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gas exploration of this region.
First, this is not the only problem to threaten the region. Unsustainable logging, agriculture, and land development also threaten the region. There are many companies from many countries involved in the Camira Project with different responsibilities in this complex project. The aspects of its impact are socio-economic, diplomatic, and ecological.

If the project were to be shut down, Peru would lose much needed revenue and opportunity for employment to its people. OPEC is difficult to deal with and there are rising gas prices globally threatening not only the United States' economy but the economy of other nations as well. Yet, considering even those things, the ecological impact of this project on the region and the world must not be ignored or be less than first in the list of priorities in extracting resources from this region.

It is imperative that companies involved in this project or any others use the highest levels of precautions to cause the least level of negative impact on the area. They must incorporate in their plans less invasive and harmful drilling procedures, prevent soil erosion and landslides, protect indigenous peoples from illnesses, prevent oil and gas leaks, and protect the natural flora and fauna from extinction.

This may require an even more stringent approach than even United States environmental standards dictate since this is such a fragile eco system. There are environmental conditions attached to loans to this project, but the bank that has invested money in this project has been criticized for its less than stringent monitoring of the fulfillment of these conditions.
Thus, it has become the responsibility of conservationist and ecologists of Peru, the United States, and other countries to monitor, study, and raise objections. These groups and people are often criticized for being over zealous. But scientific examination of contaminants in water, data on new diseases and deaths in the indigenous tribes, and satellite observation of the decreasing size of the rain forests cannot be disputed.

Somehow all these agencies with opposing interests in the region must come together to problem solve. Time is of the essence as thousands of square miles of land are being destroyed hourly and with that, hundreds of species of plant and animal life.

Consideration to the economic needs of Peru, the need for oil and gas exploration in a developing global market with rising demands for energy sources must be addressed, too. That is an immediate need, but companies fulfilling those needs must not be short-sighted and ignore the long range, irreversible impacts on the area which may have much more far-reaching and devastating consequences than present day gas and oil shortages.

Sources:
www.rainfore sts.net
www.amazonwatch.org
www. msnbc.msn.com
www.ens-newswire. com
www.dallasnews.com
National Geographic
Wikipedia

Learn more about this author, Elizabeth Wordsmith.
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