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Stripped earth at an Arco Minero gold mine in Venezuela.

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<p>Mining in the Amazon is a pervasive threat to the world’s largest rainforest— and it’s <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200629090012.htm#:~:text=Gold%20mining%20has%20rapidly%20increased,as%2090%25%20of%20total%20deforestation.&text=They%20estimate%20that%20mining%2Drelated,forest%20carbon%20across%20the%20Amazon." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">on the rise</a>. Gold prices <a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/09/covid-19-rising-gold-prices-and-illegal-mining-threaten-indigenous-lands-amazon" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">spiked</a> last summer and have remained high. COVID-19-related stimulus packages supported gold prices, and the economic threat posed by the pandemic turned investors towards the seemingly stable investment in gold. Demand for the metal has accelerated. And where demand has grown, deforestation and human rights abuses have followed.</p>



<p>Venezuela’s rainforests and people have been hit particularly hard by gold mining, where estimates indicate that between <a href="https://arcominero.infoamazonia.org/GIATOC-OC_Illegally-Mined-Gold-in-Latin-America-3c3f978eef80083bdd8780d7c5a21f1e.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">80% and 90%</a> is mined illegally.</p>



<h3><strong>Gold mining replaces oil industry, with the potential to be just as destructive</strong></h3>



<p>Venezuela has been <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-pearls-to-oil-venezuelas-long-history-of-boom-and-bust-24049" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">historically</a> dependent on extractive industries; until recently, the country’s economy was built on government-controlled petroleum extraction. After the oil industry collapsed due to crumbling infrastructure, the government was looking for a way to bolster the economy and <a href="https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/venezuela-fuels-amazonian-gold-rush-with-petrodollars-drying-up-1.1487421" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">gold</a> offered a potential salve.</p>



<p>In 2016, the President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, announced plans for the Arco Minero, which designates 112,000 square kilometers of rainforest south of the Orinoco River for mining gold and coltan (a mineral used in many electronics).</p>



<p>The plan for the Arco Minero <a href="https://arcominero.infoamazonia.org/story" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">explicitly contradicts</a> environmental standards laid out in the country’s constitution. Many of the mines are run by Venezuelan gangs or guerilla groups from Colombia under protection from the Venezuelan military, creating a <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/01/venezuelas-mining-arc-boom-sweeps-up-indigenous-people-and-cultures/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">landscape of lawlessness</a>.</p>



<p>Illegal goldmining had been occurring south of the Orinoco since before the Arco Minero, but never on such a massive scale. Cesar Romero, a metallurgical engineer, director of Fundacion Cerlas and co-founder of “Plataforma contra el Arco Minero”— an activist organization that opposes the mining— recalls his shock at just how much territory had been approved for mining.&nbsp;</p>



<p>“When I read the decree, I couldn’t believe the dimension. The activity was bad before, but the Arco Minero made it huge,” said Romero. “The area established by the decree is more than 12% of the national territory, bigger than Cuba and some European countries.”</p>



<h3><strong>An arc of destruction eating into the rainforest</strong></h3>



<p>Since the declaration in 2016, mining has proliferated, transforming Bolivar and Amazonas state where most of the activity is concentrated.</p>



<p>Vilisa Morón-Zambrano, President of the Sociedad Venezolana de Ecologica (SVE) which has been investigating the ecological impacts of the Arco Minero since 2016, has traveled to the region several times and remarked how quickly things have changed.</p>



<p>“In 2014 I was there for tourism, and the mining was not evident. But last February, once you pass some of the main towns and find the road to Brazil, it’s shocking, it’s all over,” Morón-Zambrano said. “You’d see people with craft equipment for mining walking around, and you could also see extraction plant sites in plain sight.”</p>



<p>Global Forest Watch (GFW) data shows a spike in primary forest loss in Venezuela in 2016, and loss in subsequent years has yet to return to pre-2016 levels. <a href="https://gfw.global/3eukaA8" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">74%</a> of loss since 2016 occurred in Amazonas and Bolívar state.</p>



<iframe width="630" height="460" frameborder="0" src="https://www.globalforestwatch.org/embed/widget/treeLossPct/country/VEN?treeLossPct=eyJoaWdobGlnaHRlZCI6ZmFsc2V9"></iframe>



<p>The destruction can be seen from space. Satellite imagery of <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/01/venezuelas-mining-arc-boom-sweeps-up-indigenous-people-and-cultures/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Las Claritas</a>, a mining town in Bolívar state, shows tan scars sprawling out into the otherwise dense forest. Since 2016, Bolivar has lost 74,600 hectares of primary forest. Amazonas has lost 76,850 hectares, which is almost 1.5 times the amount of loss from the prior 15 years combined.</p>



<div class="imagecenter"><img class=" wp-image-3569 alignright" style="padding-bottom: 10px;" alt="Gold mining town in the Arco Minero." src="https://content.globalforestwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Las-Claritas-gold-mining-arco-minero.jpg" width="100%">Tree cover loss (pink) surrounding the mining town of Las Claritas, in Bolívar state, south of the Orinoco River.</div>



<h3><strong>Venezuela’s forests are vital to the world’s natural heritage</strong></h3>



<p>Venezuela is considered one of the world’s “megadiverse” countries—17 countries that harbor the majority of the Earth’s species. Over <a href="https://gfw.global/33Bn0x2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">60%</a> of the country is covered in natural forests that house threatened species like the jaguar and the giant anteater. The southern half of the country spans the Amazon and Orinoco river watersheds, as well as the dramatic landscape of stone pillars — called <em>tepui</em>— and the tallest waterfall in the world, Angel Falls.</p>



<div class="imagecenter"><img class=" wp-image-3569 alignright" style="padding-bottom: 10px;" alt="Tepui rock formation in Gran Sabana National Park, Venezuela" src="https://content.globalforestwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/2048px-Kukenan_Tepuy_at_Sunset.jpg" width="100%">Tepui rock formation in Gran Sabana National Park, Venezuela. Paolo Costa Baldi/Wikimedia</div>



<p><a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/venezuelas-ecocide-needs-international-attention" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">70</a><a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/venezuelas-ecocide-needs-international-attention" target="_blank">%</a> of Southern Venezuela is technically <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://research.wri.org/gfr/forest-designation-indicators/protected-forests" target="_blank">protected</a> by 8 national parks, 2 biosphere reserves and 19 national monuments. But these designations present only a small deterrent against the advance of mining. Mining has spread like wildfire from the designated area of the Arco Minero to encroach on <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/illegal-mining-venezuela-death-and-devastation-amazonas-and-orinoco-regions" target="_blank">Canaima</a> and <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.oas.org/dsd/AAPAD2/Docs/(iii)%20Yapacana%20NP%20Special%20Report%20(Venezuela).pdf" target="_blank">Yapacana</a> National Parks.</p>



<p>The gold mining process is highly destructive. It strips back <a href="https://theconversation.com/gold-mining-leaves-deforested-amazon-land-barren-for-years-find-scientists-141639" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">trees and topsoil</a>, causing erosion. Mercury, a toxic chemical used to amalgamate gold particles, can get carried for miles by rivers and accumulates in the bodies of fish and other organisms. The Orinoco River drains to the Atlantic where the <a href="https://law.lclark.edu/live/blogs/125-orinocos-mining-arc-an-environmental-crime-with" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pollution</a> can impact fisheries in Caribbean nations.</p>



<h3><strong>Indigenous Venezuelans are disproportionately affected</strong></h3>



<p>The surge of unregulated mining activity has carried with it a flood of <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26096&LangID=E" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">human rights abuses</a>. Mining towns are rife with drugs, prostitution, violence and illness. Deaths often result from unsafe working conditions in the mines.</p>



<p>Venezuela’s Indigenous population has been disproportionately affected. The largest concentration of Indigenous peoples in Venezuela live south of the Orinoco and they have been given little to no say in the development of their region. Vladimir Aguilar, professor of political science at the University of Los Andes works with Indigenous towns and communities to help them define the borders of their territory and defend their land rights. He estimates that roughly half of Indigenous communities in Venezuela have felt either direct or indirect impacts from the mines.</p>



<p>Communities like the Pemon, Yanomamis and Ye’kuanas have either had to leave their ancestral lands as they are invaded by miners and armed groups, or <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/01/venezuelas-mining-arc-boom-sweeps-up-indigenous-people-and-cultures/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">work in the mines</a> for survival, facing the threat of violence from armed groups and escalating costs of living. This major disruption to their traditional ways of life has strangled Indigenous culture and Aguilar worries that, once gone, it will be irreplaceable.</p>



<p>“The horrible part is that once you lose a culture, you lose part of humanity. In Venezuela, it was always the summation of cultures, including Indigenous cultures, so we are losing a part of our national identity. Once you lose that, it’s gone forever,” Aguilar said.</p>



<p>The impacts are also spreading beyond Venezuela’s borders. Mining towns often have increased rates of <a href="https://www.icj.org/venezuela-indigenous-peoples-face-deteriorating-human-rights-situation-due-to-mining-violence-and-covid-19-pandemic/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">malaria and other diseases</a>. According to Romero, as people have fled the conditions in Venezuela, those diseases follow, creating a regional public health issue.</p>



<p>“Now there are cases of malaria, diphtheria, AIDS…” Romero said. “6 million people are estimated to have left Venezuela, mostly to bordering countries, walking through roads and mountains and later affecting all those neighboring countries with these diseases.”</p>



<h3><strong>Halting the damage will require national and international system change</strong></h3>



<p>In order to see real change in the region, Morón-Zambrano says that the government regime needs to change. But the international community can take some actions to mitigate the impact. A gold market that sources gold responsibly, recycling electronics, tighter controls on the sale of mercury and responsible purchases on the part of the consumer, she said, could all help reduce the pressure on Venezuela’s people and forests. Wider awareness of the scope of the issue could also help drive action.</p>



<p>But Morón-Zambrano also sees hope in the people working to change the situation from the inside.</p>



<p>“What impacted me most was that there were people that wanted to do things differently, despite all the huge challenges. People who are organizing to plan and revert the damage happening today, people with big ideas,” Morón-Zambrano said.</p>



<p>Aguilar said that, despite the grim situation, the people south of the Orinoco are resilient. </p>



<p>“They have hope, that’s part of their culture,” Aguilar said. “There was a German philosopher that said, ‘destiny is not what happened, but where we’re going’. We’re going with strength and hope.”</p>



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<p></p>

Venezuelan People and Forests Suffer as Gold Mining Advances

<p>La minería en el Amazonas es una amenaza generalizada para la selva tropical más grande del mundo <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200629090012.htm#:~:text=Gold%20mining%20has%20rapidly%20increased,as%2090%25%20of%20total%20deforestation.&amp;text=They%20estimate%20that%20mining%2Drelated,forest%20carbon%20across%20the%20Amazon." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">— y va en aumento</a>. Los precios del oro <a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/09/covid-19-rising-gold-prices-and-illegal-mining-threaten-indigenous-lands-amazon" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">se dispararon</a> el verano pasado y se han mantenido altos. Los paquetes de estímulo relacionados con COVID-19 respaldaron los precios del oro, y la amenaza económica planteada por la pandemia hizo que los inversores se inclinaran en poner su dinero en el aparentemente estable oro. La demanda del metal se ha acelerado. Y donde ha crecido la demanda, ha seguido la deforestación y las violaciones de los derechos humanos.</p>



<p>Las selvas tropicales y la población de Venezuela se han visto particularmente afectadas por la extracción de oro, donde las estimaciones indican que entre el <a href="https://arcominero.infoamazonia.org/GIATOC-OC_Illegally-Mined-Gold-in-Latin-America-3c3f978eef80083bdd8780d7c5a21f1e.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">80% y el 90%</a> se extrae ilegalmente.</p>



<h3><strong>La minería de oro reemplaza a la industria petrolera, con el potencial de ser igual de destructiva</strong></h3>



<p>Venezuela ha dependido <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-pearls-to-oil-venezuelas-long-history-of-boom-and-bust-24049" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">históricamente</a> de las industrias extractivas; hasta hace poco, la economía del país se basaba en la extracción de petróleo controlada por el gobierno. Después de que la industria petrolera colapsara debido al desmoronamiento de la infraestructura, el gobierno buscaba una forma de impulsar la economía y <a href="https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/venezuela-fuels-amazonian-gold-rush-with-petrodollars-drying-up-1.1487421" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">el oro</a> ofrecía un potencial bálsamo.</p>



<p>En 2016, el presidente de Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, anunció planes para el Arco Minero que designa 112.000 kilómetros cuadrados de selva tropical al sur del río Orinoco para la extracción de oro y coltán (un mineral utilizado en muchos productos electrónicos).</p>



<p>El plan del Arco Minero <a href="https://arcominero.infoamazonia.org/story" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">contradice explícitamente</a> los estándares ambientales establecidos en la constitución del país. Muchas de las minas están dirigidas por bandas venezolanas o grupos guerrilleros de Colombia bajo la protección del ejército venezolano, lo que crea un <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/01/venezuelas-mining-arc-boom-sweeps-up-indigenous-people-and-cultures/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">panorama de anarquía</a>.</p>



<p>La extracción ilegal de oro había estado ocurriendo al sur del Orinoco desde antes del Arco Minero, pero nunca en una escala tan masiva. César Romero, ingeniero metalúrgico, director de la Fundación Cerlas y cofundador de "Plataforma contra el Arco Minero", una organización activista que se opone a la minería, recuerda su conmoción por la cantidad de territorio aprobado para la minería.</p>



<p>“Cuando leí el decreto, no podía creer la dimensión. La actividad minera era mala antes, pero el Arco Minero lo hizo enorme”, dijo Romero. “El área establecida por el decreto es más del 12% del territorio nacional, más grande que Cuba y algunos países europeos”</p>



<h3><strong>Un arco de destrucción devorando la selva tropical</strong></h3>



<p>Desde la declaración del año 2016, la minería ha proliferado, transformando los estados de Bolívar y Amazonas donde se concentra la mayor parte de la actividad.</p>



<p>Vilisa Morón-Zambrano, presidenta de la Sociedad Venezolana de Ecológica (SVE) que investiga los impactos ecológicos del Arco Minero desde 2016, ha viajado a la región varias veces y remarcó lo rápido que han cambiado las cosas.</p>



<p>“En 2014 estuve allí por turismo y la minería no era evidente. Pero en febrero pasado, una vez que pasas por algunas de las principales ciudades y encuentras la carretera a Brasil, es impactante, se ve por todos lados”, dijo Morón-Zambrano. "Ves gente con equipo artesanal para la minería caminando, y también puedes ver sitios de plantas de extracción a plena vista".</p>



<p>Los datos de Global Forest Watch (GFW) muestran un aumento en la pérdida de bosques primarios en Venezuela en 2016, y la pérdida en los años siguientes aún no ha vuelto a los niveles anteriores a 2016. El <a href="https://www.globalforestwatch.org/dashboards/country/VEN/?category=summary&amp;location=WyJjb3VudHJ5IiwiVkVOIl0%3D&amp;map=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&amp;scrollTo=treeLossLocated&amp;showMap=true&amp;treeLossLocated=eyJmb3Jlc3RUeXBlIjoicHJpbWFyeV9mb3Jlc3QiLCJleHRlbnRZZWFyIjoyMDAwLCJzdGFydFllYXIiOjIwMTZ9&amp;treeLossPct=eyJoaWdobGlnaHRlZCI6ZmFsc2V9&amp;widget=treeLossLocated" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">74%</a> de la pérdida desde 2016 ocurrió en el estado de Amazonas y Bolívar.</p>



<iframe width="630" height="460" frameborder="0" src="https://www.globalforestwatch.org/embed/widget/treeLossPct/country/VEN?treeLossPct=eyJoaWdobGlnaHRlZCI6ZmFsc2V9"></iframe>



<p>La destrucción se puede ver desde el espacio. Las imágenes satelitales de <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/01/venezuelas-mining-arc-boom-sweeps-up-indigenous-people-and-cultures/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Las Claritas</a>, un pueblo minero en el estado de Bolívar, muestran cicatrices de color canela que se extienden hacia el bosque, que de otra manera es denso. Desde 2016, Bolívar ha perdido 74,600 hectáreas de bosque primario. Amazonas ha perdido 76,850 hectáreas, que es casi 1,5.</p>



<div class="imagecenter"><img class=" wp-image-3569 alignright" style="padding-bottom: 10px;" alt="Gold mining town in the Arco Minero." src="https://content.globalforestwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Las-Claritas-gold-mining-arco-minero.jpg" width="100%">Pérdida de cobertura arbórea (rosa) en los alrededores del poblado minero Las Claritas, en el estado Bolívar, al sur del río Orinoco.</div>



<h3><strong>Los bosques de Venezuela son vitales para el patrimonio natural mundial</strong></h3>



<p>Venezuela es considerada uno de los países "megadiversos" del mundo - 17 países que albergan la mayoría de las especies de la Tierra. <a href="https://www.globalforestwatch.org/dashboards/country/VEN/?category=summary&amp;mainMap=eyJzaG93UmVjZW50SW1hZ2VyeSI6dHJ1ZSwic2hvd0FuYWx5c2lzIjp0cnVlfQ%3D%3D&amp;map=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%3D%3D&amp;mapMenu=eyJkYXRhc2V0Q2F0ZWdvcnkiOiJsYW5kQ292ZXIifQ%3D%3D&amp;showMap=true&amp;treeLoss=eyJpbnRlcmFjdGlvbiI6e319&amp;treeLossPct=eyJpbnRlcmFjdGlvbiI6e319&amp;treeLossTsc=eyJpbnRlcmFjdGlvbiI6e319&amp;widget=treeCover" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Más del 60%</a> del país está cubierto en bosques naturales que albergan especies amenazadas como el jaguar y el oso hormiguero gigante. La mitad sur del país se extiende por las cuencas de los ríos Amazonas y Orinoco, así como por el espectacular paisaje de pilares de piedra, llamados tepui, y la cascada más alta del mundo, el Salto Ángel.</p>



<p><a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/venezuelas-ecocide-needs-international-attention" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">El 70%</a> del sur de Venezuela está técnicamente <a href="https://research.wri.org/gfr/forest-designation-indicators/protected-forests" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">protegido</a> por 8 parques nacionales, 2 reservas de biosfera y 19 monumentos nacionales. Pero estas designaciones presentan solo una pequeña disuasión contra el avance de la minería. La minería se ha extendido como la pólvora desde el área designada del Arco Minero invadiendo los Parques Nacionales <a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/illegal-mining-venezuela-death-and-devastation-amazonas-and-orinoco-regions" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Canaima</a> y <a href="https://www.oas.org/dsd/AAPAD2/Docs/(iii)%20Yapacana%20NP%20Special%20Report%20(Venezuela).pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Yapacana</a>.</p>



<p>El proceso de extracción de oro es muy destructivo. Despoja de <a href="https://theconversation.com/gold-mining-leaves-deforested-amazon-land-barren-for-years-find-scientists-141639" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">árboles y de la capa superficial del suelo</a>, provocando erosión. El mercurio, una sustancia química tóxica que se utiliza para amalgamar partículas de oro, puede ser transportado por kilómetros por los ríos y acumularse en los cuerpos de los peces y otros organismos. El río Orinoco desemboca en el Atlántico, donde la <a href="https://law.lclark.edu/live/blogs/125-orinocos-mining-arc-an-environmental-crime-with" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">contaminación</a> puede afectar la pesca en las naciones del Caribe.</p>



<h3><strong>Los indígenas venezolanos se ven afectados de manera desproporcionada</strong></h3>



<p>El aumento de la actividad minera no regulada ha traído consigo una avalancha de <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26096&amp;LangID=E" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">abusos contra los derechos humanos</a>. Las ciudades mineras están plagadas de drogas, prostitución, violencia y enfermedades. Las muertes a menudo son el resultado de condiciones laborales inseguras en las minas.</p>



<p>La población indígena de Venezuela se ha visto afectada de manera desproporcionada. La mayor concentración de pueblos indígenas en Venezuela vive al sur del Orinoco y se les ha dado poca o ninguna voz en el desarrollo de su región. Vladimir Aguilar, profesor de ciencias políticas de la Universidad de Los Andes, trabaja con pueblos y comunidades indígenas para ayudarlos a definir las fronteras de su territorio y defender sus derechos territoriales. Él estima que aproximadamente la mitad de las comunidades indígenas en Venezuela han sentido impactos directos o indirectos de las minas.</p>



<p>Comunidades como los pemón, yanomami y ye'kuanas han tenido que abandonar sus tierras ancestrales al ser invadidas por mineros y grupos armados, o <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/01/venezuelas-mining-arc-boom-sweeps-up-indigenous-people-and-cultures/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">trabajar en las minas</a> para sobrevivir, enfrentando la amenaza de la violencia de los grupos armados y el aumento del costo de vida. Esta gran alteración de sus formas de vida tradicionales ha estrangulado la cultura indígena y Aguilar teme que, una vez desaparecida, sea irremplazable.</p>



<p>“Lo horrible es que una vez que se pierde una cultura, se pierde parte de la humanidad. En Venezuela, siempre fue la suma de culturas, incluidas las culturas indígenas, por lo que estamos perdiendo una parte de nuestra identidad nacional. Una vez que pierdes eso, desaparece para siempre”, dijo Aguilar.</p>



<p>Los impactos también se están extendiendo más allá de las fronteras de Venezuela. Las ciudades mineras a menudo tienen mayores tasas de <a href="https://www.icj.org/venezuela-indigenous-peoples-face-deteriorating-human-rights-situation-due-to-mining-violence-and-covid-19-pandemic/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">malaria y otras enfermedades</a>. Según Romero, a medida que la gente ha huido de las condiciones en Venezuela, esas enfermedades siguen, creando un problema de salud pública regional. “Ahora hay casos de malaria, difteria, sida…” dijo Romero. “Se estima que 6 millones de personas han salido de Venezuela, en su mayoría a países limítrofes, caminando por carreteras y montañas y luego afectando a todos aquellos países vecinos con estas enfermedades”.</p>



<h3><strong>Detener el daño requerirá un cambio en el sistema nacional e internacional</strong></h3>



<p>Para ver un cambio real en la región, Morón-Zambrano dice que el régimen de gobierno debe cambiar. Pero la comunidad internacional puede tomar algunas acciones para mitigar el impacto. Un mercado de oro que se abastece de oro de manera responsable, reciclando productos electrónicos, controles más estrictos sobre la venta de mercurio y compras responsables por parte del consumidor, dijo, podrían ayudar a reducir la presión sobre la gente y los bosques de Venezuela. Una mayor conciencia del alcance del problema también podría ayudar a impulsar la acción.</p>



<p>Pero Morón-Zambrano también ve esperanza en las personas que trabajan para cambiar la situación desde adentro.</p>



<p>“Lo que más me impactó fue que había personas que querían hacer las cosas de manera diferente, a pesar de todos los enormes desafíos. Gente que se está organizando para planificar y revertir el daño que está pasando hoy, gente con grandes ideas”, dijo Morón-Zambrano.</p>



<p>Aguilar dijo que, a pesar de la terrible situación, la gente al sur del Orinoco es resistente. “Tienen esperanza, eso es parte de su cultura”, dijo Aguilar. “Hubo un filósofo alemán que dijo, 'el destino no es lo que pasó, sino hacia dónde vamos'. Vamos con fuerza y ​​esperanza".</p>

El Pueblo y Los Bosques Venezolanos Sufren a Medida que Avanza la Minería de Oro

<p>Mining in the Amazon is a pervasive threat to the world’s largest rainforest— and it’s <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200629090012.htm#:~:text=Gold%20mining%20has%20rapidly%20increased,as%2090%25%20of%20total%20deforestation.&amp;text=They%20estimate%20that%20mining%2Drelated,forest%20carbon%20across%20the%20Amazon." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">on the rise</a>. Gold prices <a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/09/covid-19-rising-gold-prices-and-illegal-mining-threaten-indigenous-lands-amazon" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">spiked</a> last summer and have remained high. COVID-19-related stimulus packages supported gold prices, and the economic threat posed by the pandemic turned investors towards the seemingly stable investment in gold. Demand for the metal has accelerated. And where demand has grown, deforestation and human rights abuses have followed.</p>



<p>Venezuela’s rainforests and people have been hit particularly hard by gold mining, where estimates indicate that between <a href="https://arcominero.infoamazonia.org/GIATOC-OC_Illegally-Mined-Gold-in-Latin-America-3c3f978eef80083bdd8780d7c5a21f1e.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">80% and 90%</a> is mined illegally.</p>



<h3><strong>Gold mining replaces oil industry, with the potential to be just as destructive</strong></h3>



<p>Venezuela has been <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-pearls-to-oil-venezuelas-long-history-of-boom-and-bust-24049" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">historically</a> dependent on extractive industries; until recently, the country’s economy was built on government-controlled petroleum extraction. After the oil industry collapsed due to crumbling infrastructure, the government was looking for a way to bolster the economy and <a href="https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/venezuela-fuels-amazonian-gold-rush-with-petrodollars-drying-up-1.1487421" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">gold</a> offered a potential salve.</p>



<p>In 2016, the President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, announced plans for the Arco Minero, which designates 112,000 square kilometers of rainforest south of the Orinoco River for mining gold and coltan (a mineral used in many electronics).</p>



<p>The plan for the Arco Minero <a href="https://arcominero.infoamazonia.org/story" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">explicitly contradicts</a> environmental standards laid out in the country’s constitution. Many of the mines are run by Venezuelan gangs or guerilla groups from Colombia under protection from the Venezuelan military, creating a <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/01/venezuelas-mining-arc-boom-sweeps-up-indigenous-people-and-cultures/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">landscape of lawlessness</a>.</p>



<p>Illegal goldmining had been occurring south of the Orinoco since before the Arco Minero, but never on such a massive scale. Cesar Romero, a metallurgical engineer, director of Fundacion Cerlas and co-founder of "Plataforma contra el Arco Minero"— an activist organization that opposes the mining— recalls his shock at just how much territory had been approved for mining.&nbsp;</p>



<p>“When I read the decree, I couldn’t believe the dimension. The activity was bad before, but the Arco Minero made it huge,” said Romero. “The area established by the decree is more than 12% of the national territory, bigger than Cuba and some European countries.”</p>



<h3><strong>An arc of destruction eating into the rainforest</strong></h3>



<p>Since the declaration in 2016, mining has proliferated, transforming Bolivar and Amazonas state where most of the activity is concentrated.</p>



<p>Vilisa Morón-Zambrano, President of the Sociedad Venezolana de Ecologica (SVE) which has been investigating the ecological impacts of the Arco Minero since 2016, has traveled to the region several times and remarked how quickly things have changed.</p>



<p>“In 2014 I was there for tourism, and the mining was not evident. But last February, once you pass some of the main towns and find the road to Brazil, it’s shocking, it’s all over,” Morón-Zambrano said. “You’d see people with craft equipment for mining walking around, and you could also see extraction plant sites in plain sight.”</p>



<p>Global Forest Watch (GFW) data shows a spike in primary forest loss in Venezuela in 2016, and loss in subsequent years has yet to return to pre-2016 levels. <a href="https://gfw.global/3eukaA8" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">74%</a> of loss since 2016 occurred in Amazonas and Bolívar state.</p>



<iframe width="630" height="460" frameborder="0" src="https://www.globalforestwatch.org/embed/widget/treeLossPct/country/VEN?treeLossPct=eyJoaWdobGlnaHRlZCI6ZmFsc2V9"></iframe>



<p>The destruction can be seen from space. Satellite imagery of <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/01/venezuelas-mining-arc-boom-sweeps-up-indigenous-people-and-cultures/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Las Claritas</a>, a mining town in Bolívar state, shows tan scars sprawling out into the otherwise dense forest. Since 2016, Bolivar has lost 74,600 hectares of primary forest. Amazonas has lost 76,850 hectares, which is almost 1.5 times the amount of loss from the prior 15 years combined.</p>



<div class="imagecenter"><img class=" wp-image-3569 alignright" style="padding-bottom: 10px;" alt="Gold mining town in the Arco Minero." src="https://content.globalforestwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Las-Claritas-gold-mining-arco-minero.jpg" width="100%">Tree cover loss (pink) surrounding the mining town of Las Claritas, in Bolívar state, south of the Orinoco River.</div>



<h3><strong>Venezuela’s forests are vital to the world’s natural heritage</strong></h3>



<p>Venezuela is considered one of the world’s “megadiverse” countries—17 countries that harbor the majority of the Earth’s species. Over <a href="https://gfw.global/33Bn0x2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">60%</a> of the country is covered in natural forests that house threatened species like the jaguar and the giant anteater. The southern half of the country spans the Amazon and Orinoco river watersheds, as well as the dramatic landscape of stone pillars — called <em>tepui</em>— and the tallest waterfall in the world, Angel Falls.</p>



<div class="imagecenter"><img class=" wp-image-3569 alignright" style="padding-bottom: 10px;" alt="Tepui rock formation in Gran Sabana National Park, Venezuela" src="https://content.globalforestwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/2048px-Kukenan_Tepuy_at_Sunset.jpg" width="100%">Tepui rock formation in Gran Sabana National Park, Venezuela. Paolo Costa Baldi/Wikimedia</div>



<p><a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/venezuelas-ecocide-needs-international-attention" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">70</a><a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/venezuelas-ecocide-needs-international-attention" target="_blank">%</a> of Southern Venezuela is technically <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://research.wri.org/gfr/forest-designation-indicators/protected-forests" target="_blank">protected</a> by 8 national parks, 2 biosphere reserves and 19 national monuments. But these designations present only a small deterrent against the advance of mining. Mining has spread like wildfire from the designated area of the Arco Minero to encroach on <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/illegal-mining-venezuela-death-and-devastation-amazonas-and-orinoco-regions" target="_blank">Canaima</a> and <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.oas.org/dsd/AAPAD2/Docs/(iii)%20Yapacana%20NP%20Special%20Report%20(Venezuela).pdf" target="_blank">Yapacana</a> National Parks.</p>



<p>The gold mining process is highly destructive. It strips back <a href="https://theconversation.com/gold-mining-leaves-deforested-amazon-land-barren-for-years-find-scientists-141639" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">trees and topsoil</a>, causing erosion. Mercury, a toxic chemical used to amalgamate gold particles, can get carried for miles by rivers and accumulates in the bodies of fish and other organisms. The Orinoco River drains to the Atlantic where the <a href="https://law.lclark.edu/live/blogs/125-orinocos-mining-arc-an-environmental-crime-with" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pollution</a> can impact fisheries in Caribbean nations.</p>



<h3><strong>Indigenous Venezuelans are disproportionately affected</strong></h3>



<p>The surge of unregulated mining activity has carried with it a flood of <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26096&amp;LangID=E" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">human rights abuses</a>. Mining towns are rife with drugs, prostitution, violence and illness. Deaths often result from unsafe working conditions in the mines.</p>



<p>Venezuela’s Indigenous population has been disproportionately affected. The largest concentration of Indigenous peoples in Venezuela live south of the Orinoco and they have been given little to no say in the development of their region. Vladimir Aguilar, professor of political science at the University of Los Andes works with Indigenous towns and communities to help them define the borders of their territory and defend their land rights. He estimates that roughly half of Indigenous communities in Venezuela have felt either direct or indirect impacts from the mines.</p>



<p>Communities like the Pemon, Yanomamis and Ye’kuanas have either had to leave their ancestral lands as they are invaded by miners and armed groups, or <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/01/venezuelas-mining-arc-boom-sweeps-up-indigenous-people-and-cultures/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">work in the mines</a> for survival, facing the threat of violence from armed groups and escalating costs of living. This major disruption to their traditional ways of life has strangled Indigenous culture and Aguilar worries that, once gone, it will be irreplaceable.</p>



<p>“The horrible part is that once you lose a culture, you lose part of humanity. In Venezuela, it was always the summation of cultures, including Indigenous cultures, so we are losing a part of our national identity. Once you lose that, it’s gone forever,” Aguilar said.</p>



<p>The impacts are also spreading beyond Venezuela’s borders. Mining towns often have increased rates of <a href="https://www.icj.org/venezuela-indigenous-peoples-face-deteriorating-human-rights-situation-due-to-mining-violence-and-covid-19-pandemic/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">malaria and other diseases</a>. According to Romero, as people have fled the conditions in Venezuela, those diseases follow, creating a regional public health issue.</p>



<p>“Now there are cases of malaria, diphtheria, AIDS...” Romero said. “6 million people are estimated to have left Venezuela, mostly to bordering countries, walking through roads and mountains and later affecting all those neighboring countries with these diseases.”</p>



<h3><strong>Halting the damage will require national and international system change</strong></h3>



<p>In order to see real change in the region, Morón-Zambrano says that the government regime needs to change. But the international community can take some actions to mitigate the impact. A gold market that sources gold responsibly, recycling electronics, tighter controls on the sale of mercury and responsible purchases on the part of the consumer, she said, could all help reduce the pressure on Venezuela’s people and forests. Wider awareness of the scope of the issue could also help drive action.</p>



<p>But Morón-Zambrano also sees hope in the people working to change the situation from the inside.</p>



<p>“What impacted me most was that there were people that wanted to do things differently, despite all the huge challenges. People who are organizing to plan and revert the damage happening today, people with big ideas,” Morón-Zambrano said.</p>



<p>Aguilar said that, despite the grim situation, the people south of the Orinoco are resilient. </p>



<p>“They have hope, that’s part of their culture,” Aguilar said. “There was a German philosopher that said, ‘destiny is not what happened, but where we’re going’. We’re going with strength and hope.”</p>





<p></p>

Storymap

suriname

<p><em>This StoryMap was created by the <a href="http://www.amazonteam.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Amazon Conservation Team</a>. Click here to view <a href="http://amazonteam.org/maps/suriname-gold/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">full sized</a>.</em>  <iframe src="http://amazonteam.org/maps/suriname-gold/" height="480" width="640" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></p>


PARTNER POST: New ACT web mapping initiative “Amazon Gold Rush: Gold Mining in Suriname” published

<em>This StoryMap was created by the <a href="http://www.amazonteam.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Amazon Conservation Team</a>. Click here to view <a href="http://amazonteam.org/maps/suriname-gold/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">full sized</a>.</em>  <iframe src="http://amazonteam.org/maps/suriname-gold/" height="480" width="640" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>

PARTNER POST: New ACT web mapping initiative "Amazon Gold Rush: Gold Mining in Suriname" published