The Putumayo-Içá Basin, located in the Amazon region and shared by Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil, faces an escalating threat: illegal gold mining. What once was a small-scale artisanal activity has evolved into a high-impact industry, driving mercury pollution, rapid deforestation, and social disruption among Indigenous and rural communities.

The GEF Integrated Management of the Putumayo-Içá Basin Project, executed by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), implemented by the World Bank, and financed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), has identified this issue as a critical factor affecting the sustainability of the basin. A recent report, prepared by Dr. Héctor González Rubio, the project's director, provides an in-depth analysis of this crisis, presenting key data on the environmental and social impacts of illegal gold mining in the region.

 Download the full report here

Mercury in Water: A Public Health Threat

One of the most alarming aspects documented in the report is the mercury contamination caused by illegal mining, where the toxic metal is used to extract gold from sediments. According to the report, a significant portion of this mercury ends up in rivers, polluting water sources and accumulating in fish, a key food source for local communities.

📌 Analyses in the basin have shown that mercury levels in the hair and blood of Amazonian inhabitants can be up to 150 times higher than the limits recommended by the World Health Organization, warns the report (p. 7).

Mercury poisoning can lead to irreversible neurological damage, particularly affecting pregnant women and young children. In many communities, the impacts go undetected, perpetuating a silent health crisis.

Deforestation and Aquatic Pollution

Gold mining not only impacts human health but also devastates forests. Extracting a single gram of gold requires moving tons of earth and sediment, leaving vast landscapes stripped of vegetation. In the Putumayo-Içá Basin, illegal mining has destroyed large areas of rainforest, significantly altering river ecosystems.

📌 Satellite images show that over the past five years, more than 1.9 million hectares of the Amazon have been deforested due to gold mining, the report highlights (p. 7).

Moreover, the use of heavy machinery diverts and contaminates rivers, affecting aquatic species and degrading water quality. Many local communities, whose livelihoods depend on these waterways, are seeing their traditional ways of life endangered.

Gold, Crime, and Social Fragmentation

The report also documents how illegal mining is not just an environmental problem but also a social crisis. In the Putumayo-Içá Basin, armed groups and criminal networks control much of the gold extraction and trade, using profits to fund other illicit activities.

📌 In several areas of the basin, illegal gold mining is linked to drug trafficking, extortion, and the forced displacement of Indigenous communities, states the report (p. 16).

Caught between limited economic opportunities and the pressure exerted by criminal groups, many communities are forced into illegal mining or are displaced from their ancestral lands. This poses a direct threat to the autonomy and survival of Indigenous peoples who have inhabited the basin for centuries.

The Role of the GEF Putumayo-Içá Basin Project

In response to this crisis, the GEF Integrated Management of the Putumayo-Içá Basin Project is implementing concrete actions to mitigate the impacts of mercury contamination, including:

✔ Monitoring mercury levels in water and affected populations, generating data to assess the extent of the problem.

✔ Identifying priority sites for environmental restoration, focusing efforts on rehabilitating degraded areas.

✔ Developing an early warning system to detect and respond to contamination incidents in the basin.

✔ Implementing remediation and ecosystem restoration initiatives, promoting sustainable alternatives for local communities.

A Regional Effort to Address the Crisis

The report underscores the urgent need for a coordinated response among the countries of the basin to tackle illegal mining. In this regard, the GEF Putumayo-Içá Project aligns with global efforts such as the Minamata Convention on Mercury, promoting stricter regulations and strategies to reduce pollutants in the Amazon.

🔗 To learn more about this issue and mitigation strategies, download the full report here

About the project

The Integrated Management of the Putumayo-Iça River Basin project, abbreviated as the Putumayo-Iça Project, is a five-year initiative jointly led by the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development in Colombia, the Environment, Water, and Ecological Transition Ministry in Ecuador, the Ministry of Environment in Peru, and the Secretariat of Environment in the State of Amazonas, Brazil. Funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and implemented by the World Bank, it is regionally executed by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). The project's primary focus is promoting integrated natural resource management within the Putumayo-Iça River Basin. Financial support from GEF's International Waters and Chemicals and Waste focal areas underscores the project's commitment to comprehensive and sustainable international water resource management.   

For more information, please contact Emilio Bermeo at  ebermeodonoso@wcs.org , visit the project website and the dedicate page on iwlearn.net.

Words and cover photo by Emilio Bermeo.