The Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project (MAAP) has been warning of the dangers of the illegal gold mining invasion of Tambopata National Reserve, an important protected area in the southern Peruvian Amazon (department of Madre de Dios), for some months now. The latest MAAP #33 seen here, shows that illegal gold mining is also altering the course of the Malinowski River, which forms the natural boundary of the Reserve. The image shows the two areas where MAAP has documented a total artificial deviation (cutting) of 4.4 km of the river.

Elsewhere, Peruvian President Ollanta Humala has declared a 60-day state of emergency in a large remote area of the Amazon jungle as levels of mercury from illegal gold mining have reached record high levels. According to country’s environment minister, as many as 50,000 people or 41% of the population of the gold-rich Madre de Dios region, bordering Brazil, has been exposed to mercury contamination.

In February 2016, Peruvian specialists presented how mining activity had recently changed the natural course of the Malinowski River.

According to Dr Carlos Cañas, coordinator of the Amazon Waters Initiative for Wildlife Conservation Society in Peru, the deviation of the natural course of the Malinowski River will have significant ecological impacts, including:

• Although the Malinowski River’s course has natural movement, the changes documented in MAAP #33 definitely represent an artificial alteration caused by mining activity
• These artificial changes are altering the course of the Malinowski from one that is “narrow and defined” to one that is “wide and scattered.” This change impacts the river’s flood patterns by changing the intensity, timing, and frequency of flooding along the river’s banks. This implies an effect on the migratory behaviour of many species of fish downstream, which receive and interpret signals from the river to guide vital functions like feeding and reproduction
• The river’s new wider course also causes the velocity of water downstream to decrease, which will lead to increased levels of sediment in the discharge zone of the largest tributary, the Tambopata. Given the nature of the Tambopata, this could provide the almost-permanent damming of the Malinowski, as greater volume of the Tambopata means more sedimentation at the mouth of the river. Among other things, this could hinder the entry of fish to their feeding zones
• Fish access to certain areas will be interrupted by the blockade and closure of channels. Also, the connection between the floodable forest and the river channel is completely altered, if not interrupted, in this section of the river. Many fish species that eat fruit or vegetation from the adjacent forest depend on this seasonal connection for food
• The Malinowski River, since it is a tributary of the Tambopata River, has natural áreas that are crucial to the reproduction of many local species. Its tributary streams represent habitats that differ from the main river and harbour an incredible variety of fish and invertebrates that contribute to the biodiversity of the river basin. These streams have little sediment, and are thus highly transparent. Mining will destroy or drastically alter these environments, severely impacting this biodiversity.