The rising value of gold worldwide has amplified illegal mining in the Amazon, where liquid mercury is being dumped in the Amazon River and causing scientists to warn that Indigenous communities and the environment could pay a far greater price.
The deaths of journalist Dom Phillips and Indigenous rights defender Bruno Pereira in June this year exposed an interlocking web of crime involving drug trafficking, money laundering, and illegal fishing deep in the Brazilian Amazon. This sprawling criminal network stretches throughout the rainforest and beyond, and is responsible for soaring deforestation rates and increasing violence […]
In-person Indigenous plea leads to key Swiss gold refiners promising to stop import of gold illegally mined inside Brazilian Amazon Indigenous reserves a pledge, if fulfilled, that may be a game changer. (Video)
Mongabay seeks to raise interest in and appreciation of wild lands and wildlife, while examining the impact of emerging trends in climate, technology, economics,and finance on conservation and development.
The myth of a “demographic void” in the Amazon and of the “virgin forest” has been systematically debunked by a series of scientific studies showing that the rainforest has a history of human occupation stretching back millennia. Archaeology plays a central role in revealing the historical, cultural and socioeconomic richness of this past. Recent discoveries […]