Illegal mining poses a serious threat to the Amazon, one of the world’s most biodiverse regions and home to rich Indigenous cultures. The report, Illegal Gold Mining: Impacts on Human Rights and Biodiversity in the Amazon, reveals the devastating effects of this illegal activity in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.
The use of mercury in gold mining contaminates rivers and destroys vital ecosystems. Deforestation, species loss, and disruption of natural cycles are just some of the consequences that threaten the future of the Amazon. In addition, Indigenous and local communities that depend on biodiversity face serious health problems, forced displacement and violence, often at the hands of drug traffickers and organized crime networks linked to illegal gold mining. Despite legal protections, many of the affected areas are invaded by criminal networks that profit from the absence of state presence, corruption and impunity. While all countries in the report except Venezuela have ratified the Minamata Convention, which regulates the use of mercury, enforcement remains weak.
This report highlights the urgent need to establish more effective environmental oversight mechanisms, strengthen corporate due diligence processes and regional cooperation, sanction those responsible for social and environmental damage, and protect the rights of Indigenous peoples.
Prepared jointly by the DPLF, the Centro de Documentación e Información de Bolivia (CEDIB), Fundación Pachamama, Fundación Gaia Amazonas, Hutukara Associação Yanomami, the Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project (MAAP), People in Need, the Peruvian Society for Environmental Law (SPDA), and SOS-Orinoco (Venezuela), the report provides a series of findings and recommendations to address illegal mining, guided by international human rights standards.
Este informe está disponible en español aquí.
