Amazon Life and Biodiversity Threatened by Oil and Gas Projects

The western Amazon, housing the most biodiverse and intact rainforest on Earth, may soon be eaten up with oil rings and pipelines.

A recent study in the August 13 edition of the open-access journal PLoS ONE reveals that over 180 oil and gas "blocks" — areas zoned for exploration and development — now cover the mega diverse western Amazon, which includes Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and western Brazil. These oil and gas blocks stretch over 688,000 km2 (170 million acres), a vast area, nearly the size of Texas.

Researchers from two US non-profit organizations- Save America's Forests and Land Is Life- and scientists from Duke University tracked hydrocarbon activities across the region and generated a comprehensive map of oil and gas activities across the western Amazon. The result is an alarming assessment of the threats to the biodiversity and indigenous peoples of the region.

Dr. Clinton Jenkins, co-author of the study, also conveyed that the oil and gas overlap projects will create a great alarm for the amphibians, who are already the most threatened group of vertebrates worldwide.

The study also revealed that oil and gas blocks are chiefly concentrated on the most intact part of the Amazon. Even national parks have not been exempted. Exploration and development blocks also cover Yasunì National Park in Ecuador and Madidi National Park in Bolivia.