Elevated rates of gold mining in the Amazon revealed through high-resolution monitoring
Open accessAbstract
Significance: Commodity gold prices increased substantially following the 2008 global financial crisis. Gold demand has fueled a massive increase in mining activity, some of which is centered in the Amazon basin. Western Amazonian forests of Peru have become an epicenter for mostly illegal gold mining, but the clandestine nature of mining activities has made monitoring and reporting of forest losses extremely challenging. We combined high-resolution satellite and aircraft-based imaging with field surveys to address this issue in one of the highest biodiversity regions on Earth: Madre de Dios, Peru. We found the gold mining extent and rates are far higher than previously reported, with critically important implications for the ecology and environmental policy of this unique tropical rainforest region.
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Gold mining has been increasing since 1984, especially in Madre do Dios, Peru.
“Gold mining has been increasing since 1984, especially in Madre do Dios, Peru [122-124].”
From A systematic comparison of deforestation drivers and policy effectiveness across the Amazon biome (2023) · cites this paper as [124]
The paper reports rapid expansion of gold mining in Madre de Dios, Peru, and a 400% increase in its geographic extent from 1999 to 2012 (opening section; page not supplied). It does not establish an increase dating from 1984; its discussion also describes mining mapped from 1999 to 2012. (LLM, conf=0.90)
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Research works printed but not linked: 10
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- [22]Ashe K (2012) Elevated mercury concentrations in humans of Madre de Dios, Peru. PLoS ONE 7(3):e33305.
- [23]Terborgh J, et al. (2008) Tree recruitment in an empty forest. Ecology 89(6): 1757 -1768.
- [26]Asner GP, Rudel TK, Aide TM, Defries R, Emerson RE (2009) A contemporary assessment of change in humid tropical forests. Conserv Biol 23(6):1386 -1395.
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- [32]Asner GP, Heidebrecht KB (2002) Spectral unmixing of vegetation, soil and dry carbon cover in arid regions: Comparing multispectral and hyperspectral observations. Int J Remote Sens 23(19):3939 -3958.
- [33]Carlson KM, et al. (2012) Committed carbon emissions, deforestation, and community land conversion from oil palm plantation expansion in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 109(19):7559 -7564.
- [34]Allnutt TF, Asner GP, Golden CD, Powell GVN (2013) Mapping recent deforestation and forest disturbance in northeastern Madagascar. Tropical Conservation Science 6(1):1 -15.
- [35]Asner GP, et al. (2005) Selective logging in the Brazilian Amazon. Science 310(5747): 480 -482.
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ter Steege, H., Pitman, N. C. A., Killeen, T. J., Laurance, W. F., Peres, C. A., Guevara, J. E., Salomão, R. P., Castilho, C. V., Amaral, I. L., de Almeida Matos, F. D., et al. (2015) · Science Advances · doi:10.1126/sciadv.1500936 · Cited by 205 · see citing works
A systematic comparison of deforestation drivers and policy effectiveness across the Amazon biome
Hänggli, A., Levy, S. A., Armenteras, D., Bovolo, C. I., Brandão, J., Rueda, X., & Garrett, R. D. (2023) · Environmental Research Letters · doi:10.1088/1748-9326/acd408 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
- Authors
- Asner, G. P., Llactayo, W., Tupayachi, R., & Luna, E. R.
- Affiliations
- Carnegie Institution for Science (US)
- Dirección General de Ordenamiento Territorial, and
- Asesor de la Alta Dirección, Ministerio del Ambiente, San Isidro, Lima 27, Peru
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2013-10-28
- Volume
- 110
- Issue
- 46
- Pages
- 18454-18459
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC3832012
- OpenAlex
- W2021121572
- Cited by
- 366
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 24 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 39 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 35 · 2021: 39 · 2020: 39 · 2019: 24 · 2018: 25 · 2017: 22 · 2016: 36 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 19 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 40.74
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Florida International University Digital Commons (Florida International University) (submittedVersion)
- FIU - Digital Commons (Florida International University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Building and Construction › Mining and Resource Management
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Extractivism and Socioeconomic Issues
- Keywords
- gold mining, Madre de Dios, Peruvian Amazon, forest loss, deforestation rates, gold prices, global recession, high-resolution satellite imagery, tropical forest degradation, mining impacts
- MeSH terms
- Conservation of Natural Resources, Environmental Monitoring, Gold, Humans, Mining, Peru, Satellite Imagery
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