On Saturday, October 28th, IRI Peru installed a new local chapter, this time in the town of Huampami in the district of El Cenepa, province of Condorcanqui in the Amazonas region. In the Cenepa there are a total of 52 indigenous communities belonging to the Awajún, Huambisa, Kichwa and Yagua peoples located between the Cordillera del Cóndor and the Cenepa river basin. Deforestation is one of the major problems in the area, with illegal logging for timber extraction, but also for agriculture and cattle ranching. For the past five years, the territory has been suffering from the rapid growth of illegal alluvial mining, contaminating the river waters and seriously affecting the aquatic fauna and thus reducing fishing, one of the basic elements of the local diet. The national team of IRI Peru traveled to the territory, together with religious leaders of the Baptist, Evangelical, Catholic churches, indigenous patrols and leaders of indigenous organizations, all Awajun, to reflect on the importance of forests in the life of the planet and the presence of God in the midst of it. IRI Huampami was launched to contribute to stop the destruction of forests and rivers. IRI Huampami formed a coordination group, chaired by the evangelical pastor and president of FIAACSA, Guzman Chigkun, Baptist pastor Evaristo Kajekui and pastoral agent Ruben Esash. Among their first tasks, the group decided to go to the mayor of the district and the Apu of the ODECINAC of Huampami to ask for coordination meetings on steps to stop deforestation.
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