Mining activities — both large-scale legal concessions and smaller illegal operations — now cover more than 20 percent of Indigenous lands in the Amazon, accounting for 450,00 square kilometers, according to a new report by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the Amazon Geo-Referenced Socio-Environmental Information Network.

In total, mining is taking place within 1,131 of the Amazon’s 3,653 Indigenous lands, excluding French Guiana and Suriname. Illegal mining, specifically, is affecting at least 370 Indigenous lands, the vast majority of which is occurring in Peru. The report also found that the industry is polluting or using for transit at least 30 Amazonian rivers, which run through or border 88 Indigenous lands.

The presence of mining was also associated with higher tree loss. Indigenous areas with mining activity in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru had forest loss at least three times higher than areas without. In Colombia and Venezuela, tree loss was one to two times higher.

Read more at: YaleEnvironment 360

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