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One Canadian is doing her best to fight back against the damaging activity

Illegal mining threatens to destroy the Amazon


Monday, December 22, 2014, 6:05 PM - Experts say that half of the world's known species of plants, animals and insects live in the Amazon rain forest—and if things don't change, that's half of the world that could be without a home soon.

In the Peruvian region known as Madre de Dios, illegal gold mining is destroying valuable hectares of tropical rain forest but one Canadian is hoping to make a difference in the area. Jana Bell has a passion for the South American country and is teaming up with Jhin Solis, a native to Madre de Dios, to start a Canadian charity looking to protect the rain forest.

Solis first encountered the activity back in 1985. While mining decreased shortly after, with previous governments shutting down the Gold Miners' Bank, a high cost of living forced locals to return to the damaging activity.

"Madre de Dios is pretty much isolated from the rest of Peru. As part of the Amazon forest, the access is very difficult. Everything is very expensive. Food supplies and all that has to make it there by truck, but there were no highways built." Solis explained. "People needed to find alternate ways to make money."

When a highway near the area was finally built, the prices went down but the mining didn't stop. In fact, the opposite happened.

"It started with the interoceanic highway that connects ports of Brazil on the Atlantic side with a port in Peru on the Pacific side," Bell said. "All of a sudden, areas that were previously inaccessible opened up and poor people began flooding the areas looking for their fortune."

According to Bell, people from the highlands soon began starting their own mining campsites. Once they're set up, they'll use hoses and motors to extract soil from the depths of the Amazon. By applying mercury, the miners obtain a new compound that is approximately 60 per cent mercury and 40 per cent gold. High temperatures are applied to the product to get rid of the mercury and obtain purified liquid gold.

The use of mercury poses additional challenges to people trying to find gold in the Amazon.

"If you ask them about the health concerns attached to mercury, they'll say 'I've heard people talk about it but I don't believe it," Bell explained.

A view of La Pampa back in action, months after it was shut down

A view of La Pampa back in action, months after it was shut down


FOR MORE: To view the Amazon Rainforest Conservancy's full documentary on mining, visit their website linked above

Mercury is toxic and can cause damage to the central and peripheral nervous system, among many other negative effects. Bell says that an education on the dangers could go a long way in fighting illegal mining.


Next: What the Amazon Rainforest Conservancy is doing to improve the situation


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