New Amazon-wide analysis of eight El Niño events finds that stronger events are followed by greater primary forest fire loss, and that reducing deforestation now could lower the risk of a major fire crisis in 2027. As forecasts indicate, a very strong El Niño will develop in the last three months of […]
In just eight months illegal gold mining deforestation increased by up to 660% inside protected areas in Brazil’s Juruena River Basin. Rapid expansion of illegal mining inside Juruena National Park highlights persistent challenges for environmental enforcement and protected area governance. Source: MAAP (Monitoring of the Andes Amazon Program), Amazon Conservation. Cuiabá, Brazil — August 6, […]
Amazon Conservation launches a first-of-its-kind tool comparing mining governance across all eight Amazonian countries As record-high gold prices continue to fuel the expansion of artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASM) across the Amazon, governments face mounting pressure to address one of the region’s most persistent drivers of deforestation, ecosystem degradation, and social conflict. To help […]
Satellite monitoring and drone analysis reveal the expansion of mining into national parks, biological reserves, and protected forests that are critical for the biodiversity and ecological connectivity of the Ecuadorian Amazon. The expansion of gold mining in the southern Ecuadorian Amazon continues to push into strategic ecosystems and protected areas of high ecological importance. This […]
This month, our Monitoring of the Andes Amazon Program (MAAP) released two major reports on illegal gold mining in two of the Amazon’s most critical territories: the Yanomami Indigenous Territory in Brazil and the Tambopata National Reserve in Peru. The findings are both encouraging and deeply alarming. Brazil: Progress in Yanomami, but miners are adapting […]
Flying rivers that sustain forests, agriculture, and water security across the Amazon are increasingly at risk from deforestation and infrastructure expansion. The white paper, Keeping the Flying Rivers Flowing: How Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon Threatens Rainfall in Peru and Bolivia, released by Amazon Conservation, maps for the first time the flying rivers that span […]
Illegal mining–driven deforestation reached its peak in 2022, when roughly 1,800 hectares were cleared. In 2025, monitoring still identified an additional 45.2 hectares of new forest loss. Deforestation driven by illegal mining in the Yanomami Indigenous Territory has dropped sharply over the past three years, following a surge in 2021 and 2022. That’s the conclusion […]
Satellite monitoring shows more than 500 hectares of forest lost and nearly a thousand people involved in illegal mining operating inside the Tambopata National Reserve. The advance of illegal mining continues, encroaching ever closer to government-run control posts within the protected area. Seven years after the historic Operación Mercurio was launched, illegal gold mining has […]
After documenting the ongoing presence of illegal mining on indigenous territories in the Xingu region of the Brazilian Amazon, a new analysis shows that the activity also occurs in protected areas in the region, increasing the pressure on one of the most strategic territories for forest conservation. The new report from the MAAP initiative (Monitoring […]
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