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A surge in unlawful mining has led to the destruction of one hundred forty thousand hectares of rainforest in the Amazon region of Peru, accelerating as foreign, armed groups move into the area to capitalize on record gold prices, based on findings.

About five hundred forty square miles of territory have been converted for extraction activities in the South American country since 1984, and the environmental destruction is growing at an alarming rate across the country, investigations found.

This mining boom is also polluting its rivers and streams. Illegal miners use floating excavation machines – equipment that disrupt and displace river bottoms – depositing toxic mercury used to extract gold from sediment in their wake.

Ultra-high resolution aerial images allowed analysts to identify mining equipment alongside forest loss for the first time, revealing that the ecological disaster once confined to the south of the country was spreading northward.

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

The price of gold surpassed four thousand dollars for the first time this week on global exchanges as worldwide concerns increased about economic instability. Indigenous groups have raised concerns that as the price soars, armed groups were increasingly tearing down their forests and contaminating their rivers in pursuit of the precious metal.

Aerial images show that previously lush forest areas are being converted into lifeless moonscapes of barren soil pocked with stagnant pools of green water.

“This small section is just a tiny sample,” a researcher remarked, indicating a limited area of the vast red patchwork of deforestation mapped in the report. “Consider this expanded to 140,000 hectares.”

The mercury residues build up in aquatic life and pass to the people who consume them, causing health and cognitive issues such as congenital disorders and learning difficulties.

A recent investigation of communities along riverbanks in Peru’s northernmost region of the Loreto region found the average concentration of mercury was nearly four times the World Health Organization’s recommended limit.

Research found that hundreds of waterways have been affected, with 989 dredges observed in the region since 2017 – including two hundred seventy-five in the current year on the Nanay waterway, a tributary of the Amazon that is the vital source of ecosystems and many native populations.

“They are poisoning our rivers – it’s the water that we drink,” said a spokesperson of several riverside communities in the area.

Local communities began blocking miners from advancing up the Tigre River in the region 40 days ago, leading to gunfights with armed intruders. “We have no choice but to fight back but we are alone. Government authorities is absent,” he expressed frustrated.

Mining remains concentrated in the southern area of Madre de Dios in southern Peru but emerging zones are developing farther north in Loreto, Amazonas, Huánuco, Pasco and Ucayali.

These areas are limited but once mining is established it could expand quickly, an expert said, stating that the study was a glimpse into what was occurring across the rest of the Amazon.

“This is the first time we’ve been able to look in this detail at a nation but I think in Brazil, Bolivia and Colombia we are going to see exactly the same thing,” he added.

Findings showed more dredges appearing 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 across the border into unregulated forest areas where government officials are doing little to halt their activities, as stated by a criminologist.

Illegal organizations, including factions from neighboring countries, are more involved across the border.

“International crime networks involved in drug trade and concealing illicit gains through unlawful extraction – now with peak prices providing hefty returns – are alongside a administration that has not been a serious obstacle against organised crime,” the expert remarked.

A political coalition of South American countries told Peru to get serious about unlawful extraction or it could be subject to penalties.

But an expert commented: “Gold is just so profitable at present. I don’t see any signs of a decline in value, so it’s probably going to deteriorate before it gets better.”