Month: September 2016

MAAP #46: Gold Mining Deforestation Within Tambopata National Reserve Exceeds 1100 Acres

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In previous articles, we documented the illegal gold mining invasion of Tambopata National Reserve (Madre de Dios region in the southern Peruvian Amazon) in November 2015 and the subsequent deforestation of 350 hectares as of July 2016. Here, we report that the mining deforestation in the Reserve now exceeds 450 hectares (1,110 acres) as of September 2016. Image 46a illustrates the extent of the invasion, with red indicating the most recent deforestation fronts. Insets A-D indicate the location of the high-resolution zooms below.

 

Image 46a. Data: Planet, SERNANP, MAAP
Image 46a. Data: Planet, SERNANP, MAAP

MAAP #45: Threats To El Sira Communal Reserve in Central Peruvian Amazon

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El Sira Communal Reserve, located in the central Peruvian Amazon (regions of Pasco, Huánuco and Ucayali), aims to protect the biological diversity of the El Sira Mountain Range in benefit of the native communities of the area (Ashaninka, Yanesha, and Shipibo-Conibo indigenous groups).

This report presents an initial threat assessment for this large national protected area, which covers more than 615,000 hectares (1.5 million acres).

Image 45a. Data: ESRI, SERNANP
Image 45a. Data: ESRI, SERNANP

We identified 3 threatened sectors of the Reserve, as indicated in Image 45a (see Insets A-C).

We found that the principal drivers of deforestation in these three sectors are agriculture & cattle pasture (Insets A and C) and illegal gold mining (Inset B).

It is important to note that the deforestation for agriculture & cattle pasture continues to rapidly increase – 1,600 hectares (3,950 acres) since 2013 – while the deforestation for gold mining has been limited due to regular interventions by the Peruvian government.

Below, we show high-resolution satellite images of the recent deforestation in all three threatened sectors. Click each image to enlarge.

MAAP# 44: Potential Recuperation of Illegal Gold Mining Area in Amarakaeri Communal Reserve

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In the previous MAAP #6, published in June 2015, we documented the deforestation of 11 hectares in the Amarakaeri Communal Reserve due to a recent illegal gold mining invasion. The Reserve, located in the Madre de Dios region of the southern Peruvian Amazon, is an important protected area that is co-managed by indigenous communities and Peru’s National Protected Areas Service (known as SERNANP). In the following weeks, the Peruvian government, led by SERNANP, cracked down on the illegal mining activities and effectively halted the deforestation within that part of the Reserve.

Here, we present high-resolution satellite images that show an initial vegetation regrowth in the invaded area. This finding may represent good news regarding the Amazon’s resilience to recover from destructive mining if it is stopped at an early stage. However, many questions and caveats remain regarding the nature of the regrowth and the long-term recovery potential of the degraded land, please see the Additional Information section below for more details.

Image 44a shows the base map of the area invaded by illegal gold mining in the southeast sector of Amarakaeri Communal Reserve. Insets A–D indicate the areas featured in the high-resolution zooms below.

 

Image 44a. Data: Digital Globe (Nextview), SERNANP
Image 44a. Data: Digital Globe (Nextview), SERNANP

MAAP #43: Early Warning Deforestation Alerts in The Peruvian Amazon, Part 2

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In the previous MAAP #40, we emphasized the power of combining early warning forest loss GLAD alerts with analysis of high-resolution satellite imagery as part of a comprehensive near real-time deforestation monitoring system for the Peruvian Amazon.

In the current MAAP, we present 3 new examples of this system across different regions of Peru. Click on the images below to enlarge.

Example 1: Illegal Gold Mining in buffer zone of Bahuaja Sonene National Park (Madre de Dios)
Example 2: Logging Road in buffer zone of Cordillera Azul National Park (Ucayali/Loreto)
Example 3: Deforestation in Permanent Production Forest (Ucayali)

Example 1: Illegal Gold Mining in buffer zone of Bahuaja Sonene National Park (Madre de Dios)

In the previous MAAP #5, we discussed illegal gold mining deforestation along the upper Malinowski River, located in the buffer zone of the Bahuaja Sonene National Park. As seen in Image 43a, the upper Malinowski is just upstream of the areas invaded by illegal gold mining in Tambopata National Reserve and its buffer zone (see MAAP #39 and #31, respectively). In MAAP #5, we documented the deforestation of more than 850 hectares between 2013 and 2015 along the upper Malinowski. Here, we show that gold mining deforestation continues in 2016, with an additional loss of 238 hectares (806 acres). Insets A-C correspond to the areas featured in the high-resolution zooms below.

Image 43a. Data: UMD/GLAD, Hansen/UMD/Google/USGS/NASA, NASA/USGS, SERNANP
Image 43a. Data: UMD/GLAD, Hansen/UMD/Google/USGS/NASA, NASA/USGS, SERNANP

The following Images 43b-d show, in high-resolution, the rapid expansion of gold mining deforestation between August/September 2015 (left panel) and July/August 2016 (right panel). The yellow circles indicate the main areas of deforestation between the images.

Image 43b. Data: Planet, Digital Globe (Nextview)
Image 43b. Data: Planet, Digital Globe (Nextview)
Image 43c. Data: Planet, Digital Globe (Nextview)
Image 43c. Data: Planet, Digital Globe (Nextview)
Image 43d. Data: Planet, Digital Globe (Nextview)
Image 43d. Data: Planet, Digital Globe (Nextview)

Example 2: Logging Road in buffer zone of Cordillera Azul National Park (Ucayali/Loreto)

In the previous MAAP #18, we discussed the proliferation of logging roads in the central Peruvian Amazon in 2015. Here, we show the expansion of two of these logging roads in 2016. (see Image 43e). Red indicates construction during 2016 (47 km). Insets A1-A3 correspond to the areas featured in the high-resolution zooms below. Note that the northern road (Inset A3) is within the buffer zone of Cordillera Azul National Park. Evidence suggests that this road is not legal because it extends out of the permited area (see MAAP #18 for more details).

Image 43e. Data: UMD/GLAD, Hansen/UMD/Google/USGS/NASA, SERNANP
Image 43e. Data: UMD/GLAD, Hansen/UMD/Google/USGS/NASA, SERNANP

The following images show, in high-resolution, the rapid construction of these logging roads. Image 43f shows the construction of part of the southern road (Inset A1), and the deforestation for a nearby agricultural parcel, between April (left panel) and July (right panel) 2016. Image 43g shows the construction of 1.8 km in just three days along this same road (Inset A2) between July 21 (left panel) and July 24 (right panel) 2016.

Image 43f. Data: Planet
Image 43f. Data: Planet
Image 43g. Data: Planet
Image 43g. Data: Planet

Image 43h shows the construction of 13 km on the northern road between November 2015 (left panel) and July 2016 (right panel) within the buffer zone of the Cordillera Azul National Park.

Image 43h. Data: Planet
Image 43h. Data: Planet

Example 3: Deforestation in Permanent Production Forest  (Ucayali)

Image 43i shows recent deforestation of 136 hectares (336 acres) in 2016 in southern Ucayali region within areas classified as Permanent Production Forest and Foresty Concession. These types of areas are generally zoned for sustainable forestry uses, not clear-cutting, thus we question the legality of the deforestation. Tables A-B correspond to the areas featured in the high-resolution zooms, below.

Image 43i. Data: UMD/GLAD, Hansen/UMD/Google/USGS/NASA, MINAGRI
Image 43i. Data: UMD/GLAD, Hansen/UMD/Google/USGS/NASA, MINAGRI

Image 43j shows deforestation within a section of Permanent Production Forest, and Image 43k shows deforestation within a section of Forestry Concession.

Image 43j. Data: Planet
Image 43j. Data: Planet
Image 43k. Data: Planet
Image 43k. Data: Planet

Citation

Finer M, Novoa S, Goldthwait E (2016) Early Warning Deforestation Alerts in the Peruvian Amazon, Part 2. MAAP: 43.