Turning the tide against illegal gold mining in the Amazon
In Brazil’s northern Amazon, where muddy rivers wind through dense rainforests, life is returning to a fragile equilibrium. This vast region, home to unparalleled biodiversity and enduring Indigenous cultures, has for years been besieged by illegal gold mining. Invading miners have decimated ecosystems and communities, carving scars into the land and poisoning rivers.
Now, a remarkable turnaround is taking place. With a coalition of the three heavily affected indigenous communities and support from Environmental Defense Fund and partner Instituto Socioambiental (ISA), efforts to eliminate illegal mining from Indigenous territories are making progress — something that seemed nearly impossible just a few years ago.
The livelihoods and cultural traditions of the Yanomami, Kayapó and other Indigenous peoples are deeply intertwined with their forest landscapes. But with the encouragement of the government of Jair Bolsonaro who was president of Brazil from 2019 to 2023, criminal networks made deep incursions into legally protected Indigenous territories.
Gold has drawn waves of wildcat miners — known as garimpeiros — to the region, leaving a trail of environmental and social destruction. The use of mercury and other toxic chemicals to extract gold contaminates rivers and streams, threatening aquatic life and the health of downstream communities.
Mechanized dredging and forest-clearing also releases significant amounts of greenhouse gases that have been trapped for millennia, accelerating climate change and undermining the Amazon’s role as a global carbon sink.
“Illegal gold mining brings devastation on multiple fronts,” says Estêvão Senra, a researcher with ISA. “It’s not just about deforestation or contaminated water. It’s about communities losing their autonomy and their ability to live sustainably on their land.”
The Yanomami, for instance, have suffered violent attacks and other human rights violations. Cases of malaria have skyrocketed as flooded mining pits became ideal breeding habitats for disease-carrying mosquitos. A recent survey found mercury in hair samples of every one of the 287 study participants from nine Yanomami villages, a grim testament to the scale of the poisonous contamination.
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From inertia to action
Supported by EDF and the Stiefel Behner Charitable Fund, Senra and his team studied the gold supply chain and uncovered weaknesses in Brazil’s laws, then proposed strategies to end the easy laundering of contraband gold.
For years, legal loopholes and political inertia allowed illegal mining to flourish within organized crime networks whose operations were shielded by corruption and tacit governmental support. Since 2013, a "good faith" rule enabled miners to present unverifiable paper receipts to prove their gold’s legality at the point of sale, creating an almost impenetrable facade for laundering illegally sourced gold.
Between 2010 and 2020, illegal mining in Indigenous areas increased by nearly 500%. By 2021, more than half of Brazil’s roughly $5 billion in gold exports had illegal origins. A considerable portion finds its way to North America, Europe and Asia, where it is used in jewelry, electronics and investments.
The situation began to turn in early 2023, when Brazil’s Supreme Court upheld a government crackdown on illegal gold mining in Yanomami territory. Informed by the work of organizations like ISA, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva — in stark contrast to the policies of his predecessor — declared the surge in illegal mining on the Yanomami Indigenous reservation a humanitarian crisis.
Guided by satellite monitoring and intelligence provided by Senra and his team, Brazilian government agencies moved in to rout the miners from Yanomami territory, which spans an area roughly the size of Portugal. In a series of raids over several months, authorities destroyed airstrips, burned barges and seized fuel supplies.
“In October, I flew over the same places I had flown over in 2022,” Senra recalls. “The difference was mind-blowing. Where there had been hundreds of illegal mining barges, now they are gone.”
In November, Senra visited Palimiú, a Yanomami community that had been attacked by armed garimpeiros in 2021. “I was bathing with residents in the Uraricoera River, and they were splashing and laughing,” he says. “They are so happy that it is running clear again, that they can fish and hunt safely.” Malaria is also declining now that the miners are gone.
In addition to the raids, new rules are aimed at dismantling the infrastructure of illegal mining. The “good faith” rule has been replaced with stricter requirements for electronic tax receipts, compelling miners to provide verifiable proof of their gold’s origin.
Lifting Indigenous voices
As ecological and cultural stability return to Yanomami territory, the government is broadening its campaign to protect Indigenous territories in the northern Amazon. In November 2023, operations expanded to remove illegal miners from the land of the Munduruku people in Pará state. The government reported that an operation in Munduruku territory had destroyed 42 airstrips, 18 aircraft and 45 barges, and confiscated 24,000 gallons of diesel fuel.
Similar strategies are planned, beginning in 2025, for Kayapó and Ye'kuana territories — among the approximately 20 Indigenous territories in Brazil severely affected by illegal mining activities.
These efforts are underpinned by new partnerships between government agencies, Indigenous communities and local nonprofits. Instituto Socioambiental is now training and equipping Yanomami leaders with drones, GPS tools and apps in the Yanomami language to monitor and report illegal activities. “This technology allows communities to defend their forest in non-violent ways,” says Senra.
“This is about lifting up Indigenous voices and supporting them as they address the deep-rooted challenges they face,” says Steve Schwartzman, who directs tropical forest policy at Environmental Defense Fund. “The problems are complex and far from resolved, but we are moving in the right direction.”
Indeed, significant challenges remain for traditional communities in the northern Amazon. Powerful criminal networks still profit from illegal mining, often smuggling gold across the poorly controlled border with Venezuela. Meanwhile, entrenched political and judicial pressures threaten to undermine progress.
“The recent successes don’t mean the problem is completely resolved,” Senra cautions. “But the cost of laundering illegal gold has gone up substantially, and the situation has stabilized, particularly in the Yanomami territory.”
Senra recently visited the Papiú area, where the Yanomami are planting crops and hunting in the forests again, and planning to construct a new school.
“To imagine these lands without invaders once seemed like a very improbable dream,” Senra says. “Now that the miners are leaving, it’s very touching to see these communities emerging from the shadows of violence, to hear them talking again about their plans for the future.”
Hope for a warming planet
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