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    Ashaninka

    The Woman Who Breaks Mega-Dams

    How to stop 7,200 megawatts of power with the force of law

    The Atlantic | Ruth Buendía Mestoquiari has built her career, and staked the fate of her people, on the law. But she doesn't have a law degree. In fact, she didn't even start elementary school until she was a teenager and didn't finish high school until age 25.

    April 30, 2014
    1,563 views
    7 min read

    Mahogany’s Last Stand

    Illegal logging has all but wiped out Peru's mahogany. Loggers are turning their chain saws on lesser known species critical to the health of the rain forest.

    National Geographic | Illicit practices are believed to account for three-fourths of the annual Peruvian timber harvest. Despite a crackdown on mahogany logging that began five years ago and a sharp decline in production, much of the timber reaching markets in the industrialized world is reported to be of illegal origin. Most of those exports have gone to the U.S. but...

    April 2013
    1,279 views
    14 min read

    Dam Project Threatens a Way of Life in Peru

    The New York Times | Boca Sanibeni, Peru – With encroachment from settlers and speculators, and after a devastating war against Shining Path rebels a decade ago, the indigenous Ashaninkas' hold is precarious. And they are now facing a new peril, the proposed 2,200-megawatt Pakitzapango hydroelectric dam, which would flood much of the Ene River valley.

    May 15, 2012
    1,440 views
    4 min read