Mennonites
Jusoor Post
https://jusoorpost.com/en/posts/59289/mennonite-communities-raise-hackles-in-peruvian-amazon
In recent years, Mennonite communities have been establishing settlements across several Amazonian countries. With Peru emerging as a major destination (Collyns, 2022). While the number of individuals in each community is small, their collective impact on the environment has become impossible to ignore. According to Mongabay (2022), Mennonite settlements are now the leading driver of deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon.
The reasons for their migration are rooted in both faith and lifestyle. Mennonites seek seclusion to maintain their traditional way of life, which emphasizes agricultural self-sufficiency and isolation from the modern world. Many of them believe their religion obliges them to farm, and as a result, each community clears land for crops and livestock (Collyns, 2022). While a single settlement may clear only a modest area, the cumulative effect of many such settlements spread across the region has had a major ecological impact.
Beyond environmental concerns, Mennonite communities have found themselves entangled in legal and ethical controversies related to land use. Many have acquired land through informal or fraudulent deals, often involving corrupt officials and dishonest land dealers (Mongabay, 2022). In some cases, they were sold land that was designated to remain forested or even legally belongs to indigenous communities (Zuazo, 2023).
This has understandably sparked outrage from environmental groups and indigenous peoples, who view the Mennonites as encroachers (Zuazo, 2023). However, while the visible deforestation makes the Mennonites easy targets for criticism. The root cause often lies deeper with the illegal land trafficking networks that operate with impunity across much of the Amazon.
References:
(December 8, 2022) How did a religious group take over part of the Amazon? Mongabay
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBgA4EX65oM
Collyns, Dan. (September 10, 2022) The Mennonites being accused of deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon The Guardian
Zuazo, Alexa Eunoe Velez. (January 26, 2023) Indigenous communities in Latin America decry the Mennonites’ expanding land occupation Mongabay