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A surge in unlawful mining has wiped out one hundred forty thousand hectares of rainforest in the Peruvian Amazon, accelerating as foreign, armed groups move into the area to capitalize on all-time high gold values, as per a recent study.

About five hundred forty square miles of territory have been cleared for mining in the South American country since the mid-1980s, and the environmental destruction is expanding quickly across the country, analysis revealed.

This mining boom is also poisoning its waterways. Illegal miners use dredges – machines that disrupt and displace riverbeds – depositing harmful mercury used to extract gold from sediment in their wake.

Ultra-high resolution aerial images allowed researchers to identify mining equipment alongside forest loss for the first time, revealing that the environmental crisis previously limited to the southern part of the country was creeping northward.

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

Gold values surpassed four thousand dollars for the initial occasion this week on global exchanges as global anxiety increased about economic instability. Native communities have raised concerns that as the price soars, armed groups were increasingly destroying their woodlands and contaminating their rivers in search for the valuable mineral.

Satellite photos show that previously lush forest areas are being transformed into lifeless moonscapes of grey earth marked by stagnant pools of green water.

“This little square is just a minor example,” a researcher noted, pointing to a limited area of the extensive pattern of forest clearance mapped in the report. “Consider this multiplied to one hundred forty thousand hectares.”

Mercury contamination build up in fish and pass to the populations who consume them, leading to neurological and developmental problems such as congenital disorders and developmental delays.

A recent study of communities along riverbanks in Peru’s northernmost region of the Loreto region found the median level of mercury was nearly four times the safe threshold set by global health authorities.

Analysis found that 225 rivers and streams have been impacted, with 989 dredges observed in Loreto since recent years – among them two hundred seventy-five in the current year on the Nanay River, a branch of the Amazon that is the lifeblood of ecosystems and many native populations.

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

Local communities began blocking miners from moving along the River Tigre in the region recently, leading to gunfights with armed intruders. “We have no choice but to fight back but we are alone. Government authorities is nowhere to be seen,” he stated frustrated.

Extraction activities is mostly located in the Madre de Dios region in the south of the country but new hotspots are appearing farther north in Loreto, Amazonas, Huánuco, Pasco and Ucayali.

These areas are limited but once extraction begins it could expand quickly, a researcher noted, adding that the study was a insight into what was happening across the rest of the Amazon.

“This is the first time we’ve been able to examine so closely at a nation but I think in neighboring countries we are going to see similar patterns,” he commented.

Findings showed more dredges being detected on Peru’s forest borders with adjacent nations.

With gold prices surpassing $4,000 an ounce, international armed factions are more frequently entering across the border into Peru’s lawless jungles where local authorities are taking minimal action to halt their activities, according to an expert on crime.

Illegal organizations, such as groups from neighboring countries, are more involved in the region.

“International crime networks trafficking cocaine and laundering profits through unlawful extraction – now with peak prices yielding high profits – are combined with 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 address unlawful extraction or it could be subject to penalties.

But an expert commented: “The returns from gold are immense right now. There are no indications of prices going down, so it’s likely going to get worse before it gets better.”