Mennonite Leaders Face Crimes of Deforestation in Peru

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Issue Jan 25-31 2023: The Peruvian Congress wants to modify the Forestry and Wildlife Law to eliminate requirements that protect the Amazon and grant more powers to the Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation (Midagri) over the Ministry of the Environment (Minam). The latter ministry is currently the one that establishes the permanent production of forests and land use of fragile ecosystems such as the Amazon.

Jonathan Hurtado of Ojo Público Magazine of Peru reported that Minam’s attorney, Julio César Guzmán Mendoza, said that this proposal will validate deforestation acts. Anyone who has a certificate of ownership where there is forest can deforest it because the law allows it. The rule could be used in a criminal process to justify deforestation. Hurtado explained that the congressional bill would be favorable to Mennonite groups or monoculture companies that have been denounced for deforestation activities. The Coordinator for the Development of Loreto opposes the ratification of the Escazú Agreement and denies the existence of indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation and initial contact. Therefore, they reject the creation of protected reservations for them. Isaac Zacharias Klassen, a well-known Mennonite leader, met with José Alfredo Amaya Sosa, of Renovación Popular, and member of the Agrarian Commission.

Klassen is the legal representative of the Asociación Colonia Menonita Cristiana Agropecuaria Masisea. They are being investigated by the Fiscalía Especializada en Materia Ambiental (FEMA) for deforestation. According to FEMA, about 2,000 hectares are occupied by the Mennonite people which were obtained illegally. In 2021, OjoPúblico’s investigations showed that Mennonites cut down forests to grow soy and rice. In December 2020, the Regional Government of Ucayali penalized the association with more than 11,000,000 soles for having changed the land without authorization. Peter Dyck is chief of the Mennonite colony called Providencia in Tierra Blanca. He and two other Mennonite members face a judicial process for the crimes of deforestation. Congressman Eduardo Salhuana Cavides presented a project to modify the Forestry Law which reduces Minam’s power.