Over a decade ago, American entrepreneur Dennis Melka introduced industrial-scale palm oil to the Peruvian Amazon with the backing of international investors. Amid allegations of deforestation and financial improprieties, Melka sold his plantations to a group of those investors, and no one was ever punished for the clearing of the forest.
Today, Melka’s former plantations represent one of the largest employers in the region and boast more than $50 million in annual exports. The company running the operation, Ocho Sur, says that it strives to be a good steward of the environment, embracing solar power and biofuels, eco-friendly pesticides, and a policy of non-expansion onto virgin lands. But it is unclear whether Ocho Sur can ever escape the messy story of its own creation.
Last year, the Peruvian government requested assistance from the U.S. Department of Justice in a sprawling environmental investigation into Melka’s alleged crimes, naming both Ocho Sur and one early investment fund in court documents. The company is also at the center of a United Nations inquiry into alleged human rights abuses related to its activities in a neighboring Indigenous community.
This project from Business Insider and Food and Environment Reporting will explore Melka’s legacy in the region and the challenge of holding international investors responsible for environmental crimes in the Amazon.
