Peru’s Militarized Response to Illegal Mining Isn’t Enough to Protect the Amazon

In fact, it has continued to expand in southeastern Peru. According to recent research by scientists at Wake Forest University, illegal mining activities have destroyed 170,000 acres of rainforest in the Peruvian Amazon over the past five years-30 percent more than previously reported. Besides deforestation, local miners rely on the use of mercury, a highly toxic heavy metal element, to separate gold from sediment. Miners in Madre De Dios reportedly dump up to 40 tons of mercury into riverways and wetlands, causing so much pollution that Peruvian authorities declared a 60-day state of emergency there in May 2016 to try and stop it. Mercury contamination in Madre De Dios has reportedly affected 50,000 people, or 41 percent of the population of the region, mostly through contaminated water and fish. 
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