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A surge in unlawful mining has resulted in the clearing of 140,000 hectares of rainforest in the Peruvian Amazon, accelerating as foreign, armed groups move into the area to profit from record gold prices, based on findings.

About five hundred forty square miles of territory have been cleared for mining in the Peruvian nation since 1984, and the ecological damage is spreading rapidly across the country, research found.

The gold rush is also contaminating its rivers and streams. Illegal miners use dredges – machines that chew up and spit out river bottoms – leaving harmful mercury used to extract gold from sediment in their path.

Detailed satellite photographs enabled researchers to detect dredges alongside forest loss for the initial instance, showing that the ecological disaster previously limited to the south of the country was spreading north.

“Initially, it was only observed in Madre de Dios but now we’re seeing it everywhere,” commented a director involved in the research.

The price of gold topped $4,000 for the first time this period on global exchanges as worldwide concerns rose about economic instability. Indigenous groups have raised concerns that as the price soars, militant factions were more frequently destroying their forests and poisoning their rivers in pursuit of the valuable mineral.

Satellite photos show that once dense swathes of green jungle are being converted into lifeless moonscapes of barren soil marked by standing water of discolored water.

“This small section is just a minor example,” an expert remarked, pointing to a limited area of the vast red patchwork of deforestation mapped in the report. “Consider this multiplied to one hundred forty thousand hectares.”

Mercury contamination build up in aquatic life and pass to the populations who eat them, causing health and cognitive issues such as birth defects and developmental delays.

An ongoing study of communities along riverbanks in Peru’s far north of the Loreto region found the median level of mercury was almost quadruple the safe threshold set by global health authorities.

Analysis found that 225 rivers and streams have been impacted, with 989 dredges spotted in the region since recent years – including 275 in the current year on the Nanay waterway, a branch of the Amazon that is the vital source of ecosystems and dozens of Indigenous communities.

“They are poisoning our rivers – it’s the drinking water that we drink,” said a spokesperson of several riverside communities in the area.

Residents began blocking miners from moving along the Tigre River in the region 40 days ago, resulting in gunfights with armed intruders. “We are forced to defend ourselves but we are alone. The state is nowhere to be seen,” he stated frustrated.

Mining remains concentrated in the southern area of Madre de Dios in the south of the country but new hotspots are developing in northern regions in multiple provinces.

These areas are limited but once mining is established it could grow rapidly, a researcher said, stating that the report was a insight into what was occurring across the broader Amazon region.

“It marks the initial occasion we’ve been able to look in this detail at a nation but I think in neighboring countries we are going to see similar patterns,” he added.

Findings showed more dredges appearing on Peru’s forest borders with adjacent nations.

As gold values exceed four thousand dollars per ounce, international armed factions are more frequently entering across the border into Peru’s lawless jungles where local authorities are taking minimal action to halt their activities, according to an expert on crime.

Criminal networks, such as factions from neighboring countries, are more involved in the region.

“International crime networks involved in drug trade and laundering profits through illegal gold mining – now with peak prices providing hefty returns – are combined with a government that has failed to act decisively against criminal enterprises,” the analyst remarked.

An intergovernmental group of Latin American nations told Peru to get serious about illegal mining or it could face economic sanctions.

But a researcher said: “Gold is just so profitable at present. I don’t see any signs of a decline in value, so it’s likely going to deteriorate before it improves.”