THE INTER-OCEANIC

HIGHWAY
A Presentation by Jason Scullion

Introduction of Todays Lecture

The story of the Inter-Oceanic

Highway is complex,
constantly changing, and often
controversial

My goal today is to provide an

objective overview of the main
issues, but also avoid
abstraction

We are talking about real

people, places, and important
issues of conservation and

Puerto
Maldonado

. From: Perz et al (2010)

Outline of Presentation
1.

The rationale for constructing the highway

2.

The regional context of infrastructure development

(IIRSA) in South America

3.

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

Rationale for Building the

Highway

Economic Benefits for

Individuals 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

The Regional Development Context &

IIRSA

As stated by Perus former minister of transportation and

communications Veronica Zavala, This [highway] is a
multi-country effort to create an infrastructure that will be
the backbone of economic integration for the region

This multi-country effort is known as, the Initiative for

Integration of Regional Infrastructure in South America
(IIRSA)
IIRSA is focused on investments in three sectors:
Transportation
Telecommunications
Energy

The Regional Development Context &

IIRSA

IIRSA funding by sector

Existing major highways & proposed highway

projects
Figures from Conservation International (2007)

IIRSA funding for transportatio

The Highway and its

Construction

Map Highlighting Location of Inter-Oceanic Construction Projects, PeruBrazil

The Highway and its

Construction

Precedent: First intercontinental highway in South

America due to hazards and cost of constructing a
highway over the Andes.

Financing: $1.4 billion, which was loaned to Peru

from el Banco Nacional de Desarrollo de Brasil
(BNDES) y la Corporacin Andina de Fomento
(CAF)

Project: Converted previous 30-year old road into

modern highway by upgrading 1,000 km of old
highway in Peru, as well as improving 1,500
highway km in Brazil

The Highway and its

Construction

The portion of highway between

Assis, Brasil and Puerto
Maldonado, roughly 600 km, was
unpaved before project

More than 22 major bridges were

constructed, including, el Puente
Presidente Guillermo Billinghurst,
which spans the Madre de Dios
River

Paving in Peru started in 2005 and

the project is nearly complete

Social & Environmental Concerns about

Project

The single biggest

concern was that the
improvement of the
highway would result in
massive deforestation

Scientists predicted
severe environmental and
social impacts from the
road

Some residents feared

increased crime and the
loss of a rural lifestyle

Proposed Project Mitigation

The CAF loan included $10

million (USD) for construction
mitigation activities

The mitigation initiative is called:

"Programa para la Gestin
Ambiental y Social de los
Impactos Indirectos del Corredor
Vial Interocenico Sur

The Initiative proposes a prolocal development movement,

which will help to boost
ecosystem conservation and
strengthen local governance and
management

Proposed Project Mitigation

The Interocenico Sur mitigation Initiative is

based on the execution of 14 projects grouped
in 4 programs:

Tourism and handicrafts

Eco-businesses
Biodiversity
Governance and local capacity-building

Some say the mitigation initiative is not

enough:

Diversas organizaciones de la Sociedad Civil han

sealado que el programa es insuficiente para
responder a los retos de maximizar los beneficios y
minimizar los perjuicios de la Interocenica a favor
de las regiones del rea de influencia. (Bank

Science of Road Impacts

(Introduction)

Roads do not cause social or

environmental changes, people do.
Roads facilitate and catalyze human
behavior 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 roads

bring numerous, rapid, and complex
changes to societies and local
environments

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

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

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

Evidence of the Social Impacts

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:
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%

Mejor
40%
Peor

30%
20%
10%
0%

Accesso

Transporte

Servicios de
Salud

Servicios
Educativos

Negocios

Grafics de datos del Proyecto de MAP (2010). Muestra = ~312

personas. Encuestas con personas viviendo cerca de la caraterra en el

Evidence of the Social Impacts

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:
60%
50%
40%

Creci
30%

Dismuny
20%
10%
0%
Crimen

Violencia

Drogas

Grafics de datos del Proyecto de MAP (2010). Muestra = ~312

personas. Encuestas con personas viviendo cerca de la caraterra en
el ao 2008

Evidence of the Environmental

Impacts of the New Inter-Oceanic
Highway
The MAP (2010) study found that the amount of deforestation
in MdD from 1986 to 2005 is correlated with the distance from
highways

Figure shows the relationship between the distance to the nearest

highway and the amount of deforestation in MdD. Southworth et al

Evidence of the Environmental

Impacts of the New Inter-Oceanic
Highway

Madre de Dios saw

especially rapid
deforestation due to
national economic growth,
the onset of road paving
itself, & the rise of gold
prices

In Madre de Dios, the

land area cleared during
1986-1991 was less than
0.1% and during 20002005 it was 1.1%

Quotes and modified map from Southworth et al

Evidence of the Environmental

Impacts of the New Inter-Oceanic
Highway

Delagado (2008) modeled

future impacts of the highway
and found:
Peruvian deforestation rates
will be exacerbated and, despite
common belief, the InterOceanic highway is not going to
be the main culprit, but the
secondary road network and
population centers, that the
highway will encourage.

Final Thoughts

Socio-environmental impacts of
the Inter-Oceanic Highway have
been documented, but require
further study

More than 90% of MdD remains

forested and the region has not
yet experienced massive forest
loss like Brazil or other tropical
regions

Current activities by ACA and

many other individuals and groups
in MdD have the potential to avoid
Brazils deforestation experience
i.e, the future of MdD depends