Over the last 40 years, a series of mining and logging booms in Madre de Dios has wrought terrible environmental damage: leaving fetid moonscapes in what used to be virgin forests, along with polluted rivers loaded with tons of mercury. On the plus side, mining gives people a chance to measurably better their lives, allowing them to get their hands on some capital or sow the seeds of a professional career for themselves or their children.
That’s the surprising truth of the ecological tragedy in Madre de Dios. A lot of poor people have managed to achieve middle-class lives for themselves and their families thanks to decades of environmentally destructive employment.
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