OPS 49. Indigenous Social Movements and International NGOs in the Peruvian Amazon

The following report presents a detailed case study of an indigenous organisation based in the Peruvian Amazon and its relationships with international NGOs. The ethnic group that the organisation represents lives in an isolated region that harbours both high levels of biodiversity and significant reserves of natural gas. The study focuses on how the indigenous organisation attempts to represent the needs of its member communities in the face of threats to livelihood from the extractive activity of multinational energy companies on their territory, but also how it tries to negotiate support from conservation agencies and international NGOs to respond to these threats and its members’ demands for greater levels of local development. The report tracks the organisation’s progress as it develops its strategic repertoire of protest and collective action, and the response of international NGOs to the increasingly politicized situation at the local level. Finally, it examines attempts at collaboration between the international and local levels, particularly in the areas of biodiversity conservation, protected areas and high-level advocacy campaigns.