Amazon environmentalist gunned down in Peru

After reporting a truck loaded with mahogany illegally logged from the Amazon rainforest, Julio Gualberto García Agapito, a Peruvian authority who worked to protect forests, was gunned down by Amancion Jacinto Maque, an illegal timber operator, on February 26, 2008.

As Lieutenant Governor (Teniente Gobernador) of the town Alerta in the Tahuamanu Province of Madre de Dios in Peru, Don Julio dedicated his life to conservation and building sustainable livelihoods for the people of southwestern Peru. Himself a castañero, or Brazil nut collector, whose livelihood depended on the health of the forest, Don Julio worked to understand the changes occurring in Madre de Dios. Development pressures are mounting in the region due to the improvement of the Carretera Transoceanica or Trans-Oceanic highway, which links the heart of the Amazon to the Pacific. The highway will soon serve as an artery for transporting soy and other agricultural products to Pacific ports — the gateway to China.

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