When a consortium of oil companies began developing the Camisea gas field in the southern Peruvian Amazon a decade ago, green groups and indigenous-rights activists pressured international lenders to make environmental and social safeguards a condition for financing. The consortium agreed to use a so-called offshore-inland approach, ferrying personnel and supplies to the site by helicopter and river and not building roads. It also earmarked revenues for development projects in nearby communities and for community-based environmental monitoring programs. Opinions are divided about how well the safeguards worked. Meanwhile, a new report by a panel appointed to monitor Camisea has raises caution flags about future gas exploration and production in the environmentally sensitive region. The report was released May 4 by the... [Log in to read more]