An illegal gold rush has cleared 140,000 hectares of rainforest in the Peruvian Amazon, with armed criminal groups moving in to capitalise on record gold prices, a report has found. The environmental destruction is accelerating as foreign gangs exploit weak governance, turning dense jungle into barren moonscapes.
According to Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project (MAAP) and Conservación Amazónica, about 540 square miles have been cleared since 1984. Illegal miners use dredges to extract gold from riverbeds, leaving behind toxic mercury that poisons waterways and accumulates in fish, causing neurological and developmental problems in local communities.
The crisis, once confined to the Madre de Dios region in southern Peru, is spreading northwards. MAAP identified 225 affected rivers and streams, with 989 dredges spotted in Loreto since 2017. Recent tests found median mercury levels nearly four times the World Health Organization's recommended limit.
With gold prices exceeding $4,000 per ounce, international crime networks such as Colombia's Comandos de la Frontera and Brazil's Comando Vermelho are increasingly active. Criminologist Bram Ebus noted that these groups launder cocaine profits through illegal mining, facing little resistance from authorities in Lima.
Indigenous communities have tried to block miners, but gunfights have erupted. Roberto Tafur Shupingahua, a community representative in Loreto, said: 'We have no choice but to fight back but we are alone. The state is nowhere to be seen.' The Andean Group has urged Peru to take action or face economic sanctions.
MAAP director Matt Finer warned that similar deforestation and mercury pollution are likely occurring in Brazil, Bolivia and Colombia. 'This is the first time we’ve been able to look in this detail at a country but I think we are going to see exactly the same thing,' he said.
