IRI Peru issued a public statement urging Congress to shelve Bill 09653, warning it would weaken environmental protections and undermine climate commitments, and framed forest defense as an ethical and spiritual responsibility. The organization also became a prominent faith voice opposing efforts to extend REINFO (mining formalization). Working with civil-society partners (including the Illegal Mining Observatory) IRI Peru’s intervention helped temporarily stall momentum for extension. After later commission approval to extend REINFO and reinstate noncompliant miners, it issued a second statement warning of impunity and intensified harm to rivers, forests and community health. To translate advocacy into practical protection, IRI Peru partnered with SPDA to launch and complete a first virtual Legal Defense of Forests course (27 participants over five weeks and 15 instructional hours) in which participants practiced drafting legal complaints and built enforceable legal literacy for monitoring and defense.
