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In collaboration with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, special correspondent Steve Sapienza reports on illegal gold mining in southeastern Peru, where one of the world's richest ecosystems is being mutilated by illegal gold miners. Deemed fortune hunters, illegal gold miners increasingly prey on the resources of the Madre De Dios region, transforming Peru's rainforests into mining towns and extending the problem deeper into the Amazon. Close to 30,000 people tied to illegal gold mining activity now call the region in Peru home. Specifically in the region's capital, Puerto Maldonado, and a nearby town, La Pampa, deforestation caused by illegal gold miners is on the rise, and with police efforts to halt the illegal gold mining proving futile, the destruction of Peru continues.
The owners of farm and forestry concessions in Peru face a daily threat of invasion by illegal gold miners who claim to have mining rights to the land. The resulting illegal mining fosters criminal activities and destroys the natural resources of the region. Once illegal gold miners relocate, the land remains a barren desert of sand pits--a destroyed ecosystem carved out by deforestation.
This report is part of the Pulitzer Center sponsored project "Peru's Gold Rush: Wealth and Woes" ([ Ссылка ]).
