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An illegal gold rush has led to the destruction of one hundred forty thousand hectares of rainforest in the Peruvian Amazon, intensifying as foreign, armed groups enter the area to capitalize on all-time high gold values, according to a report.

About 540 square miles of land have been cleared for mining in the South American country since 1984, and the ecological damage is expanding quickly throughout Peru, investigations discovered.

The gold rush is also polluting its rivers and streams. Illegal miners use floating excavation machines – machines that chew up and spit out river bottoms – depositing harmful mercury used to extract gold from soil in their wake.

Detailed satellite photographs enabled researchers to detect dredges together with deforestation for the initial instance, showing that the environmental crisis previously limited to the south of the country was spreading northward.

“We used to only see it in the Madre de Dios region but now we’re seeing it across numerous areas,” commented an official involved in the research.

The price of gold surpassed four thousand dollars for the first time this week on global exchanges as worldwide concerns increased about financial fragility. Native communities have sounded the alarm that as the value climbs, militant factions were more frequently destroying their forests and contaminating their water sources in pursuit of the precious metal.

Satellite photos show that once dense swathes of green jungle are being converted into barren landscapes of grey earth pocked with stagnant pools of green water.

“This little square is just a minor example,” an expert noted, indicating a small section of the vast red patchwork of forest clearance mapped in the report. “Consider this multiplied to one hundred forty thousand hectares.”

The mercury residues accumulate in aquatic life and pass to the people who consume them, causing neurological and developmental problems such as congenital disorders and developmental delays.

A recent study of riverside communities in Peru’s northernmost region of Loreto found the average concentration of mercury was nearly four times the World Health Organization’s recommended limit.

Analysis found that 225 rivers and streams have been affected, with 989 dredges observed in Loreto since recent years – among them two hundred seventy-five in the current year on the Nanay River, a branch of the Amazon that is the vital source of natural habitats and many native populations.

“Our waterways are being contaminated – it’s the drinking water that we consume,” said a representative of multiple local communities in Loreto.

Residents began preventing extractors from moving along the Tigre River in Loreto 40 days ago, leading to armed clashes with militant groups. “We are forced to defend ourselves but we are alone. Government authorities 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 expand quickly, a researcher said, adding that the study was a insight into what was occurring across the broader Amazon region.

“It marks the initial occasion we’ve been able to examine so closely at a country but I think in Brazil, Bolivia and Colombia we are going to see exactly the same thing,” he added.

Research showed more dredges being detected on Peru’s forest borders with adjacent nations.

With gold prices surpassing $4,000 an ounce, foreign, armed groups are more frequently entering across the border into unregulated forest areas where government officials are doing little to halt their activities, as stated by a criminologist.

Criminal networks, such as factions from neighboring countries, are increasingly active in the region.

“Global criminal syndicates trafficking cocaine and laundering profits through illegal gold mining – amid record values yielding high profits – are alongside a government that has failed to act decisively against criminal enterprises,” the analyst stated.

An intergovernmental group of South American countries told Peru to address unlawful extraction or it could be subject to penalties.

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 get worse before it gets better.”