Peru – Amazon Eaten Away by Illegal Mining

The Amazon is being destroyed bit by bit by an explosion of tiny, unreported illegal gold mines. Approximately 415,000 acres of tropical sites were cleared for potential gold-mining activity between 2001 and 2013. A total of 55 illegal mines have been shut down since mid- July in the Peruvian Madre de Dios region, where around 60,000 hectares have already been lost due to illegal mining. teleSUR