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An illegal gold rush has wiped out 140,000 hectares of tropical forest in the Peruvian Amazon, accelerating as foreign, armed groups move into the area to profit from record gold prices, based on findings.

Roughly five hundred forty square miles of territory have been converted for extraction activities in the South American country since the mid-1980s, and the ecological damage is growing at an alarming rate across the country, analysis found.

The gold rush is also poisoning its waterways. Unlawful extractors use dredges – equipment that chew up and spit out riverbeds – depositing toxic mercury used to extract gold from sediment in their wake.

Ultra-high resolution aerial images allowed analysts to detect mining equipment alongside forest loss for the first time, revealing that the ecological disaster previously limited to the southern part of the country was spreading northward.

“Initially, it was only observed in Madre de Dios but now we’re seeing it across numerous areas,” stated an official involved in the research.

The price of gold topped $4,000 for the first time this period on international markets as global anxiety increased about financial fragility. Native communities have sounded the alarm that as the price soars, armed groups were increasingly destroying their forests and contaminating their rivers in pursuit of the precious metal.

Satellite photos show that previously lush forest areas are being converted into lifeless moonscapes of barren soil marked by stagnant pools of green water.

“This small section is just a minor example,” a researcher noted, indicating a small section of the extensive pattern of forest clearance mapped in the report. “Consider this multiplied to 140,000 hectares.”

The mercury residues accumulate in fish and are transferred to the people who consume them, causing health and cognitive issues such as birth defects and learning difficulties.

An ongoing study of communities along riverbanks in Peru’s far north of the Loreto region found the average concentration of mercury was almost quadruple the safe threshold set by global health authorities.

Analysis found that hundreds of waterways have been impacted, with nearly a thousand dredging machines spotted in the region since 2017 – among them 275 this year alone on the Nanay River, a branch of the Amazon that is the vital source of ecosystems and many native populations.

“Our waterways are being contaminated – it’s the drinking water that we consume,” said a spokesperson of several riverside communities in the area.

Local communities began blocking miners from advancing up the Tigre River in Loreto recently, resulting in gunfights with militant groups. “We have no choice but to fight back but we are alone. The state is absent,” he stated frustrated.

Extraction activities is mostly located in the southern area of Madre de Dios in southern Peru but emerging zones are developing farther north in Loreto, Amazonas, Huánuco, Pasco and Ucayali.

These areas are limited but once extraction begins it could grow rapidly, an expert noted, adding that the report was a glimpse into what was occurring across the broader Amazon region.

“This is the first time we’ve been able to look in this detail at a country but I think in neighboring countries we are going to see exactly the same thing,” he added.

Research showed more dredges appearing on Peru’s jungle frontiers with Bolivia, Brazil and Colombia.

With gold prices surpassing $4,000 an ounce, foreign, armed groups are more frequently entering across the border into Peru’s lawless jungles where local authorities are doing little to halt their activities, according to a criminologist.

Criminal networks, including factions from neighboring countries, are more involved across the border.

“International crime networks involved in drug trade and laundering profits through unlawful extraction – now with peak prices providing hefty returns – are combined with a administration that has failed to act decisively against organised crime,” the analyst remarked.

A political coalition of Latin American nations told Peru to address illegal mining or it could be subject to penalties.

But an expert commented: “The returns from gold are immense at present. I don’t see any signs of a decline in value, so it’s probably going to get worse before it gets better.”