Aiming to reduce red tape in Peruvian mining

MinerAndina.com reports that a group of nine Peruvian professionals and entrepreneurs linked to mining have proposed the creation of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. This would integrate the Ministry of Energy and Mines; Ministry of Agriculture, Deputy Minister of Fishing and the Ministry of Environment.

The proposal will be worked on to submit it to the Government of newly elected President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, and other political parties, to generate a consensus. In general, says MinerAndina.com, “there is a disposition in society to strengthen institutions and reduce red tape.”

The goal of the creation of this new ministry is to “simplify and make the administration of the country’s natural resources more efficient and integrated, in other words, a sustainable management in such a way that current mining won’t hinder future generations”, said Rafael Valencia Dongo, Principal Consultant of Estrategia Asociados, and one of the authors.

It is also about transforming the socio-environmental challenges in development opportunities for the country, said another one of the authors, Raúl Benavides, of Cía. de Minas Buenaventura. “If a tree is taken down, five will be planted”, he said.

The merger would join together seven deputy ministries and 26 general directorates. 16 decentralized public organisations (OPD) would also be part of the merger. Currently, the management of natural resources (NR) is sectoral and sectors don’t communicate with one another, so they only deal with each other, with nearly no sharing of information. Several of their duties are intersected or are repeated, generating endless red tape.

As a result, the use and/or mining of natural resources are not necessarily conducted in environmentally friendly ways and do not ensure sustainability, generating rejection from the population and conservatives. This has hampered the development of public and private investment projects, hurting environmental and economic sustainability.

Among the key issues, the authors note the need to guarantee that productive activities adapt to environmental regulations without neglecting economic benefits. Likewise, there is urgent need for comprehensive land planning management.

MinerAndina.com says Australia, China and Canada are some examples of comprehensive institutions for these sectors.

“Why do we need a Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources?

1. The environmental impact resulting from production and populations affects nature as a whole

2. Citizens need a safe and sustainable environment

3. Benefits from natural resources must be managed in a coordinated and environmentally friendly manner, with an integral public management

4. Misuse of natural resources has an effect on surface water, underground water, forests, fish and fauna. Informal mining in Madre de Dios is an example

5. The lack of an entity to coordinate the functions of different sectors results in errors such as granting incompatible and overlapping forestry and mining permits in Madre de Dios

6. In the case of agriculture, pollution of coastal rivers with sediments, fertilizers, pesticides and domestic waste, have an impact not only on people but on organic agriculture and fishing

7. As a country, we are not properly taking advantage of the potential of our natural resources

8. People require the stimulation of economic growth to improve their quality of life. There is the urgent need for a greater and faster growth of the entrepreneurial private sector

9. The management of nature must be comprehensive. Nature is not divided in sectors.

10. The administration of benefits of the ministry must be articulated considering all of the related resources and social environment. This involves productive sectors such as Energy and Mines; Agriculture and Fishery and Environment.

“The nine authors of the proposal that is currently under discussion and development inside the Group of Direct Dialogue – from the Group of Mining Dialogue and Sustainable Development – are: Raúl Benavides, Fernando Gala, Luis Oré, Rafael Valencia, Amado Yataco, Marita Chappuis, Carlos Santa Cruz, Federico Schwalb and Elohim Monard.