Peru’s beautiful rainforests have transformed into unrecognizable, desolate wastelands. Decades of illegal gold mining in the southeastern region of Madre de Dios has destroyed more than 230 square miles of forest, and poisoned the rivers with the mercury used in the excavation process. This deforestation accounts for about 40% of Peru’s greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to global warming, and harming the local population. In an attempt to diminish the destruction, authorities began enforcing a ban on illegal mining in the region. This spring, they ordered the state’s illegal miners to either operate under legal guidelines, or halt operations entirely. And though many have fled, the area is still home to the people who rely on the gold to make a living. An aerial photo shows the scope of illegal mining in Peru’s Madre de Dios region. The mining process uses toxic mercury to bind gold flecks together, which has ravaged forests and poisoned rivers. Image: Rodrigo Abd/Associated Press A miner holds an amalgam of mercury and gold he mined after working a 28-hour shift at an illegal gold mine. Thousands of artisanal gold miners sweat through the long shifts and endure, for a few grams of gold, the perils of collapsing earth and limb-crushing machinery. Image: Rodrigo Abd/Associated Press Miners known as “Maraqueros” ready a rustic type of hydraulic jet known locally as a “chupadera,” after hauling the device about 16 meters deep into a crater at a gold mine. Image: Rodrigo Abd/Associated Press A boy searches for gold […]
