Living in Peru : your everyday companion

Highway Up


Written by Renata Leite Pitman


The Interoceanic Highway is currently under construction in South America. It is predicted to result in unprecedented destruction of the Amazon – the largest tropical forest in the world.

In southern Peru the highway will slice through the Andes-Amazon region, critical habitat of the highly threatened Andean Bear, as well as jaguars, giant otters, and more than 1,200 other species of mammals and birds.

Once the highway is complete, the wilderness these species inhabit today will be forever cut in two, separated by a growing corridor of deforestation along the highway.

Elevating critical portions of the Interoceanic Highway, turning it into a toll pay scenic road, will help the conservation of the Andes-Amazon region and at the same time will catalyze the long-term economic stability of local people through ecotourism.

Limiting economic activities around the highway only to special exits can be a great opportunity for regional economic growth. Doing so will reduce habitat destruction by restricting uncontrolled development of land away from the specified exits. At the same time it will be possible to offer tourists a variety of needs at one stop, including hotels, restaurants and field guides ready to show tourists the unique regional fauna and flora that should be regarded with pride and protected accordingly.

Construction of the highway has already begun and will soon reach this critical area. Now, in 2007, we still have time to ACT, or we will never recover what we are about to lose! We can change the future!








Dr. Alan Gabriel Ludwig García Pérez
President of Peru
webmaster@presidencia.gob.pe,
Dr. Isaac Roberto Ángeles Lazo
Chief of the National Institute of Natural Resources (INRENA)
iangeles@inrena.gob.pe
Dr. Veronica Zavala Lombardi
Ministry of Transportation and Communication
mtc@mtc.gob.pe



Dear Drs. Garcia Pérez, Ángeles Lazo and Zavala Lombardi,


I understand that you both have influence over the Interoceanic Highway’s future. This road will slice in half a region of Peru, from Cusco to Puerto Maldonado, that holds the richest biodiversity in the world. This biodiversity is a national treasure and should be protected; no other country possesses a resource of similar global significance. Building this road without proper structures for wildlife crossing will have a catastrophic effect on one of Peru’s most valuable resources.

I am writing this letter to request that you rethink the proposed design of the highway. If an accessible infrastructure that helped display this biodiversity were incorporated into the plans, it could potentially be the greatest tourist attraction in the entire Amazon. Moreover, it would target tourists that seek easy and fast access to the jungle, an innovative idea for tourism in tropical South America. By elevating critical portions of this highway so that it runs above, rather than through, the forest, you can create a toll-pay scenic road that will help conserve the Andes-Amazon region and facilitate long-term economic stability for local people through ecotourism. Designating special exits with organized economic activities can be a solution to uncontrolled development. Alternatively, it would offer tourists a variety of needs at one stop, such as hotels, restaurants, and pharmacies, increasing local economic gain.

Please consider this proposal to elevate portions of the Interoceanic Highway. Building this road without proper environmental planning will have grave repercussions. Elevating parts of the road will help to preserve the priceless natural resources of the area, allowing for the future potential of economic gains through ecotourism at specified exits all the while preserving your national heritage.


Sincerely,


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