Based on analysis of satellite imagery, we have documented that the deforestation due to illegal gold mining activities within Tambopata National Reserve (Madre de Dios region) now exceeds 350 hectares (872 acres) since the initial invasion in late 2015 (see Image 39a). Although the rate of deforestation has decreased since April, when the Peruvian government installed a permanent control […]
The Peruvian Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation (MINAGRI) recently issued a resolution approving the Update of the Soil and Optimum Land Use Suitability Studies for Areas in the Loreto Region. It is important to emphasize that “Optimum Land Use” (Capacidad de Uso Mayor in Spanish) is not determined by forest cover, but the quantitative interpretation of the soil, […]
In MAAP #30, we described the illegal gold mining invasion of Tambopata National Reserve, an important protected area in the southern Peruvian Amazon (department of Madre de Dios). Here in MAAP #33, we show that illegal gold mining is also altering the course of the Malinowski River, which forms the natural boundary of the Reserve. Image 33a […]
We have previously detailed the extensive illegal gold mining problem in the southern Peruvian Amazon (Madre de Dios region), but here in MAAP #28 we detail the emergence of another deforestation hotspot in the region. Image 28a shows the intensification of this hotspot, located along the newly paved Interoceanic highway around the town of Iberia (see Inset F), between 2012-14 […]
Thanks to the newly launched GLAD alerts (developed by the University of Maryland and Google1, and presented by Global Forest Watch), we now have weekly access to high-resolution forest loss data across Peru. Here in MAAP #26, we analyze the first batch of this data to better understand deforestation patterns in the Peruvian Amazon in […]
Peru recently celebrated a major conservation victory for 2015 with the creation of Sierra del Divisor National Park. Prior to this announcement, Sierra del Divisor was classified as a Reserved Zone, which is a temporary measure to protect an area of biological importance until the government is able to determine a final designation. In these […]
In MAAP #5, we described the intensifying deforestation along the Upper Malinowski River in the department of Madre de Dios, Peru. Here in MAAP #19, we update this information and confirm that the deforestation continues at a rapid pace. This finding is based on analysis of three high-resolution images between September 2014 and November 2015. […]
As confirmed in MAAP #9, the company United Cacao (through its subsidiary in Peru, Cacao Peru North) cleared 2,126 hectares of primary forest between May 2013 and August 2014 to establish a large-scale cacao plantation outside the town of Tamshiyacu, in northeastern Peru (Loreto region). New satellite imagery reveals that the forest clearing has recently […]
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 […]
Between January and September 2025, a total of 335 hectares, an area comparable to about 530 soccer fields, were deforested due to illegal mining in Indigenous Territories within the Xingu River Basin, between the states of Mato Grosso and Pará in the Brazilian Amazon. The analysis indicates that isolated enforcement actions have not been sufficient […]
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