In 2019, the Peruvian government launched Operation Mercury to confront the illegal gold mining crisis in the southern Amazonian area known as La Pampa (Madre de Dios region).As a result, deforestation decreased 90% in this critical area (MAAP# 130). Some illegal gold mining, however, has moved to several new hotspots (Image 1), although at much lower levels. The […]

As part of USAID’s Prevent Project (dedicated to combating environmental crimes in the Amazon), we conducted an updated analysis of illegal gold mining deforestation in the southern Peruvian Amazon.In early 2019, the Peruvian government launched Operation Mercury, an unprecedented crackdown on the rampant illegal gold mining in the region.The Operation initially targeted an area known as La Pampa, the epicenter of the […]

Thanks to the support of the USAID, via the Prevent Project, dedicated to the prevention and combat of environmental crimes in the Amazon, we conducted a detailed analysis of recent illegal gold mining deforestation in the southern Peruvian Amazon. The objective is to understand the trends from early 2017 to June 2020 (which includes the first part of the mandatory quarantine […]

In a new series, we highlight the main illegal gold mining frontiers in the Amazon. Here, in part 1, we focus on Peru. In the upcoming part 2, we will look at Brazil. The Base Map indicates our focus areas in Peru*: Southern Peru (A. La Pampa, B. Alto Malinowski, C. Camanti, D. Pariamanu); Central Peru (E. El Sira). Notably, we found an […]

In February 2019, the Peruvian government launched Operation Mercury (Operación Mercurio), a major multi-sectoral crackdown on the illegal gold mining crisis in the area known as La Pampa,* located  in the southern Peruvian Amazon (Madre de Dios region). Note that this area is not within Tambopata National Reserve, but in its buffer zone. In this report, we present the […]

Gold mining deforestation has been at record high levels in both 2017 and 2018 in the southern Peruvian Amazon. Based on an analysis of nearly 500 high-resolution satellite images (from Planet and DigitalGlobe), we estimate the deforestation of 18,440 hectares across southern Peru during these last two years. That is equivalent to 45,560 acres (or 34,400 American football fields) in just two years. The Base Map highlights […]

We have reported extensively on the ongoing gold mining deforestation crisis in the southern Peruvian Amazon (see Archive), estimating the loss of over 17,500 acres in the five years between 2013 and 2017. Here, we present new analysis showing that the destruction continues in 2018: we estimate an additional 4,265 acres during the first six months (January – June). This most recent deforestation is […]

In a series of previous reports (MAAP # 60), we have described the dire gold mining deforestation in the southern Peruvian Amazon, most notably in the area known as “La Pampa” (see Base Map). However, over the past 3 years another critical area has emerged in the region: the Upper Malinowski. This area is located near […]

We analyzed hundreds of high-resolution satellite images to calculate the amount of recent (October 2012 – October 2016) gold mining deforestation in the southern Peruvian Amazon: 30,895 acres. Combining this finding with previous studies, we estimate the total gold mining deforestation of around 154,440 acres in the region. Image 50a shows the recent gold mining deforestation in red, […]