their traditional life.
• Economics
• Lost of the traditional economic activities and
  emergence of others in which new stakeholders
  will appear and displace the others.

12
Tambogrande conflict 2001
13
Cerro Quilish Conflict 2004
14
La Oroya conflict 1915-2007
15
Southern Peru Conflict 1960 - 2007
16
Social and environmental conflicts

• Mining has a multiple impact on the way of living
  of communities
• It has to do with the debate of models of
  development.
• Who receive the impacts of the deterioration and
  reduction of the environment?
• It has to do with the debate on the rights of
  the different stakeholders in the areas where
  mining takes place.

17
Mining Dialogue Group

• It was created as an initiative to reduce the
  confrontation between stakeholders involved in
  mining and community issues.
• Its major commitment is to build bridges between
  the different stakeholders creating a dialogue
  culture
• This dialogue space started in 2001.
• Includes stakeholders that normally are not
  working together (community based organizations,
  NGOs, enterprises, international cooperation,
  consultants, government people, universities).

18
Key policy recommendations

• To establish an Independent Environmental
  Authority with strong enforcement powers.
• To strengthen the environmental institutions by
  improving the management tools for sustainable
  development and specially in environmental
  health.
• To prevent and remediate the mining pollution
  legacy that has high impact on environment by
  allocating economical resources and technology.
• To promote corporate social responsibility in
  mining companies by disseminating the best
  standards.

19
Rights, culture and conflicts

• To recognize that water implies management of
  conflicts the government must create
  institutional channels for conflict resolution
  and dialogue with civil society.
• To recognize and to protect the uses and
  ancestral customs of water management.
• To respect the different cosmovisions around the
  use and management of the water.

20
Conclusions

• No more freedom in lifestyle mining comes with
  development for the country not necessarily for
  the poor.
• Mining investment will not solve poverty problems
  if environmental issues are not taken into
  account specially health.
• Access to justice is not equal. Communities
  affected by mining are requested to prove the
  impacts on their health.
• Measurements are important but also Health
  Department must have an Environmental Heath
  Program.

21
Gracias

• More information in www.labor.org.pe