In this Spanish language article, the threats of increasing gold mining, planned hydroelectric dams, illegal settlements and log cutting on Madidi National park and environs are described. A short video is also available.
Gold mining has grown enormously during the past few months. Recently, a journalistic team from El Deber and Mongobay observed 20 giant dredges or “dragons” “mining gold along the Kaka River and some of them were operated by Chinese citizens.”
This area is known for its diversity with “265 mammals, 1,028 birds, 105 reptiles, 109 amphibians, at least 314 fish, 5,515 plants and 1,544 butterflies” already documented and an additional 130 species being analyzed.
“Valentín Luna, indigenous Tacana and president of the Commonwealth of Communities of the Beni, Tuichi and Quiquibey Rivers … fears for the life of the peoples who inhabit the Madidi. "Those are the Chinese dragons - Luna indicates - that damage our rivers, pollute our fish and nobody does anything. Much of the food of indigenous peoples is extracted from rivers. " In recent years, according to the indigenous Tacana leader, Colombian citizens have also come to work in the area.”
The impact of mining can be felt several kilometers downstream. According to Oscar Campanini, director of the Documentation and Information Center Bolivia (Cedib) these negative effects are related to “residues of oils and fuels that are used to operate the motor pumps and the dredger motors.” as well as the “use of mercury, especially when the amalgamation is carried out on the beaches or near water sources.”. “Gold is running out in the areas where exploitation is now taking place and the trend is the incursion in areas closer to protected areas, where due to the type of mineral the implementation of new technologies that will have a greater environmental impact.”
“Gonzalo Flores, an environmental consultant who has worked with international organizations, explains that dredges not only jeopardize the natural vegetation that grows on the banks of the river, but by removing the bottom of the tributaries it also affects the fauna that lives in this aquatic ecosystem. He mentions that the constant removal of stones, sand and earth from the bottom of the river, is forming headlands of rocks that eventually end up becoming islands that can even alter the course of the river. “In rivers, large stones tend to settle naturally at the edges, while sand accumulates in the middle. When many dredges intervene in a sector, all this is affected and can cause floods”
"Under the pretext of mining , the opening of roads in the park has been carried out, there are new settlements and even the subjugation of land has been carried out. This can be seen in the southern part of our park," denounced Alex Villca, indigenous leader of San José de Uchupiamona.”
The heavy metal mercury, used to separate gold from the material extracted by the dredgers is released into rivers through the process. Although it is possible to filter and reuse 60-90% of mercury” the gold business is so profitable in areas close to Madidi that miners avoid this practice and they buy more mercury despite the high price.”
“Bolivia has become, in recent years, one of the main importers of mercury worldwide. The study The Amazon Biome against Mercury Pollution , by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Gaia Amazonas, published in early March 2020, provides revealing data: until 2010, about 2 tons entered Bolivia annually, but at From 2015 - one year after the approval of the mining law - this figure shot up to 140 tons and, in 2018, to 200 tons. Much of the mercury is used in mining, and according to the publication, another quantity is illegally exported to neighboring countries.”
When mercury “remains in rivers for a long time, it undergoes chemical transformations, turning into methylmercury, which, when ingested by fish, ends up affecting the health of people who live by fishing” “Research carried out between 2007 and 2008 - when Bolivia did not import even one ton of mercury per year - detected concentrations of this heavy metal in fish above the WHO recommended” levels. Bolivia now imports 200 tons of mercury.
“Wilson Sosa, an indigenous Esse Ejja who used to fish in the Kaka River, says that since the arrival of the dredgers in the area, they have had to deal with the shortage of fish for their food and the constant noise that prevents them from speaking. "They remove everything that is in the river, " says Sosa , " the fish eggs and the petas [river turtles], they leave nothing in their path."
According to CEDIB’s publication natural resources in Bolivia, “the impact of mining exploitation is felt in the Madidi park and affects riparian populations due to the drag and deposition of mercury, the entry of sediments caused by the activity of dredges and changes in river fluvial dynamics.”
Regarding the plans to build hydroelectric plants in the area, Alex Villca, indigeneous leader of the San Jose de Uchipamonas community in the heart of Madidi said " We would necessarily have to migrate to other remote places , we do not even know where they would take us, even more so when almost the entire country already has an owner," On January 21 of this year, the Minister of Energy, Rodrigo Guzmán maintained that these projects were temporarily paralyzed.”
Mongabay version of this Spanish language article is also available.