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A surge in unlawful mining has resulted in the clearing of one hundred forty thousand hectares of rainforest in the Amazon region of Peru, accelerating as foreign, armed groups enter the region to capitalize on all-time high gold values, based on findings.

Roughly five hundred forty square miles of land have been converted for extraction activities in the South American country since 1984, and the ecological damage is spreading rapidly across the country, analysis discovered.

The gold rush is also polluting its rivers and streams. Illegal miners use floating excavation machines – equipment that chew up and spit out riverbeds – depositing toxic mercury employed to separate gold from soil in their path.

Ultra-high resolution aerial images enabled researchers to detect dredges alongside deforestation for the first time, revealing that the environmental crisis previously limited to the south of the country was creeping northward.

“We used to only see it in the Madre de Dios region but now we’re seeing it across numerous areas,” stated an official involved in the research.

Gold values surpassed four thousand dollars for the first time this period on international markets as worldwide concerns increased about financial fragility. Native communities have raised concerns that as the price soars, armed groups were more frequently tearing down their forests and poisoning their rivers in pursuit of the precious metal.

Satellite photos show that previously lush forest areas are being converted into barren landscapes of grey earth marked by standing water of green water.

“This small section is just a minor example,” a researcher remarked, indicating a limited area of the extensive pattern of deforestation documented in the study. “Imagine this expanded to one hundred forty thousand hectares.”

The mercury residues accumulate in aquatic life and are transferred to the people who eat them, causing neurological and developmental problems such as birth defects and learning difficulties.

A recent investigation of communities along riverbanks in Peru’s far north of Loreto found the median level of mercury was nearly four times the World Health Organization’s recommended limit.

Analysis found that hundreds of waterways have been affected, with nearly a thousand dredging machines spotted in the region since recent years – among them two hundred seventy-five in the current year on the Nanay waterway, a tributary of the Amazon that is the lifeblood of natural habitats and dozens of Indigenous communities.

“Our waterways are being contaminated – it’s the water that we consume,” said a representative of multiple local communities in the area.

Local communities began preventing extractors from moving along the Tigre River in the region recently, leading to armed clashes with militant groups. “We have no choice but to fight back but we are alone. The state is nowhere to be seen,” he expressed with anger.

Mining is mostly located in the southern area of Madre de Dios in the south of the country but emerging zones are appearing in northern regions in Loreto, Amazonas, Huánuco, Pasco and Ucayali.

These areas are limited but once extraction begins it could grow rapidly, a researcher noted, stating that the report was a insight into what was happening across the broader Amazon region.

“This is the first time we’ve been able to look in this detail at a nation but I think in neighboring countries we are going to see similar patterns,” he added.

Findings showed more dredges being detected on Peru’s forest borders with Bolivia, Brazil and Colombia.

As gold values exceed four thousand dollars per ounce, foreign, armed groups are increasingly venturing into Peruvian territory into Peru’s lawless jungles where local authorities are doing little to halt their activities, according to a criminologist.

Illegal organizations, such as groups from Colombia and Brazil, are more involved across the border.

“Global criminal syndicates involved in drug trade and concealing illicit gains through illegal gold mining – amid record values yielding high profits – are combined with a administration that has failed to act decisively against criminal enterprises,” the expert remarked.

An intergovernmental group of South American countries told Peru to get serious about illegal mining or it could be subject to penalties.

But an expert said: “The returns from gold are immense at present. There are no indications of a decline in value, so it’s likely going to deteriorate before it improves.”