Millennial wealth around the world under threat

The Amazon is recognized as the largest tropical forest and river system in the world. It is home to 10% of the planet's biodiversity and extends through the territories of 9 Latin American countries. It is home to more than 47 million people, including 410 indigenous groups. Due to its extension and environmental characteristics, this region is fundamental for climate regulation, the water cycle and the environmental and economic prosperity of the area. Therefore, its protection and conservation is vital for the global ecosystem.

Along with deforestation and river pollution, soil contamination represents one of the greatest threats to the diverse Amazonian ecosystems. This pollution is due, among other things, to the unsustainable extraction of minerals such as gold, whose impact on the Amazon's water sources and forests has increased due to the greater demand for this precious metal. Among these practices, the use of mercury to separate and extract gold is common, but given its negative impact on the environment and human health, it is considered illegal in many places.

According to a report by the World Resources Institute and the Amazonian Socio-Environmental Information Network (RAISG), illegal miners have invaded 370 indigenous territories, where any type of mining is illegal. In addition, clandestine operations are contaminating almost 20% of Amazonian villages with mercury.

Hair and blood samples, taken with the consent of some inhabitants of the Colombian Amazon, register mercury levels in the blood up to 150 times higher than acceptable levels, according to the World Health Organization. This high concentration of the metal in the body has effects on the nervous, digestive and immune systems.

All these problems have set off alarm bells in several countries in the region and it is in this context that the Amazon Regional Alliance for the reduction of the impacts of gold mining was created. It began in Colombia, but now governmental and civil society entities from Brazil, Peru, Bolivia and French Guiana are also participating. Together, they seek to generate spaces for collaboration and knowledge to generate actions to prevent, reduce and recover from the impacts of gold mining on the rivers, inhabitants, animals and plants of the Amazon.