The litany is as dismal as it is unsurprising. Nearly three-fourths of wastewater from urban homes in Peru pours untreated into rivers, streams and the Pacific Ocean. Less than half of the country’s garbage ends up in landfills. Lima’s dirty air contributes to 6,000 deaths and health care costs of US$300 million each year. And deforestation in the country’s Amazon region has jumped from an annual average of 64,770 hectares (160,050 acres) in the 1990s to 114,000 hectares (281,700 acres) today. Sobering statistics, to be sure, but a new environmental action plan extending to 2021—Peru’s bicentennial year—takes aim at the problems they describe. The draft plan, issued in December, calls for treating all urban wastewater and properly disposing of all urban... [Log in to read more]