The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) approved a package of loans for US$750 million for the expansion of the Lima metro, announced IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno.

More than half the carbon in the Amazon region could be released into the atmosphere unless indigenous land rights are protected, a new study said on Tuesday, as a UN climate conference got under way in Peru.

Indigenous territories and protected natural areas across nine South American countries account for more than half the carbon stored in the Amazon.

Scientists in the US and Latin America have once again confirmed the importance of the Amazon rainforest as a planetary resource and as a carbon sink to store carbon drawn down from the atmosphere. Sadly, they have also confirmed, once again, that it is at risk.

Peru's 1.35 million hectare Cordillera Azul National Park has been granted the Amazon's largest loan by a private invested fund, confirmed USAID office in Lima on Thursday. 
The loan has been by secured by carbon-credits designed to promote forest conservation and sustainable agro-foresty. 

Indigenous organizations and international human rights activists say Peru is failing to protect the rights of indigenous people in its Amazon rainforest, putting at risk the individuals and the carbon stored in their lands.
 

Peru is home to the second largest block of Amazon rainforest after Brazil and has promising forest protection schemes (including REDD+) in four national parks. But the country has a poor record for fighting deforestation, with rampant illegal mining and logging, slash and burn agriculture and insufficient land titling for indigenous groups. 

The president of the Peruvian National Society of Fisheries (SNP) announced the year of 2014 experienced a 40% drop in the production of fish.

According to the SNP, this is the lowest result in the last 15 years. However, SNP president Elena Conterno expressed optimism for the coming year not only regarding the climate change factors but regulatory as well.

Anti-drug police in Peru have eradicated a record number of coca crops this year, beating its target of 30,000 hectares, a top government official said. Interior Minister Daniel Urresti said law-enforcement teams had eradicated 30,349 hectares by the end of November, according to daily La Republica.

That is more than the 24,000 hectares that were eradicated in 2013, which was also an annual record and up 68 percent from 2012. 

Many people ask me what makes Peruvian food so exciting? Well continuing my posts regarding this question, this week I'd like to answer by talking about Peru's dynamic and just incredible restaurant scene.

Peru's restaurant scene has exploded. Whenever I travel there I visit a ton of new and favourite restaurants. Lima, Arequipa, Trujillo, Iquitos and Cusco are just some of the key cities with a huge variety of phenomenal restaurants showcasing cuisines and creativity from our many cultures. 

The Sonesta Hotel El Olivar in Peruvian capital Lima recently became the first hotel in South America to be awarded Muslim-friendly accreditation by CrescentRating.
The 134-bedroom five-star hotel located in the heart of the San Isidro district of Lima was awarded a Muslim-friendly rating of five out of seven based on the facilities it provides to Muslim guests.