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The government of Peru recently set what is being called a “dangerous precedent” by not requiring environmental impact studies for new investment projects. Sixty percent of the South American nation comprises the Amazon rain forest, whose environment is recognized internationally as being intimately linked to the health of the planet as a whole. The Peruvian Amazon is one of the most biodiverse regions in the world. It is also home to a number of indigenous tribes including the Aguaruna, Cocama-Cocamilla and the Urarina. But the demand for natural resources have long threatened the health of the Amazon and its inhabitants. In recent years, with the price of gold spiking, prospectors and miners have flocked to the Peruvian Amazon looking for gold, and destroying many thousands of hectares of forest in the process. Additionally, the mercury used in the refinement process of gold ore is leaving behind a toxic legacy that will last generations. The Amazon’s indigenous people are now organizing on an international level to protect the land they realize is intimately linked with the health of the planet. The United Nations last week officially marked 2011 as the International Year of Forests at their New York Headquarters. The specific theme is “Forests for People,” aimed at examining the role of people in conserving, and what the UN calls “responsibly developing,” the earth’s forests.

GUEST: Roger Rumrill, consultant to the UN on indigenous issues and the Amazon, journalist and author of 26 books, Gabriela Sosa, interpreter, film maker, producer of Oscar Nominated documentary, Which Way Home