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A surge in unlawful mining has wiped out one hundred forty thousand hectares of rainforest in the Peruvian Amazon, accelerating as foreign, armed groups enter the area to profit from record gold prices, according to a report.

About 540 square miles of territory have been converted for extraction activities in the South American country since the mid-1980s, and the ecological damage is spreading rapidly throughout Peru, investigations found.

This mining boom is also polluting its rivers and streams. Unlawful extractors use floating excavation machines – machines that disrupt and displace river bottoms – leaving toxic mercury used to extract gold from soil in their path.

Detailed satellite photographs allowed analysts to detect dredges alongside deforestation for the initial instance, revealing that the ecological disaster once confined to the southern part of the country was creeping northward.

“Initially, it was only observed in Madre de Dios but now we’re seeing it everywhere,” stated an official involved in the research.

Gold values topped $4,000 for the first time this week on international markets as global anxiety rose about financial fragility. Indigenous groups have sounded the alarm that as the value climbs, armed groups were increasingly tearing down their forests and poisoning their rivers in search for the precious metal.

Aerial images show that once dense swathes of green jungle are being transformed into lifeless moonscapes of grey earth pocked with standing water of green water.

“This small section is just a tiny sample,” a researcher remarked, pointing to a small section of the extensive pattern of deforestation mapped in the report. “Imagine this expanded to one hundred forty thousand hectares.”

The mercury residues build up in aquatic life and pass to the populations who consume them, causing neurological and developmental problems such as birth defects and developmental delays.

An ongoing investigation of riverside communities in Peru’s northernmost region of Loreto found the average concentration of mercury was nearly four times the safe threshold set by global health authorities.

Analysis found that 225 rivers and streams have been affected, with 989 dredges spotted in the region since 2017 – including 275 this year alone on the Nanay River, a tributary of the Amazon River that is the vital source of ecosystems and dozens of Indigenous communities.

“They are poisoning our rivers – it’s the water that we drink,” said a representative of multiple local communities in the area.

Residents began blocking miners from moving along the Tigre River in the region recently, 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.

Extraction activities remains concentrated 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 extraction begins it could grow rapidly, a researcher noted, adding that the study was a glimpse into what was occurring across the broader Amazon region.

“This is the first time we’ve been able to examine so closely at a country but I think in neighboring countries we are going to see exactly the same thing,” he added.

Findings showed more dredges being detected on Peru’s forest borders with Bolivia, Brazil and Colombia.

With gold prices surpassing $4,000 an ounce, foreign, armed groups are increasingly venturing into Peruvian territory into Peru’s lawless jungles where government officials are doing little to halt their activities, as stated by a criminologist.

Illegal organizations, such as factions from neighboring countries, are increasingly active across the border.

“Global criminal syndicates involved in drug trade and concealing illicit gains through illegal gold mining – now with peak prices yielding high profits – are alongside a government that has failed to act decisively against criminal enterprises,” the analyst stated.

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

But an expert said: “Gold is just so profitable right now. I don’t see any signs of prices going down, so it’s likely going to get worse before it improves.”