Skip to main content
Duke University Libraries
DukeSpace Scholarship by Duke Authors
  • Login
  • Ask
  • Menu
  • Login
  • Ask a Librarian
  • Search & Find
  • Using the Library
  • Research Support
  • Course Support
  • Libraries
  • About
View Item 
  •   DukeSpace
  • Duke Scholarly Works
  • Scholarly Articles
  • View Item
  •   DukeSpace
  • Duke Scholarly Works
  • Scholarly Articles
  • View Item
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

Gold mining in the Peruvian Amazon: global prices, deforestation, and mercury imports.

Thumbnail
Files
Swenson.pdf
529.7 Kb
Gold mining in the Peruvian Amazon: global prices, deforestation, and mercury imports..pdf
529.7 Kb
Date
2011-04-19
Authors
Swenson, Jennifer J
Carter, Catherine E
Domec, Jean-Christophe
Delgado, Cesar I
Repository Usage Stats
969
views
506
downloads
Abstract
Many factors such as poverty, ineffective institutions and environmental regulations may prevent developing countries from managing how natural resources are extracted to meet a strong market demand. Extraction for some resources has reached such proportions that evidence is measurable from space. We present recent evidence of the global demand for a single commodity and the ecosystem destruction resulting from commodity extraction, recorded by satellites for one of the most biodiverse areas of the world. We find that since 2003, recent mining deforestation in Madre de Dios, Peru is increasing nonlinearly alongside a constant annual rate of increase in international gold price (∼18%/yr). We detect that the new pattern of mining deforestation (1915 ha/year, 2006-2009) is outpacing that of nearby settlement deforestation. We show that gold price is linked with exponential increases in Peruvian national mercury imports over time (R(2) = 0.93, p = 0.04, 2003-2009). Given the past rates of increase we predict that mercury imports may more than double for 2011 (∼500 t/year). Virtually all of Peru's mercury imports are used in artisanal gold mining. Much of the mining increase is unregulated/artisanal in nature, lacking environmental impact analysis or miner education. As a result, large quantities of mercury are being released into the atmosphere, sediments and waterways. Other developing countries endowed with gold deposits are likely experiencing similar environmental destruction in response to recent record high gold prices. The increasing availability of satellite imagery ought to evoke further studies linking economic variables with land use and cover changes on the ground.
Type
Journal article
Subject
Commerce
Conservation of Natural Resources
Geography
Gold
Internationality
Mercury
Mining
Peru
Satellite Communications
Time Factors
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/9136
Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1371/journal.pone.0018875
Publication Info
Swenson, Jennifer J; Carter, Catherine E; Domec, Jean-Christophe; & Delgado, Cesar I (2011). Gold mining in the Peruvian Amazon: global prices, deforestation, and mercury imports. PLoS One, 6(4). pp. e18875. 10.1371/journal.pone.0018875. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/9136.
This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
Collections
  • Scholarly Articles
More Info
Show full item record

Scholars@Duke

Domec

Jean Christophe Domec

Visiting Professor in the Nicholas School of the Environment
Bordeaux Sciences Agro in FRANCE (primary appointment)Discovery of knowledge in Plant water relations, ecosystem ecology and ecohydrology, with special focus on: - Long-distance water transport under future climate; - Drought tolerance and avoidance; - Patterns of changes in structural and functional traits within individual plants. My goal as a researcher is to improve the fundamental science understanding of how plants and terrestrial ecosystems respond to climate
Swenson

Jennifer J. Swenson

Associate Professor of the Practice of Geospatial Analysis
Swenson's research tracks changes in terrestrial Earth's living surface at the landscape to region scale with remote sensing and geospatial analysis. Her interest include: how patterns and canopy structure are effected by drought, afforestation, and deforestation, patterns and climate shifts of ecosystem biodiversity, and providing access to practitioners to remotely sensed data and analysis. Prior to her 15 years in Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment, she held positions in NGOs (NatureSe
Alphabetical list of authors with Scholars@Duke profiles.
Open Access

Articles written by Duke faculty are made available through the campus open access policy. For more information see: Duke Open Access Policy

Rights for Collection: Scholarly Articles


Works are deposited here by their authors, and represent their research and opinions, not that of Duke University. Some materials and descriptions may include offensive content. More info

Make Your Work Available Here

How to Deposit

Browse

All of DukeSpaceCommunities & CollectionsAuthorsTitlesTypesBy Issue DateDepartmentsAffiliations of Duke Author(s)SubjectsBy Submit DateThis CollectionAuthorsTitlesTypesBy Issue DateDepartmentsAffiliations of Duke Author(s)SubjectsBy Submit Date

My Account

LoginRegister

Statistics

View Usage Statistics
Duke University Libraries

Contact Us

411 Chapel Drive
Durham, NC 27708
(919) 660-5870
Perkins Library Service Desk

Digital Repositories at Duke

  • Report a problem with the repositories
  • About digital repositories at Duke
  • Accessibility Policy
  • Deaccession and DMCA Takedown Policy

TwitterFacebookYouTubeFlickrInstagramBlogs

Sign Up for Our Newsletter
  • Re-use & Attribution / Privacy
  • Harmful Language Statement
  • Support the Libraries
Duke University