Image #11: Importance of Protected Areas in The Peruvian Amazon

The Peruvian national protected areas system, known as SINANPE, is critically important to Amazon conservation efforts in the country. There are currently 46 protected areas in the Peruvian Amazon under national or regional administration*. In total, these areas cover 19.5 million hectares and include a wide variety of designations, including areas of indirect use (those […]


Mining News Watch #17

Mining News Watch #17 covers the time period June 10- July 30, 2015 Top Stories  On July 13th, the Peruvian police carried out a major raid in the La Pampa mining zone (Madre de Dios), the first major government operation against illegal mining in eight months. Following the raid, the regional President of Madre de Dios, Luis Otsuka, complained […]


Image #8: New Deforestation Detected Within Sierra Del Divisor (Peru) in June

Recall that in Image of the Week #7 we documented the increasing threats (illegal coca, logging, and mining) to the Sierra del Divisor Reserved Zone. We just obtained brand new, high-resolution imagery showing new deforestation deep within this protected area during the month of June. Here, Image of the Week #8, presents new maps of […]


Mining News Watch #16

Mining News Watch #16 covers the time period March 17- June 10, 2015 Top Stories The Peruvian government announced in May that new complementary regulations for the formalization process will be released in August. To date, only 16 permits have been issued for formalized mining, affecting just 631 of the 58,835 miners that started the process […]


Image #3: Detection of New (Logging?) Roads in The Peruvian Amazon

Image of the Week #3 shows the rapid proliferation of two new road networks in the northern Peruvian Amazon (Department of Loreto). Most notably, it highlights the construction of nearly 150 km of new roads, possibly illegal logging roads, through mostly primary forest between 2013 and 2014. One of the roads is within the buffer […]