Tuesday 9 December 2014

The hidden side of Peru

In the land where the climate talks are taking place....out of view
Peru's rainforests turn to desolate wastelands
BY ELIZABETH PIERSON

  • 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
8 December, 2014


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.

  • Ap896963580365_22
    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
  • Ap52249466356_69
    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

    Ap388865646483_85A boy searches for gold at an illegal mine. People at the mine are working up to the last minute, while they fear authorities will arrive at any moment, as part of a government crackdown and nationwide ban that took effect in the spring
    IMAGE: RODRIGO ABD/ASSOCIATED PRESS

    Ap768834621804_88

    A miner carries hoses inside an illegal gold mine. Peru first criminalized unlicensed gold mining in 2012, but only began enforcing the law vigorously this year with serious manpower and explosives. The operations have displaced thousands of the estimated 40,000 people who authorities say moved to the jungle to mine gold.
    IMAGE: RODRIGO ABD/ASSOCIATED PRESS
    Ap866785059025_87

    Water streams over carpets that filter the earth and water at an illegal gold mine.
    IMAGE: RODRIGO ABD/ASSOCIATED PRESS
    Ap513519937181_35

    A miner with an axe digs for gold using a rustic technique known as "chiquiquiar." After the government crackdown on illegal mining companies in April, the miners who stayed behind are reduced to rudimentary gold extraction using pickaxes, shovels and small motors.
    IMAGE: RODRIGO ABD/ASSOCIATED PRESS
    Ap863137472473_29

    Joel Macedo, 25, and his wife Nilda mine for gold without the use of machinery. Macedo had been earning $1,071 dollars per month as a heavy-machinery operator before the government crackdown on illegal mining companies. The father of two says he now struggles to earn a quarter of that, and his wife now pitches in. “She works with me because we have nothing to eat,” he said.
    IMAGE: RODRIGO ABD/ASSOCIATED PRESS

    Ap154238644400_70
  • Miners take a break from one of their 28-hour shifts to eat lunch outside the mine.
    IMAGE: RODRIGO ABD/ASSOCIATED PRESS
    Ap158921782832_125
  • Mercury is used to help bind the gold together, making it easier to collect and mine. The mercury is then burned off after it is mined, leaving the gold behind. The mercury has ravaged forests and poisoned rivers in a biodiverse region that is also home to tribes living in voluntary isolation.
    IMAGE: RODRIGO ABD/ASSOCIATED PRESS
    Ap309797185802_3
  • Two soldiers look at a drone, used by the Peruvian Air Force, to track illegal mining activity, as they prepare for an operation to eradicate illegal gold mining camps. Less than a month before Peru plays host to global climate talks, the government sent a battalion of police into southeastern jungles to dismantle illegal gold-mining camps. Peru’s anti-illegal mining czar, retired army Gen. Augusto Soto, marched the men to the wasteland known as La Pampa, where 50,000 hectares of rainforest have been obliterated in the past six years.
    IMAGE: RODRIGO ABD/ASSOCIATED PRESS
    Ap513214220181_15
  • Policemen occupy a gold mining camp as part of an operation to eradicate illegal mining in the Madre de Dios region.
    IMAGE: RODRIGO ABD/ASSOCIATED PRESS
    Ap511186507468_136
  • Machinery used for illegal mining burns after authorities blew it up in the Madre de Dios region. More than 1,500 soldiers, police and marines have been ordered to destroy illegal gold mining machinery in Peru’s southeastern jungle.
    IMAGE: RODRIGO ABD/ASSOCIATED PRESS
    Ap836534736467_139
  • Riot police stand guard at an illegal mining operation, preventing miners from attempting to save their worksites, machinery and camps.
    IMAGE: RODRIGO ABD/ASSOCIATED PRESS
  • Ap99333800210_5
    A policeman tosses a tarp onto a bonfire at an illegal gold mining camp they occupied in an operation to eradicate illegal mining camps. They destroyed everything from motors to motorcycles and mining-related machinery, as they tore down dwellings.
    IMAGE: RODRIGO ABD/ASSOCIATED PRESS
  • Ap605660236347_111
    Police stand guard, as a miner begs them not to destroy his truck. Many people who have remained at the illegal mines depend on the gold for survival.
    IMAGE: RODRIGO ABD/ASSOCIATED PRESS
  • Ap538958408301_8
    Miners and their families stand looking at the remains of their mining camp, scorched by authorities as part of an operation to eradicate illegal gold mining camps.
    IMAGE: RODRIGO ABD/ASSOCIATED PRESS

1 comment:

  1. Like the poachers who shoot the remaining Rhino, Whales and Elephant,the poor and desperate do the deed for someone with deep pockets miles away. Earth Wrecked.

    ReplyDelete

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.