How Bad Is Peruvian Deforestation? Bad Enough That Peru Is Opening A Military Base To Deal With It
Peru opened a military base in the Amazon on Tuesday in a bid to tackle illegal mining, the main culprit for deforestation in the world's largest rainforest. "The government has taken the political decision to be present in this region to eradicate illegal mining," said Defense Minister Jose Huerta at the inauguration of the base in the Tambopata nature reserve.
The reserve lies in the Madre de Dios region known as the capital of illegal mining in Peru. The military base has been installed in an old camp of log cabins abandoned by illegal miners two weeks ago when Peru began its "Mercury" operation against the practice. "We've come and we'll stay as long as is necessary," said Huerta. More military bases are planned.
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Illegal mining, mainly for gold in the jungle and rivers, caused the loss of 9,000 hectares (22,000 acres) of rainforest last year but also generated other illegal activities such as people trafficking, mercury trafficking, hired killers and prostitution, authorities say. The security services will be mostly concentrated in an area where 6,000 illegal miners are at work, with a lawless village of 25,000 having built up around their activities.
Recent satellite images from the Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project (MAAP) have showed an acceleration in deforestation in the Peruvian part of the rainforest. In the last two years, 18,440 hectares of rainforest have been lost in the Peruvian Amazon -- the equivalent of 25,000 football fields, according to MAAP.
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https://www.afp.com/en/news/717/peru-opens-military-base-protect-amazon-deforestation-doc-1eb1yt2
