Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro signed a decree on Monday aimed at developing gold panning, particularly in the Amazon, a text criticized by environmentalists, worried about deforestation and river pollution.
This decree provides for the “implementation of public policies to encourage the development of artisanal and small-scale mining activities with a view to sustainable development”.
The “priority region” for the development of these activities is the “Legal Amazon”, a set of nine states in the north of the country that host the Amazon rainforest, 60% of which is in Brazilian territory.
Jair Bolsonaro, whose father was once a gold digger, has always defended the garimpeiros (the Brazilian term for them), whom he sees as intrepid adventurers trying to get out of poverty.
But its detractors denounce serious consequences for the environment. Mining activities caused the destruction of 125 km2 of Amazonian forest last year, an area greater than that of intramural Paris.
The use of mercury to separate gold particles from other sediments is also a source of river pollution. Not to mention the fact that gold panning often takes place in territories supposed to be reserved for First Peoples.
According to the Brazilian prosecutor’s office, many garimpeiros have links to organized crime, and conflicts sometimes arise between Aboriginal people and hired thugs paid by illegal miners.
Massive deforestation under Bolsonaro
Gold panning itself is not illegal in Brazil, provided you have environmental licenses and practice this activity on land where it is allowed. But most of garimpeiros do not have such licenses.
The government estimates that some 4,000 illegal miners operate in indigenous territories in the Amazon, a figure that environmentalists say is grossly understated.
According to Suely Araujo, former president of the environmental agency Ibama and member of the NGO collective Observatoire du Climat, the government “should ensure that this activity is better regulated, with environmental licenses”.
“But that’s not their main concern. They want to defend the “historic values of the sector” [de l’orpaillage]in other words, the destruction of the environment,” she adds.
President Bolsonaro, who has always called for the expansion of mining and agricultural activities in the Amazon, has been widely criticized by the international community for the increase in deforestation since he came to power three years ago. year.
Deforestation in the world’s largest rainforest has reached 13,235 km2 over the reference period from August 2020 to July 2021, unheard of in 15 years.