Lining both banks along a four to five kilometer stretch of the Manatay River in Pucallpa are logs waiting to be transported to the sawmills. These pictures provide an indication of the huge volume of timber currently extracted in the region. Much of this extracted timber does not comply with legally established procedures regarding permits, allowable volumes, transport and sales. Much of the timber is cut from native communities\’ territories, many times under deception or in collusion with local authorities.
Manantay River, Pucallpa (photos: Diego Shoobridge)
Near the El Sira Community Reserve\’s buffer zone, log after log flows down the river to the trucks that lift them out with cranes and carry them to any of the many waiting forestry tractors. Peru\’s Forestry Law has begun provided logging concessions in the region, but before they go into effect, loggers are taking advantage of the current opportunity to extract as much timber as possible. Hopefully, this intense extraction is only temporary and is a result of the pending concessions rather than a new level of unsustainable logging for the region.
ParksWatch-Peru: June 2003