The most remote and pristine parts of the Amazon rainforest are now under threat from a new proposed law that would allow a network of roads to be built through Peruvian owned parts of the jungle.
The proposed law, which emphasises the developments of roads as a ‘priority’ and ‘in the national interest’, came just hours after Pope Francis’s visit to Peru, in which he expressed concern for the wellbeing of the Amazon rainforest and its indigenous peoples.
The proposed network of roads, including the primary 276 kilometre long highway is expected to result in the deforestation of over 2500 square kilometres according to satellite mapping conducted by the Amazon Andes Project.