Above, satellite images show mining ponds in the Madre de Dios region, before and after the 2019 intervention. Below, satellite images show new mining expanding to areas outside the intervention zone.
Credit: Evan Dethier, European Space Agency Copernicus Sentinel-2
Illegal gold mining occurs in rivers across the global tropics. Addressing the underlying causes is a complex issue, according to Dethier. While the Peruvian government's intervention could act as a model for other areas where mining may not be as widespread, the economic incentives for mining remain.
"There's these twin concerns of the environment and then the livelihoods of the people, and then also in many of these places the industry is significant enough that the national governments have an interest in it being active, so it's very thorny," Dethier said.
In the future, researchers hope to better understand how both the people and the ecology can move forward in recovering the converted land.
"What's at the front of our mind is, 'what's the pathway to recovery in some of these really profoundly altered regions?'" Dethier said. "That remains to be seen, whether these areas that are now not being mined are going to recover on their own, or if recovery is sort of a complicated and twisted path. Right now, we believe it likely needs to be helped along by targeted remediation efforts."
