A jungle under threat - drilling for oil and logging

That said, we did watch a film about Hunt Oil (an American company) that is heading into the area that borders Manu bioreserve in search for cheap oil. Their tactics are successful but despicable – they go into the indigenous communities, tear it apart by offering money to those susceptable to want of material goods – and wait for the community to implode. The national politicans are generally corrupt so I'm sure someone is benefiting from Hunt Oil's presence in southern Peru. Without strong national or local leadership they can waltz into the region promising new jobs, pay locals a pittance, and destroy the jungle because they don't have any environmental ethics. This isn't Shell we are talking about, but a low cost operator – they remove oil as cheaply as possible. It made me sick to my stomach – so sign any petitions you can to oppose Hunt Oil – not all oil companies are this ruthless. The amazon is too important for any of us to sit back.

The other negative side effect was seeing a logging path on one of the walking trails at Pantiacolla lodge. Darwin our guide grew up in the lodge – one of six lively boys and it is still owned by his family. The look on his face when he saw the truck tyre tracks heading from the mountain range to the river made my heart stop. Disappointment. Worry. Sadness. Uncertainty. He didn't speak for 10 minutes later – just trying to take it in. We were a bit more outraged and said such people should be punished if they were caught. Darwin takes a much more philosphical perspective – there isn't enough education for people in the jungle. They are poor and often desperate. Many just want an “easy life” - not to be rich as such, but they don't want to have to fight to survive every day of their lives. He was once a logger – not for long mind you – he quickly turned his knowledge of the jungle into something he can share with others through ecotourism. He hopes that others become educated enough to be able to do the same, but obviously quickly enough to maintain the pristine virgin rainforest of Manu. Later that night we talked about what we saw. There is practically no more mahoganny in the Amazon, and cedar is right up there in the endagered list. So next time you buy furniture, refurbish you house etc, be absolutely sure of the origin of your wooden products.