Elevated rates of gold mining in the Amazon revealed through high-resolution monitoring

Asner, Gregory P.; Llactayo, William; Tupayachi, Raul; Luna, Ernesto Ráez

doi:10.1073/pnas.1318271110

Cited by 284 publications

(268 citation statements)

References 29 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

241

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Additional emerging threats to Perú's lowland carbon stocks include artisanal gold mining and oil palm plantations (SI Appendix, Fig. S12) (7,28). Comparing current gold mining and oil palm plantation carbon stocks with intact forest carbon densities within 10 km of them, we find that these activities remove 70-95% of the aboveground carbon stock, leaving just 15-34 Mg C ha −1 , down from ∼96 Mg C ha −1 (Table 1).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 95%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Targeted carbon conservation at national scales with high-resolution monitoring

Asner

Knapp

Martin

et al. 2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

Self Cite

107

134

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Terrestrial carbon conservation can provide critical environmental, social, and climate benefits. Yet, the geographically complex mosaic of threats to, and opportunities for, conserving carbon in landscapes remain largely unresolved at national scales. Using a new high-resolution carbon mapping approach applied to Perú, a megadiverse country undergoing rapid land use change, we found that at least 0.8 Pg of aboveground carbon stocks are at imminent risk of emission from land use activities. Map-based information on the natural controls over carbon density, as well as current ecosystem threats and protections, revealed three biogeographically explicit strategies that fully offset forthcoming land-use emissions. High-resolution carbon mapping affords targeted interventions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in rapidly developing tropical nations.carbon sequestration | forest degradation | deforestation | light detection and ranging | REDD+

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…This problem has contributed to the low number and slow adoption of REDD+ programs. Consequently, carbon conservation is limited to volunteer markets or demonstration activities that are unlikely to compete financially with other land uses that generate large carbon emissions, such as oil palm plantations and surface mining (6,7).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Targeted carbon conservation at national scales with high-resolution monitoring

Asner

Knapp

Martin

et al. 2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

Self Cite

107

134

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…18 Gold mining leads to several of these conditions, including habitat modification 19,20 and human settlements in the Amazon frontier. In this sense, illegal gold mining may be especially important, given its unregulated nature, and the poor working, living, and health conditions associated with this activity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unstable Malaria Transmission in the Southern Peruvian Amazon and Its Association with Gold Mining, Madre de Dios, 2001–2012

Sánchez

Carnero

Rivera

et al. 2017

The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. The reemergence of malaria in the last decade in Madre de Dios, southern Peruvian Amazon basin, was accompanied by ecological, political, and socioeconomic changes related to the proliferation of illegal gold mining. We conducted a secondary analysis of passive malaria surveillance data reported by the health networks in Finally, health facilities located > 1 km from the Interoceanic Highway reported significantly more cases than health facilities within this distance (ratio = 16.20, 95% CI = 8.25, 31.80). Transmission of malaria in Madre de Dios is unstable, geographically heterogeneous, and strongly associated with illegal gold mining. These findings highlight the importance of spatially oriented interventions to control malaria in Madre de Dios, as well as the need for research on malaria transmission in illegal gold mining camps. BACKGROUND

show abstract

“…However, in 2011, an estimated 97% of mining concessions in the region were illegal (in [8]). The environmental impacts of these illegal ASGM activities are substantial, and include deforestation [9,10], habitat loss and desertification [11], and air and water pollution from gasoline and oil spills and combustion [12]. The region is also touted as one of the world's greatest biodiversity hotspots [13], further increasing the impacts of the environmental degradation associated with ASGM.…”

Section: Overview Of Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Miningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mercury Levels in Human Hair and Farmed Fish near Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining Communities in the Madre de Dios River Basin, Peru

Langeland¹,

Hardin²,

Neitzel³

2017

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) has been an important source of income for communities in the Madre de Dios River Basin in Peru for hundreds of years. However, in recent decades, the scale of ASGM activities in the region has increased dramatically, and exposures to a variety of occupational and environmental hazards related to ASGM, including mercury, are becoming more widespread. The aims of our study were to: (1) examine patterns in the total hair mercury level of human participants in several communities in the region and compare these results to the 2.2 µg/g total hair mercury level equivalent to the World Health Organization (WHO) Expert Committee of Food Additives (JECFA)'s Provisional Tolerable Weekly Intake (PTWI); and (2), to measure the mercury levels of paco (Piaractus brachypomus) fish raised in local aquaculture ponds, in order to compare these levels to the EPA Fish Tissue Residue Criterion of 0.3 µg Hg/g fish (wet weight). We collected hair samples from 80 participants in four communities (one control and three where ASGM activities occurred) in the region, and collected 111 samples from fish raised in 24 local aquaculture farms. We then analyzed the samples for total mercury. Total mercury levels in hair were statistically significantly higher in the mining communities than in the control community, and increased with increasing distance away from the Madre de Dios headwaters (as the crow flies), did not differ by sex, and frequently exceeded the reference level. Regression analyses indicated that higher hair mercury levels were associated with residence in ASGM communities. The analysis of paco fish samples found no samples that exceeded the EPA tissue residue criterion. Collectively, these results align with other recent studies showing that ASGM activities are associated with elevated human mercury exposure. The fish farmed through the relatively new process of aquaculture in ASGM areas appeared to have little potential to contribute to human mercury exposure. More research is needed on human health risks associated with ASGM to discern occupational, residential, and nutritional exposure, especially through tracking temporal changes in mercury levels as fish ponds age, and assessing levels in different farmed fish species. Additionally, research is needed to definitively determine that elevated mercury levels in humans and fish result from the elemental mercury from mining, rather than from a different source, such as the mercury released from soil erosion during deforestation events from mining or other activities.

show abstract

Elevated rates of gold mining in the Amazon revealed through high-resolution monitoring

Cited by 284 publications

References 29 publications

Targeted carbon conservation at national scales with high-resolution monitoring

Targeted carbon conservation at national scales with high-resolution monitoring

Unstable Malaria Transmission in the Southern Peruvian Amazon and Its Association with Gold Mining, Madre de Dios, 2001–2012

Mercury Levels in Human Hair and Farmed Fish near Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining Communities in the Madre de Dios River Basin, Peru

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About