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An illegal gold rush has resulted in the clearing of one hundred forty thousand hectares of tropical forest in the Amazon region of Peru, accelerating as armed foreign factions move into the area to profit from all-time high gold values, according to a report.

About 540 square miles of land have been cleared for mining in the Peruvian nation since the mid-1980s, and the environmental destruction is growing at an alarming rate across the country, investigations found.

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

Detailed satellite photographs enabled analysts to identify mining equipment together with forest loss for the first time, revealing that the environmental crisis 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,” stated a director involved in the research.

Gold values topped $4,000 for the first time this week on international markets as worldwide concerns rose about economic instability. Native communities have raised concerns that as the price soars, militant factions were increasingly destroying their forests and poisoning their rivers in search for the precious metal.

Satellite photos show that previously lush forest areas are being converted into barren landscapes of barren soil marked by standing water of discolored water.

“This little square is just a minor example,” a researcher noted, indicating a limited area of the vast red patchwork of forest clearance documented in the study. “Consider this multiplied to one hundred forty thousand hectares.”

Mercury contamination accumulate in fish and are transferred to the populations who eat them, causing neurological and developmental problems such as birth defects and learning difficulties.

A recent study of riverside communities in Peru’s northernmost region of the Loreto region found the median level of mercury was almost quadruple the World Health Organization’s recommended limit.

Research found that 225 rivers and streams have been affected, with nearly a thousand dredging machines spotted in Loreto since 2017 – among them 275 in the current year on the Nanay River, a tributary of the Amazon River that is the vital source of ecosystems and dozens of Indigenous communities.

“Our waterways are being contaminated – it’s the drinking water that we consume,” said a spokesperson of several riverside communities in the area.

Local communities began blocking miners from advancing up the Tigre River in Loreto 40 days ago, leading to armed clashes with militant groups. “We have no choice but to fight back but we are alone. The state is nowhere to be seen,” he stated with anger.

Extraction activities is mostly located in the Madre de Dios region in the south of the country but emerging zones are appearing in northern regions in Loreto, Amazonas, Huánuco, Pasco and Ucayali.

These areas are limited but once extraction begins it could grow rapidly, an expert noted, adding that the study was a glimpse into what was happening across the broader Amazon region.

“It marks the initial occasion we’ve been able to examine so closely at a nation but I think in neighboring countries we are going to see similar patterns,” he commented.

Findings showed more dredges being detected on Peru’s forest borders with Bolivia, Brazil and Colombia.

As gold values exceed four thousand dollars per ounce, foreign, armed groups are increasingly venturing across the border into Peru’s lawless jungles where local authorities are doing little to stop them, as stated by a criminologist.

Illegal organizations, including groups from neighboring countries, are more involved in the region.

“International crime networks trafficking cocaine and laundering profits through unlawful extraction – amid record values providing hefty returns – are combined with a administration that has not been a serious obstacle against organised crime,” the analyst remarked.

A political coalition of South American countries instructed Peru to get serious about illegal mining or it could be subject to penalties.

But an expert commented: “Gold is just so profitable at present. I don’t see any signs of a decline in value, so it’s likely going to get worse before it improves.”