Flying over a dense jungle in southern Venezuela, the sea of trees below is suddenly replaced by large patches of bare soil, tree stumps and the turquoise waters of ponds from abandoned gold mines. An airstrip 600 meters (about 2,000 feet) long marks the entrance to one of Venezuela’s more than 3,700 gold mines. Only half of the runway is used for landing and taking off, as the rest of the dirt track is in poor condition. Dozens of Indigenous people wait impatiently for the small aircraft to land. They rush toward the plane to receive bags of food, medicine and other basic supplies. Without such planes, mostly intended for transporting mining equipment and gold, these remote Indigenous communities would have a hard time surviving.
Venezuela s hidden runways bring both life and destruction to Indigenous lands mongabay.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mongabay.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.