LatAm commodity boom takes toll on Amazon

Despite the simmering civil conflict, Colombia’s economy is the fastest-growing in South America, and the government has spent the past two years in peace talks with commanders of the country’s largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). A peace agreement could bring a flood of investment into extractive industries and exacerbate deforestation.
Peru’s economy expanded more than any other during the decade of high commodity prices, led by its mining industry. A new highway linking the country to Brazil opened a gateway for tens of thousands of impoverished highlanders to fan out into the jungle prospecting for alluvial gold. In a matter of months, their dredgers and mercury kits can convert vast tracts of green forest into something resembling lunar wastelands.
http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/178732/latam-commodity-boom-takes-toll-on-amazon