The Canadian Ambassador to Peru, Ralph Jansen, accompanied the recovery and clean-up actions being carried out by the National Service of Natural Areas Protected by the State (Sernanp) in the areas affected by the oil spill dated January 15. “Canada is proud to have joined the ‘Recover My Sea’ campaign and hopes that others will join in,” affirmed.
The Profonanpe’s CEO -the Peruvian Environmental Fund- Anton Willems, highlighted the contribution of citizens and the private sector in these actions through the #RecuperoMiMar initiative, a campaign articulated together with various environmental and private organizations such as the Peruvian Society for Environmental Law, Conservamos por Naturaleza, Oceana, WWF Peru, SOA, ecOceánica, H2O Océanos and Lucha Startup Studio.
The activity took place on the Pocitos beach of the Ancon Reserved Zone where the head of Sernanp, José Ramírez, announced the action plan that has been implemented for the past month to deal with this emergency. From the first day of the oil spill, the personnel of this agency, which is part of the Ministry of the Environment, arrived at the affected protected natural areas and intervened on different levels to address the emergency.
As part of the visit, the actions to clean the sea and beaches in the Ancon Reserve Zone were highlighted using specific equipment for the recovery of hydrocarbons such as skimmers, material that to date has allowed the extraction of approximately 7 thousand gallons of pure oil from the sea of Ancon Bay. A permanent team of 15 specialists and park rangers from Sernanp are working in shifts to reduce exposure to oil. Profonanpe is currently in the process of acquiring more skimmers to continue the clean-up work.
The visit continued with a supervision of the rescue and recovery actions of the wildlife species that have been affected by this emergency, an action that is carried out daily and articulated between Sernanp and the National Forest and Wildlife Service (Serfor). To date, approximately 70 guano birds have been rescued in the Fishermen’s Group Islands of the Guano Islands, Islets, and Capes National Reserve System, which have been transferred to Serfor for veterinary care.
For immediate attention to the effects of the spill, Profonanpe set up an emergency financing line of up to US$100,000 and assigned its team of environmental remediation experts to act as technical advisors to Sernanp.
The support of young volunteers from various universities in the capital is greatly appreciated, as they are actively supporting the monitoring of the affected areas and the recovery of wildlife in the Ancon Reserved Zone.
Author: Sernanp
