Indigenous communities lead fight to stop illicit mining in Loreto that is poisoning the water and destroying its forests

Although there have been few studies on levels of contamination in Loreto’s waters, researchers farther south in Peru’s Madre de Dios region have been able to document the widespread and severe impacts of artisanal mining on local livelihoods and the environment.

Corine Vriesendorp, an ecologist at the Field Museum in Chicago and director of its Andes-Amazon programme, says: “Mercury is showing up in the leaves of canopy trees and the bodies of howler monkeys,” adding that the metal “quickly becomes pervasive and has real human-health impacts.”

Vriesendorp believes the proliferation of illegal mining in Nanay shows how complex the situation has become.
“It is in the back yard of Iquitos, which is where the regional government is, and the fact that they have not been able to control it, recognising that it is fundamental for the wellbeing of everyone who lives there, suggests this is a massive challenge,” she says.

In Allpahuayo-Mishana national reserve, which MAAP says has also been affected by illegal mining, #Sernanp, Peru’s authority for protected natural areas, has trained park rangers in surveillance and other conservation strategies to prevent illegal mining.

Herman Ruíz Abecasis, the reserve’s director, says:
“We have been supporting joint actions to fight against illegal mining on the Nanay River, providing the necessary support within our institutional reach.”

Peru’s melting glaciers bring new harvests – and fears for the future

During an environmental summit in August, Peru’s president, Dina Boluarte, and the Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, agreed to protect the Amazon and its Indigenous inhabitants from the climate crisis, ecological devastation and crime.

At the end of the two-day meeting, Amazonian leaders signed the 🔸 Belém Declaration🔸, which includes a commitment to combat illegal mining and strengthen regional and international cooperation. However, critics said the declaration was much weaker than hoped.

“This is a force that is totally beyond what governments are capable of taking on and what local people are taking on,” Vriesendorp says.

“Drugs, arms, timber and other illegal economies in the Amazon tend to be quite connected, and they are run by armed groups and actors. It’s very hard as an individual, whether you are a park guard or community president, to take those things on. We have to attack the root drivers of this demand.”

(2/2)

#indigenousrights #amazonia #peru #equidor #brazil
#oilpollution #riverpolution

@actionanthro @Are0h @decolonyala @shonin @Dragofix @ubique