Informal Miners Launch Protests Following Gov’t Actions in Madre de Dios

Informal miners in Peru’s south-eastern jungle region of Madre de Dios have launched protests in response to government actions that began  over the weekend to halt the illegal industry. The Peruvian Navy and the police force began joint actions on Saturday that have led to the destruction in the course of three days of some [...]

Environment Ministry, Madre de Dios To Protect Area From Mining, Deforestation

Environment Minister Ricardo Giesecke and the regional president of Madre de Dios region, Luis Aguirre Pastor, signed an agreement  last Friday to protect some 85,000 km2 of rainforest that is under threat from deforestation and illegal mining. The agreement, signed as the government began a full-scale operation to bring illegal mining under control, seeks to strengthen [...]

SNMPE: Illegal Miners Generate $1 Billion Per Year

Illegal mining in Peru is generating more than $1 billion a year, with about three-quarters of the sum coming from gold production, according to the National Mining, Oil and Energy Society, SNMPE. Illegal miners also produce copper and silver, SNMPE’s ex-president, Jose Miguel Morales, said, according to state news agency Andina.  Morales said that the SNMPE [...]

Rolling Stones Front Man Mick Jagger Arrives at Machu Picchu

British rock star Mick Jagger arrived at the ancient Inca citadel of Machu Picchu on Thursday, as part of a trip to Peru that has included a sit-down with President Ollanta Humala and a visit to an eco-lodge in the jungle region of Madre de Dios. The front man for the Rolling Stones, Jagger travelled [...]

Authorities Rescue 293 Women From Sexual Exploitation In Madre de Dios

Peruvian authorities led an operation over the weekend that resulted in the rescue of 293 women, many of them young girls, who were forced into prostitution in the country’s informal gold mining region, in south-eastern Madre de Dios. Almost 450 police officers and 16 prosecutors took part in an assault on some 60 brothels in the jungle [...]

Cuzco, Madre de Dios and Arequipa lead human trafficking cases

Peru’s southern regions of Cusco, Madre de Dios and Arequipa have had the highest number of human trafficking cases so far this year, CNR news service reported, citing the Health ministry. So far this year, the ministry has rescued 229 people who were victims of human trafficking, the report says. Cusco had the most cases with 35, [...]

Madre de Dios declares giant otter representative species

The regional government of Peru’s south-eastern Madre de Dios department has declared the giant otter a representative species of the area, paving the way for actions to conserve its habitat. The department has 90 days to establish a conservation strategy for the giant otter and its habitat, daily El Comercio reported. The initiative comes after [...]

Environment Minister: Informal mining costs Madre de Dios millions in royalties

Peru’s Environment Minister, Antonio Brack, said Friday the Amazon’s Madre de Dios department is losing millions of dollars in royalties each year due to informal mining. The mining is also causing heavy metal contamination in the region’s waterways. Brack said that calculations by state tax regulator Sunat show that Madre de Dios should have collected about [...]

Environment Ministry to take emergency measures to reduce heavy-metal and mining contamination in Amazon region

Emergency measures to reduce heavy-metal contamination in Peru’s Mantaro River basin and pollution caused by informal mining in the Amazon’s Madre de Dios region are soon to be implemented, said Environment Minister Antonio Brack Egg on Sunday.