A decade of illegal gold mining has transformed large areas of virgin Peruvian rainforest into pocked, denuded, mercury-poisoned wastelands.
Excavations to separate gold flecks from tons of earth have left holes big enough to swallow a half-dozen buses. Mercury, a neurotoxin used to bind the gold, pervades the local food chain, reaching humans through the fish they eat.
The ruined lands scar the southeastern region of Madre de Dios, a mecca of biodiversity whose natural marvels lure eco-tourists and where several tribes live in voluntary isolation.
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/c3b35d29a71742ee9b6b6ff253f9fb2b/LT--Peru-Ravaged-Rainforest-Photo-Essay
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