8/10/2019 The Story of the Inter-Oceanic Highway, By Jason Scullion
1/24
THE INTER-OCEANICHIGHWAY
A Presentation by Jason Scullion
8/10/2019 The Story of the Inter-Oceanic Highway, By Jason Scullion
2/24
Introduction of Todays Lecture
The story of the Inter-OceanicHighway is complex,constantly changing, and often
controversial
My goal today is to provide anobjective overview of the main
issues, but also avoidabstraction
We are talking about real
people, places, and importantissues of conservation and
8/10/2019 The Story of the Inter-Oceanic Highway, By Jason Scullion
3/24
. From: Perz et al (2010)
PuertoMaldonado
8/10/2019 The Story of the Inter-Oceanic Highway, By Jason Scullion
4/24
8/10/2019 The Story of the Inter-Oceanic Highway, By Jason Scullion
5/24
Outline of Presentation
1. The rationale for constructing the highway
2. The regional context of infrastructure development
(IIRSA) in South America3. Background on the highways construction
4. Main concerns about the highway improvement
project
5. The proposed highway mitigation initiative
6. Science on the costs and benefits of roads
7. Evidence to date on the socio-environmental
impacts of the Inter-Oceanic Highway
8/10/2019 The Story of the Inter-Oceanic Highway, By Jason Scullion
6/24
Rationale for Building the
Highway
Economic Benefits forIndividuals and the Country
Economic growth
New business opportunities
Social Benefits
Reduced travel times and
improved public safety Integration and social
development of the country
Net national benefits
8/10/2019 The Story of the Inter-Oceanic Highway, By Jason Scullion
7/24
The Regional Development Context &
IIRSA
As stated by Perus former minister of transportation andcommunications Veronica Zavala, This [highway] is amulti-country effort to create an infrastructure that will bethe backbone of economic integration for the region
This multi-country effortis known as, the Initiative forIntegration of Regional Infrastructure in South America(IIRSA)
IIRSA is focused on investments in three sectors:
Transportation
Telecommunications
Energy
8/10/2019 The Story of the Inter-Oceanic Highway, By Jason Scullion
8/24
The Regional Development Context &
IIRSA
IIRSA funding by sector
IIRSA funding for transportati
Existing major highways & proposed highway
projectsFigures from Conservation International (2007)
8/10/2019 The Story of the Inter-Oceanic Highway, By Jason Scullion
9/24
The Highway and its
Construction
Map Highlighting Location of Inter-Oceanic Construction Projects, Peru-Brazil
8/10/2019 The Story of the Inter-Oceanic Highway, By Jason Scullion
10/24
The Highway and its
Construction
Precedent:First intercontinental highway in SouthAmerica due to hazards and cost of constructing ahighway over the Andes.
Financing:$1.4 billion, which was loaned to Perufrom el Banco Nacional de Desarrollo de Brasil(BNDES) y la Corporacin Andina de Fomento
(CAF)
Project:Converted previous 30-year old road intomodern highway by upgrading 1,000 km of old
highway in Peru, as well as improving 1,500hi hwa km in Brazil
8/10/2019 The Story of the Inter-Oceanic Highway, By Jason Scullion
11/24
The Highway and its
Construction
The portion of highway betweenAssis, Brasil and PuertoMaldonado, roughly 600 km, was
unpaved before project
More than 22 major bridges wereconstructed, including, el Puente
Presidente Guillermo Billinghurst,which spans the Madre de DiosRiver
Paving in Peru started in 2005 andthe project is nearly complete
8/10/2019 The Story of the Inter-Oceanic Highway, By Jason Scullion
12/24
Social & Environmental Concerns aboutProject
The single biggestconcern was that theimprovement of the
highway would result inmassive deforestation
Scientists predictedsevere environmental andsocial impacts from theroad
Some residents feared
increased crime and theloss of a rural lifest le
8/10/2019 The Story of the Inter-Oceanic Highway, By Jason Scullion
13/24
The CAF loan included $10million (USD) for constructionmitigation activities
The mitigation initiative is called:"Programa para la GestinAmbiental y Social de losImpactos Indirectos del CorredorVial Interocenico Sur
The Initiative proposes a pro-local development movement,which will help to boostecosystem conservation and
strengthen local governance andmanagement
Proposed Project Mitigation
8/10/2019 The Story of the Inter-Oceanic Highway, By Jason Scullion
14/24
Proposed Project Mitigation
The Interocenico Sur mitigation Initiative isbased on the execution of 14 projects groupedin 4 programs: Tourism and handicrafts
Eco-businesses Biodiversity
Governance and local capacity-building
Some say the mitigation initiative is notenough: Diversas organizaciones de la Sociedad Civil han
sealado que el programa es insuficiente pararesponder a los retos de maximizar los beneficios y
minimizar los perjuicios de la Interocenica a favorde las regiones del rea de influencia.(Bank
8/10/2019 The Story of the Inter-Oceanic Highway, By Jason Scullion
15/24
Science of Road Impacts
(Introduction)
Roads do not cause social orenvironmental changes, people do.Roads facilitate and catalyze humanbehavior and actions
People respond to underlying forces,such as economic incentives,population pressure, culture, and
institutions. Roads affect those forces
In general, new or newly paved roadsbring numerous, rapid, and complexchanges to societies and localenvironments
8/10/2019 The Story of the Inter-Oceanic Highway, By Jason Scullion
16/24
Science of Road Impacts
(Social)
New roads or road paving have been shown to:
Improve economic growth and development
Reduce transportation costs and increase access to
resources
Reduce poverty
Improve access to markets and services
Reduce isolation of rural communities
Increase or decrease local population size
Increase social conflict
Drive rapid cultural changes
8/10/2019 The Story of the Inter-Oceanic Highway, By Jason Scullion
17/24
Science of Road Impacts
(Environmental)
New roads or road paving have been shown to:
Increase forest loss, isolation, and fragmentation
Increase edge effects,particularly in tropical forests
Increase mortality of animals through car collisions and
increased hunting pressure
Create Pandoras Box Effect,where roads enable the
invasion of hunters, miners, loggers, land speculators,
and colonists
Increase the invasion of exotic species
Degrade rivers and streams
8/10/2019 The Story of the Inter-Oceanic Highway, By Jason Scullion
18/24
Evidence of the Social Impacts from
the New Inter-Oceanic Highway
Interviews with residents in Puerto Maldonado show that
perceived or real impacts, include:
There are more tourists from abroad and from Peru
Before the highway, a lot of people did not have work, there was a lot
of poverty, there were less people, and there we only a lot of small
jobs, people were more worried.Things are better now
For my business things are much better there are more investors,
the economy is better
The products of Puerto Maldonado can be moved easier
People are not used to the ability to drive fast so there are more
accidents
8/10/2019 The Story of the Inter-Oceanic Highway, By Jason Scullion
19/24
of the New Inter-Oceanic
Highway Interviews with residents living along highway in MdD were
asked asked about perceived changes in last five years,these changes include:
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
Accesso Transporte Servicios deSalud
ServiciosEducativos
Negocios
Mejor
Peor
Grafics de datos del Proyecto de MAP (2010). Muestra = ~312personas. Encuestas con personas viviendo cerca de la caraterra en el
8/10/2019 The Story of the Inter-Oceanic Highway, By Jason Scullion
20/24
of the New Inter-Oceanic
Highway
Interviews with residents living along highway in MdD wereasked asked about perceived changes in last five years,these changes include:
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Crimen Violencia Drogas
Creci
Dismuny
Grafics de datos del Proyecto de MAP (2010). Muestra = ~312
personas. Encuestas con personas viviendo cerca de la caraterra enel ao 2008
8/10/2019 The Story of the Inter-Oceanic Highway, By Jason Scullion
21/24
Impacts of the New Inter-Oceanic
HighwayThe MAP (2010) study found that the amount of deforestationin MdD from 1986 to 2005 is correlated with the distance fromhighways
Figure shows the relationship between the distance to the nearest
highway and the amount of deforestation in MdD. Southworth et al
8/10/2019 The Story of the Inter-Oceanic Highway, By Jason Scullion
22/24
Impacts of the New Inter-Oceanic
Highway Madre de Dios saw
especially rapiddeforestation due tonational economic growth,
the onset of road pavingitself, & the rise of goldprices
In Madre de Dios, the
land area cleared during1986-1991 was less than0.1% and during 2000-2005 it was 1.1%
Quotes and modified map from Southworth et al
8/10/2019 The Story of the Inter-Oceanic Highway, By Jason Scullion
23/24
Impacts of the New Inter-Oceanic
Highway
Delagado (2008) modeledfuture impacts of the highwayand found:
Peruvian deforestation rateswill be exacerbated and, despitecommon belief, the Inter-
Oceanic highway is not going tobe the main culprit, but thesecondary road network andpopulation centers, that thehighway will encourage.
8/10/2019 The Story of the Inter-Oceanic Highway, By Jason Scullion
24/24
Final Thoughts
Socio-environmental impacts ofthe Inter-Oceanic Highway havebeen documented, but requirefurther study
More than 90% of MdD remainsforested and the region has notyet experienced massive forestloss like Brazil or other tropical
regions
Current activities by ACA andmany other individuals and groupsin MdD have the potential to avoid
Brazils deforestation experiencei e the future of MdD de ends