Land is Life: The struggle of the Quechua people to gain their land rights

Overview

Since the early 1970s the government of Peru has given multinational oil companies permission to exploit significant areas of the Amazon – all of which are ancestral territories of indigenous peoples. The Quechua people of Nuevo Andoas have been particularly affected, suffering the health and environmental consequences of a poorly regulated extractives industry. This paper highlights the injustice faced by the Quechua and the wider region. It echoes their call for the government to grant them full title to their territories; to fulfill their rights to health, education and a development that respects their identity; and to provide reparation for the damage to their health and environment caused by the oil industry. The paper is based on research commissioned by Oxfam in Peru.

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This briefing note is part of the initiative Land Rights Now: The Global Call to Action on Indigenous and Community Land Rights.