ENVIRONMENT

Communities in Peru are opposing a major development project approved by their central government. (National Geographic)

Use our inquiry-based lesson plan to help students analyze the impact of building a road in the Amazon.

Teachers, scroll down for a quick list of key resources in our Teachers Toolkit.

Discussion Ideas
Use these questions to start student inquiry. Then, use our lesson to help explore the geographical, cultural, and environmental context of building the road, identify the stakeholders and their role and impact, and map out the intended and unintended consequences from the decision that they make.

• Why is the Peruvian government interested in building a road through the rain forests of the Purús province?
  • The new infrastructure would connect rural communities to larger regional, national, and international economic networks.
    • “As envisioned, the 172-mile stretch would connect the Purús provincial capital of Puerto Esperanza in the north to the town of Iñapari in the south. There, it would link up with the continent-spanning Interoceanic Highway, the largest paved artery bisecting the region’s rainforest.”

• Why do some indigenous groups support construction of the Purús road?
  • These are poor communities, and “[c]heaper, quicker, and safer access means better government services, a faster trip to the agricultural markets in Cusco, improved infrastructure, and stronger relationships with government officials.”
    • For these reasons, “The vast majority of people on the ground, indigenous Amazonians and Andean settlers alike, express their support for the road, and quite adamantly so,” says one expert. “Living conditions in these communities are quite dire and it is easy to see why they would go for anything that sounds like it might improve their lives, no matter how risky.”

• Why do some indigenous peoples oppose construction of the Purús road?
  • Many indigenous groups oppose the proposal because the road cuts through five protected areas set aside for communities choosing to live in isolation. Critics are concerned the road would interfere with both their health and their way of life. One expert says exposure to infrastructure would make these communities vulnerable to displacement and disease, while another says “[t]he ‘national interest’ cannot be prioritized over fundamental rights of people in voluntary isolation and initial contact, nor those of local communities.”

• Why do some conservationists oppose construction of the Purús road?
  • Many conservationists oppose the proposal because the road cuts through four national parks, where the rich, fragile biodiversity of the Amazon basin is protected from development.
  • Conservationists are actually less concerned about the Purús highway itself than the development they anticipate will come with it: illegal roads. “Those roads, as well as people desiring to settle the newly opened land, could ultimately lead to the destruction of forests.”

• The proposal to construct the Purús road was made very quickly. Why does that concern critics?
  • Critics fear the decision was made without enough consideration and planning. “Without proper oversight, placing a road through Ucayali could open up a wild, wild west where anything goes and the law of the land is not necessarily what’s written in the books … ‘Peruvian institutional weakness is a great concern,’” says one expert.

TEACHERS TOOLKIT

Nat Geo: Isolated Tribes and Forests Threatened by New Amazon Road

Nat Geo: Making a Decision about Building a Road in the Amazon