ENGAGING INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES IN ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING: CITIZEN SCIENCE IN THE UPPER AMAZON BASIN

Through relationship building in South American indigenous communities, a two-way learning experience has resulted in effective environmental monitoring and policy changes related to oil and gas development in the upper Amazon basin. The environmental monitoring has taken place in four Amazonian watersheds in northern Peru: the Marañón, the Tigre, the Pastaza, and the Corrientes. We have worked with indigenous federations and communities in all four basins, conducted workshops on the potential environmental effects of large-scale mining and oil and gas development, and carried out field work with the communities to evaluate, water quality, oil pipeline integrity and the health of aquatic biota. The various monitoring programs are prime examples of citizen science and were instrumental in the Peruvian government declaring environmental emergencies in all four watersheds related to crude oil spills and associated effects. The studies have mostly been in areas already affected by oil extraction, but baseline evaluations are also underway. Community members have mapped culturally significant locations, and some of the monitoring has focused on those areas. Contaminated sites have been documented using photographs, ultrasonic oil pipeline measurements, and water quality measurements. The topics covered in workshops and the field investigations have included: characterization of soil type, contaminant sources, pathways, receptors, and groundwater-surface water interactions; GPS techniques; pH, temperature and conductivity measurements; low-cost methods for biological indicators; ultrasonic oil pipeline measurements; and data collection, storage and transfer. Remaining challenges are those related to many citizen science endeavors, including: data quality evaluations; training on and implementation of field biological and chemical analytical methods; building laboratory capacity for analysis of more complex samples; and integration of reviewed and collected information into easily accessible online formats.