As gold prices reach unprecedented levels, a prominent Catholic leader in Peru’s Amazon region is calling on gold-importing nations to address the rampant illegal mining that is contaminating rivers with mercury. Miguel Ángel Cadenas, a Spanish Augustinian missionary who has lived in the Amazon for 30 years, highlights the alarming increase in illegal mining since the COVID-19 pandemic. Rivers such as the Tigre, Nanay, Napo, and Putumayo are now hotspots of mercury pollution, posing severe risks to local communities. Scientific tests reveal mercury levels in fish exceeding World Health Organization (WHO) safety limits, while hair samples from residents show dangerously high concentrations. Cadenas warns that the Amazonian diet, heavily reliant on fish, is leading to food insecurity and health crises in a region already lacking adequate medical services. Mercury, used extensively in small-scale gold mining, contaminates water, accumulates in fish, and causes neurological and developmental harm in humans. Research in Peru’s Madre de Dios region found 43% of women of childbearing age and nearly 80% of residents in Amazonian villages exceed WHO mercury safety thresholds. Cadenas emphasizes the need for better public awareness and alternative food sources, as many locals remain uninformed about the dangers. He also calls for stronger traceability systems to prevent illegally mined gold from entering global markets. Countries like China, the UAE, the UK, and Switzerland, which are major gold buyers, must enforce stricter regulations, he argues. Cadenas further highlights the escalating violence against environmental defenders in the Amazon, with illegal miners often linked to armed groups. Despite Peru’s efforts, including Operation Mercury in 2019, illegal mining persists, fueled by cross-border mercury smuggling. The recent Amazon Water Summit in Iquitos brought together 400 participants from Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and Brazil to discuss solutions, but Cadenas stresses that international action is essential to curb the demand for illicit gold and protect the Amazon’s fragile ecosystem.
Gold demand puts Peru’s Amazon at greater risk from mercury poisoning, bishop warns
