Illegal mining threatens forest, biodiversity, natives in French Guiana Europe's largest tropical rainforest invaded by gold miners

Some of the areas of the world are beginning to take action against mining for gold and the damage it is doing to the environment. These miners are moving, then, from those countries to other areas, attempting to illegally mine for gold. This is what is happening to French Guiana. After Brazil and Suriname have taken steps to stop illegal mining, these miners are crossing over to other countries, including French Guiana, which is under the jurisdiction of France. The country has a diverse ecosystem of tropical rainforest, plants, and diverse and numerous mammals, amphibians, birds, and so on.  The article on the damage being done to French Guiana explains how different types of pollution, from mercury emissions to oil and fuel waste, are affecting and can affect the environment in that country.

A major concern outside of the damage that can be done to animals and subsequently humans, is that mining also causes deforestation. Hunting and slash-and-burn agriculture are affected by illegal mining, and “miners take protected species including monkeys and macaws, and that in some areas miners are killing large number of fish employing a traditional fishing method used by Amerindians, which requires for sections of the river to be poisoned. Usually, it is only used in moderation, but that is no longer the case because of the illegal miners. The illegal mining is threatening research and tourism, too, with some ecotourist guides and researchers being killed for encroaching on the illegal miners’ territory or operations.

In sum, something must be done. The price we put on gold and the value we place on it cannot be more important than the tropical rainforests, animal and plant species, and the lives of scientists just to get some gold for jewelry.

For more information, read the full article at
http://news.mongabay.com/2006/1219-french_guiana.html

Posted by Abdullah Alruwaished