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A surge in unlawful mining has wiped out one hundred forty thousand hectares of tropical forest in the Peruvian Amazon, accelerating as foreign, armed groups move into the region to profit from all-time high gold values, as per a recent study.

About 540 square miles of land have been converted for extraction activities in the South American country since the mid-1980s, and the ecological damage is expanding quickly across the country, research found.

This mining boom is also poisoning its rivers and streams. Unlawful extractors use dredges – equipment that chew up and spit out riverbeds – depositing harmful mercury used to extract gold from soil in their wake.

Ultra-high resolution aerial images allowed analysts to detect mining equipment alongside forest loss for the first time, showing that the ecological disaster previously limited to the south of the country was spreading northward.

“Initially, it was only observed in Madre de Dios but now we’re seeing it everywhere,” commented an official involved in the research.

Gold values topped $4,000 for the initial occasion this period on international markets as worldwide concerns increased about economic instability. Native communities have raised concerns that as the value climbs, armed groups were more frequently destroying their woodlands and poisoning their rivers in pursuit of the valuable mineral.

Satellite photos show that previously lush forest areas are being converted into barren landscapes of grey earth pocked with standing water of discolored water.

“This small section is just a minor example,” a researcher remarked, indicating a small section of the extensive pattern of forest clearance documented in the study. “Consider this multiplied to one hundred forty thousand hectares.”

Mercury contamination build up in aquatic life and pass to the people who eat them, leading to health and cognitive issues such as congenital disorders and developmental delays.

An ongoing study of riverside communities in Peru’s far north of Loreto found the average concentration of mercury was nearly four times the safe threshold set by global health authorities.

Research found that 225 rivers and streams have been affected, with nearly a thousand dredging machines spotted in Loreto since recent years – among them 275 in the current year on the Nanay waterway, a tributary of the Amazon River that is the lifeblood of ecosystems and many native populations.

“Our waterways are being contaminated – it’s the water that we consume,” said a representative of multiple local communities in Loreto.

Local communities began preventing extractors from moving along the Tigre River in Loreto 40 days ago, resulting in gunfights with armed intruders. “We are forced to defend ourselves but we are alone. The state is absent,” he expressed with anger.

Mining is mostly located in the southern area of Madre de Dios in southern Peru but emerging zones are appearing in northern regions in Loreto, Amazonas, Huánuco, Pasco and Ucayali.

They are small but once mining is established it could expand quickly, an expert noted, stating that the study was a glimpse into what was occurring across the rest of the Amazon.

“It marks the initial occasion we’ve been able to look in this detail at a nation but I think in Brazil, Bolivia and Colombia we are going to see similar patterns,” he commented.

Research showed more dredges being detected on Peru’s jungle frontiers with Bolivia, Brazil and Colombia.

As gold values exceed four thousand dollars per ounce, international armed factions are increasingly venturing across the border into unregulated forest areas where local authorities are taking minimal action to halt their activities, according to a criminologist.

Illegal organizations, including factions from Colombia and Brazil, are increasingly active in the region.

“International crime networks trafficking cocaine and laundering profits through illegal gold mining – amid record values providing hefty returns – are alongside a administration that has not been a serious obstacle against organised crime,” the expert stated.

An intergovernmental group of South American countries told Peru to address unlawful extraction or it could face economic sanctions.

But an expert commented: “Gold is just so profitable right now. There are no indications of prices going down, so it’s probably going to get worse before it gets better.”