The skyrocketing price of gold has proven to be bad news for Brazil's increasingly fragile rainforests. The reason is that mining operations have led to widespread illegal logging and associated pollution, according to the AP. They cite a study by Amazon Conservation and the Instituto Socioambiental that unequivocally reveals that trees have been clear-cut at three sites in the Xingu region.
The first cases of illegal mining were discovered in 2024 and have since increased. More sites have been affected, as revealed by satellite images where around 80% is estimated to be illegal. As one might expect from illegal operations, no other protocols are followed either, and an extremely toxic substance like mercury is being dumped into the Amazon's rivers, threatening both people and wildlife since it has been found that more than one in five fish sold in the Amazon contain levels well above the permitted limits.
Tackling the problem is difficult, as the operations quickly move to new areas when authorities take action, and federal prosecutor André Luiz Porreca, who works on cases like these, explains:
"Last year, I took part in an operation that destroyed more than 500 dredges on an Indigenous land. The following week, Indigenous people showed me photos proving the miners had already returned."