Dom Philips: Illegal mining in Amazon rainforest has become an 'epidemic'
An epidemic of illegal artisanal mining across the Amazon rainforest has been revealed in an unprecedented new map, pinpointing 2,312 sites in 245 areas across six Amazon countries.
Called garimpo in Brazil, artisanal mining for gold and other minerals in Amazon forests and rivers has been a problem for decades and is usually illegal. It is also highly polluting: clearings are cut into forests, mining ponds carved into the earth, and mercury used in extraction is dumped in rivers, poisoning fish stocks and water supplies. But its spread has never been shown before.
“It has a big impact seeing it all together,” said Alicia Rolla, adjunct coordinator at the Amazon Socio-environmental, Geo-referenced Information Project, or RAISG, which produced the map. “This illegal activity causes as many social as environment problems and we hope there can be coordinated actions from the countries impacted to prohibit it.”
Its publication comes weeks before Brazil’s far-right president-elect, Jair Bolsonaro, takes office on 1 January. Last year Bolsonaro said he practised artisanal gold mining during his holidays in the 1980s and he has won support from garimpeiros (artisanal miners) with promises to help them work with “dignity and security”. He also wants to legalise mining on protected indigenous reserves where it is currently banned.
The map was produced by a network of non-government, environmental groups in six Amazon countries – FAN in Bolivia, Gaia in Colombia, IBC in Peru, Ecociência in Ecuador, Provita and Wataniba in Venezuela, and Imazon and the Socioenvironmental Institute (ISA) in Brazil. It also includes information where available on what was being mined and when, citing sources that vary from government registers to satellite imagery.
In 37 cases, the groups say illegal artisanal mining took place in protected indigenous reserves, 18 of which were in Brazil. Another 78 reserves showed garimpo taking place along their limits and borders – 64 of them in Peru – and 55 nature reserves also had illegal mining… read more:
Called garimpo in Brazil, artisanal mining for gold and other minerals in Amazon forests and rivers has been a problem for decades and is usually illegal. It is also highly polluting: clearings are cut into forests, mining ponds carved into the earth, and mercury used in extraction is dumped in rivers, poisoning fish stocks and water supplies. But its spread has never been shown before.
“It has a big impact seeing it all together,” said Alicia Rolla, adjunct coordinator at the Amazon Socio-environmental, Geo-referenced Information Project, or RAISG, which produced the map. “This illegal activity causes as many social as environment problems and we hope there can be coordinated actions from the countries impacted to prohibit it.”
Its publication comes weeks before Brazil’s far-right president-elect, Jair Bolsonaro, takes office on 1 January. Last year Bolsonaro said he practised artisanal gold mining during his holidays in the 1980s and he has won support from garimpeiros (artisanal miners) with promises to help them work with “dignity and security”. He also wants to legalise mining on protected indigenous reserves where it is currently banned.
The map was produced by a network of non-government, environmental groups in six Amazon countries – FAN in Bolivia, Gaia in Colombia, IBC in Peru, Ecociência in Ecuador, Provita and Wataniba in Venezuela, and Imazon and the Socioenvironmental Institute (ISA) in Brazil. It also includes information where available on what was being mined and when, citing sources that vary from government registers to satellite imagery.
In 37 cases, the groups say illegal artisanal mining took place in protected indigenous reserves, 18 of which were in Brazil. Another 78 reserves showed garimpo taking place along their limits and borders – 64 of them in Peru – and 55 nature reserves also had illegal mining… read more:
