Threats from Oil and Gas Projects in the Western Amazon - Recent Advances and Issues in Environmental Science - page 153

In Bolivia, two leased Amazonian exploration blocks cover ~15,000 km 2 , includ-
ing large parts of Madidi and Isiboro Securé National Parks and Pilon-Lajas Biosphere
Reserve. Activity on these blocks has stalled for several years, but recent Bolivian
newspaper reports indicate that exploration in this region is imminent [41]. Multina-
tional oil companies operate these blocks, but now the state oil companies of Bolivia
and Venezuela are joining forces to explore the region. In August, 2007, Bolivian
President Evo Morales and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez created a new com-
pany composed of the state oil companies of the two nations [42]. One of the primary
tasks of this new company is to explore for oil in the newly created blocks surrounding
Madidi.
In 2005, the Brazilian government leased out 25 contiguous blocks surrounding
the Urucu and Jurua gas fi elds in the state of Amazonas, bringing the total leased area
to ~67,000 km 2 . These new blocks lie within a largely intact part of the Brazilian Ama-
zon [43]. The Urucu fi elds already contain producing gas wells, but the Jurua fi eld,
discovered in 1978, has yet to be exploited. A nearly 400 km roadless gas pipeline is
being constructed to connect the Urucu gas fi elds to Manaus [44]. Another pipeline
has been proposed to carry gas over 500 km to Porto Velho in the state of Rondônia.
Brazil's National Petroleum Agency has also recently announced plans to look for oil
and gas in the Amazonian state of Acre on the border with Peru and Bolivia [45].
In the Colombian Amazon, 35 exploration and production blocks (~12,300 km 2 )
are concentrated within and around Putumayo Department on the border with Ecua-
dor. Production in Putumayo peaked years ago, but much of the oil in this region and
beyond may be yet untapped or undiscovered [46]. Colombia's Hydrocarbon Agency
recently announced a new 2008 bidding round, featuring nine new blocks in
Putumayo. Over 90% of the Colombian Amazon is currently free from oil activities.
DISCUSSION
In sum, more than 180 oil and gas blocks now overlap the most species-rich part of the
Amazon, including areas having the world's greatest known diversity of trees, insects,
and amphibians. The threat to amphibians is of particular concern, not only because so
much of their global diversity is concentrated in the western Amazon, but also because
they are already the most threatened vertebrate taxa worldwide [5]. Many blocks also
cover protected areas—such as national parks in Ecuador and Bolivia and a variety of
lower-level protected areas in Peru—that were originally established for biodiversity
protection.
Many of the oil and gas blocks are in remote areas and overlap indigenous territo-
ries, both titled lands and areas utilized by peoples in voluntary isolation. Moreover,
the scope and magnitude of planned activity appears unprecedented. For example,
of the 64 blocks now covering the Peruvian Amazon, all but eight have been created
since 2004.
Oil and gas development in the western Amazon has already caused major envi-
ronmental and social impacts. Given the increasing scope and magnitude of planned
hydrocarbon activity, these problems are likely to intensify without improved policies.