Gold mining devours S.American forest land: study
Gold mining devours S.American forest land: study
by Staff Writers
Paris (AFP) Jan 14, 2015
Gold mining has gobbled up some 1,680 square kilometres (650 square miles) of tropical forest in South America in the 13 years to 2013, a research paper said Wednesday.
Much of the loss happened near conservation areas, placing protected zones at risk from chemical pollutants used in mining, said the study in the journal Environmental Research Letters.
The findings "highlighted the growing environmental impact of gold mining in some of the most biologically diverse regions in the tropics," said a press statement.
"Although the loss of forest due to mining is smaller in extent compared to deforestation caused by other land uses, such as agriculture or grazing areas, deforestation due to mining is occurring in some of the most biologically diverse regions," said study author Nora Alvarez-Berrios of the University of Puerto Rico.
More:
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Gold_mining_devours_SAmerican_forest_land_study_999.html
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