The invasion of illegal mining in Yanomami Land has grown more than 20 thousand times in 37 years, study shows | Roraima

The invasion of illegal mining in the Yanomami Indigenous Land grew almost 20 thousand times between 1985, in the decade in which there was a gold rush that culminated in the deaths of indigenous people, and 2022, according to a technical note from the Amazon Environmental Research Institute. At the moment, 3,278 hectares of territory were invaded due to illegal activity — 3.4% of the territory, which has 9.6 million.

The Ipam survey was carried out based on mining data from MapBiomas Brasil, which is based on the mapping of scars left by mining in 37 years, between the years 1985 and 2022. The technical note was released last Friday (26 ).

According to the Ipam study, the Yanomami Land had only 15 hectares invaded by illegal activity in 1985. At the time, the territory had not yet been approved. It was only demarcated seven years later, in 1992.

Throughout the Brazilian Amazon the numbers are even more alarming. At the moment, there are 80,180 mining points in the region in an area of ​​241 thousand hectares — more than twice the size of Belém, capital of Pará.

Around 25 thousand hectares are in 17 directly invaded indigenous lands. According to Ipam, another 122 are in mined river basins, totaling at least 139 territories and their rivers contaminated by the activity.

The most affected indigenous lands are Kayapó, Munduruku and Yanomami, respectively. Located in Pará, Kayapó concentrates 55% of the entire mined area in indigenous lands in the Amazon.

Munduruku, also in the state of Pará, has 22% of mined area and the Yanomami Indigenous Land has 13%. Together, the three territories concentrate 90% of the indigenous area invaded by illegal miners.

Kayapó increased by more than 1,339% between 1985 and 2022, increasing from 957 hectares to 13,775. The Munduruku Indigenous Land had its mining area expanded more than 129 times in the 37 years of analysis, which represents an increase from 42 hectares to 5,463 (see more in the graph below).

Mining area on indigenous lands in 2022

Data in hectares

Source: Ipam

Indigenous lands are protected by law and, therefore, any exploratory activity in these areas is considered illegal.

According to Ipam, illegal gold extraction still affects the rivers of the Amazon. He explains that part of the mining activity is done by digging holes “which, for the most part, are found along the banks of rivers”, impacting nearby bodies of water.

The study points out that although 17 indigenous lands have direct occurrence of mining, another 122 are located in river basins impacted by the activity. Of these, 77 ILs have 100% of their territory in mining basins and 45 ILs have part of their territories in mining basins.

These waters are contaminated by mercury, a metal that is highly toxic to humans and used by miners to separate gold from other sediments and thus leave it “clean”. After this, the mercury is thrown into rivers, causing environmental pollution. Furthermore, it enters the animal food chain and directly affects the health of the population, especially traditional peoples.

As a consequence, mercury in the body can cause serious health problems that affect the nervous system. The liquid metal is retained in the body due to its bioaccumulation capacity.

The study collected hair samples from 287 indigenous people from the Ninam subgroup, of the Yanomami people, and revealed that indigenous people who live in villages closest to illegal mining have the highest levels of exposure to mercury.

In 2022, a study by the Federal Police revealed that four rivers in Yanomami Land had high mercury contamination: 8,600% higher to the maximum stipulated for water human consumption.

The Yanomami Land has been in a health emergency since January 2023, when the federal government began creating actions to assist the indigenous people, such as sending health professionals and basic food baskets. In addition to sending security forces to the region to stop the activities of miners.

The Ministry of Indigenous Peoples (MPI) estimates that around seven thousand illegal miners continue to be active in the territory. The number of invaders decreased by 65% ​​in one year, compared to the beginning of federal government operations, when there were 20,000 invaders in the territory.

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