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An illegal gold rush has led to the destruction of 140,000 hectares of rainforest in the Peruvian Amazon, intensifying as armed foreign factions move into the area to capitalize on all-time high gold values, as per a recent study.

Approximately 540 square miles of land have been cleared for mining in the Peruvian nation since the mid-1980s, and the ecological damage is growing at an alarming rate throughout Peru, investigations revealed.

The gold rush is also poisoning its rivers and streams. Unlawful extractors use dredges – machines that disrupt and displace river bottoms – depositing toxic mercury used to extract gold from soil in their path.

Ultra-high resolution aerial images allowed analysts to detect dredges together with deforestation for the first time, revealing that the environmental crisis once confined to the southern part of the country was spreading northward.

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

The price of gold topped $4,000 for the initial occasion this period on international markets as worldwide concerns increased about economic instability. Native communities have raised concerns that as the value climbs, armed groups were more frequently destroying their forests and poisoning their rivers in pursuit of the precious metal.

Aerial images show that once dense swathes of green jungle are being transformed into lifeless moonscapes of barren soil marked by stagnant pools of discolored water.

“This little square is just a tiny sample,” a researcher noted, pointing to a small section of the extensive pattern of deforestation documented in the study. “Consider this multiplied to one hundred forty thousand hectares.”

Mercury contamination build up in fish and are transferred to the populations who eat them, leading to neurological and developmental problems such as congenital disorders and learning difficulties.

A recent study of communities along riverbanks in Peru’s northernmost region of the Loreto region found the average concentration of mercury was almost quadruple the safe threshold set by global health authorities.

Analysis found that 225 rivers and streams have been affected, with nearly a thousand dredging machines spotted in the region since recent years – including two hundred seventy-five in the current year on the Nanay River, a branch of the Amazon that is the lifeblood of natural habitats and many native populations.

“Our waterways are being contaminated – it’s the water that we consume,” said a spokesperson of several riverside communities in Loreto.

Residents began preventing extractors from moving along the River Tigre in the region 40 days ago, resulting in gunfights with militant groups. “We have no choice but to fight back but we are unsupported. The state is absent,” he stated frustrated.

Mining is mostly located in the Madre de Dios region in southern Peru but emerging zones are developing in northern regions in Loreto, Amazonas, Huánuco, Pasco and Ucayali.

These areas are limited but once mining is established it could grow rapidly, an expert said, adding that the report was a insight into what was occurring across the rest of the Amazon.

“This is the first time we’ve been able to examine so closely at a country but I think in Brazil, Bolivia and Colombia we are going to see similar patterns,” he added.

Research showed more dredges appearing on Peru’s forest borders with Bolivia, Brazil and Colombia.

As gold values exceed four thousand dollars per ounce, foreign, armed groups are more frequently entering across the border into unregulated forest areas where government officials are taking minimal action to stop them, as stated by an expert on crime.

Criminal networks, such as factions from Colombia and Brazil, are increasingly active in the region.

“Global criminal syndicates involved in drug trade and concealing illicit gains through unlawful extraction – amid record values yielding high profits – are alongside a government that has failed to act decisively against criminal enterprises,” the analyst remarked.

A political coalition of Latin American nations told Peru to get serious about unlawful extraction or it could face economic sanctions.

But an expert said: “The returns from gold are immense at present. There are no indications of prices going down, so it’s probably going to deteriorate before it gets better.”