Download or read book The Human and Environmental Dynamics of Artisanal Small scale Gold Mining in the Peruvian Amazon written by Rachel Constance Engstrand and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The idea of the Amazon as a primeval tropical rainforest, undisturbed and stable since the dawn of time, is a myth. While the forest provides a myriad of valuable local and global ecosystem services, such as biodiversity conservation and carbon storage, it is also host to numerous human activities, such as farming, logging, and mining, that impact this system at a continuously expanding rate. Of these human activities, artisanal small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is thought to have the most destructive environmental impacts due to the large-scale deforestation, soil disturbance and heavy metal contamination associated with this activity. Understanding how forests respond to and recover from gold mining induced changes is crucial to ensure the future provision of ecosystem services for the future. Due to its illicit nature, little is known about the drivers and dynamics of ASGM in the Madre de Dios region of Peru, an area which is renowned for having both some of the highest levels of biodiversity and gold mining activity in the Amazon. To address this, I first examine the human context in which ASGM occurs in this region. I use qualitative data collected from semi-structured interviews with miners and other local stakeholders to learn about the social-environmental drivers, impacts, and the perceived future of ASGM. I then leverage remote-sensing to complement these human stories with an understanding of the dynamics and spread of ASGM over a 36-year time-period. I expand on this data using machine learning to identify which environmental and social factors can predict the intensity of future mining in any given area. Finally, I discuss the results of a field study in which I collect soil samples and conduct vegetation surveys on a 15-year chronosequence of abandoned gold mines. I look at how gold mining impacts vegetation structure, soil biogeochemistry, and soil microbial communities over time to understand the potential for natural recovery in a post-mining ecosystem. I analyze these results in the context of the human and spatial perspectives explored earlier. This combination of on-the-ground, aboveground, and underground perspectives is used to create a holistic understanding of the broad-scale impacts of ASGM and to help inform policy and decision makers working to regulate ASGM to create a brighter ecological future for this region.
Download or read book The Socio Economic Impacts of Artisanal and Small Scale Mining in Developing Countries written by G.M. Hilson and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2003-01-01 with total page 561 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The purpose of this book is to examine both the positive and negative socioeconomic impacts of artisanal and small-scale mining in developing countries. In recent years, a number of governments have attempted to formalize this rudimentary sector of industry, recognizing its socioeconomic importance. However, the industry continues to be plagued by
Download or read book Artisanal Small Scale Gold Mining written by Katherine von Stackelberg and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2022-06-13 with total page 125 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This framework document provides a pragmatic approach for designing representative studies and developing uniform sampling guidelines to support estimates of morbidity that are explicitly linked to exposure to land-based contaminants from small-scale artisanal gold mining activities. A primary goal is to support environmental burden of disease evaluations, which attempt to attribute health outcomes to specific sources of pollution. The guidelines provide recommendations on the most appropriate and cost-effective sampling and analysis methods to ensure the collection of representative population-level data, sample size recommendations for each contaminant and environmental media, biological sampling data, household survey data, and health outcome data. This framework focuses on small-scale artisanal gold mining (ASGM) activities that are known to use and generate mercury (Hg) as well as other metals, such as arsenic (As) and lead (Pb), depending on the specific ores being mined. A particular concern with Hg is the conversion to methylmercury (MeHg) in aquatic environments, leading to bioaccumulation and biomagnification in fish that may be locally consumed. Exposure to Hg, MeHg, and Pb are strongly associated with neurodevelopmental health outcomes in children. Exposure to Hg and MeHg are also associated with neurological illnesses in adults. Exposures to Pb are associated with renal outcomes in children and adults, and cardiovascular outcomes in adults. Exposure to As are associated with neurodevelopmental health outcomes in children, arsenicosis and skin disorders in children and adults, and potential cancers in adults, including skin, bladder, and lung. The primary objective of this framework is to guide research to assess the relationship between environmental contamination, exposures, and health outcomes related to a subset of contaminants originating from ASGM activities for particularly vulnerable populations (such as children) and the general population within a single household in the vicinity of ASGM sites in low- and medium-income countries. To achieve this objective, biomonitoring and health outcome data are linked to household survey and environmental data (for example, soil, dust, water, agricultural products, fish) at the individual level from an exposed population compared to individuals from an unexposed (reference) population. Data on exposures and health outcomes in the same individual across a representative set of individuals is required to support an understanding of the potential impact of ASGM activities on local populations. These guidelines can also assist in building local capacity to conduct environmental assessments following a consistent methodology to facilitate comparability across ASGM sites in different geographic areas. Sampling strategies and methods are prioritized given information needs, resource availability, and other constraints or considerations. The framework includes a number of supporting appendixes that provide additional resources and references on relevant topics.
Download or read book An Environmental Study of Artisanal Small and Medium Mining in Bolivia Chile and Peru written by Gary McMahon and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1999 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper synthesizes a study examining the environmental performance of artisanal, mall, and medium mining in Bolivia, Chile, and Peru. Summaries of each of the three country studies are also included. Significant emphasis is placed on the viability of artisanal, small, and medium mines if environmental costs are taken into account as well as policy actions to improve the environmental performance of viable mines. Given that indigenous groups, with their historic and close ties to the land, are often an important stakeholder when discussing mining and the environment, particular concern is also placed on the relationship between the mining sector and indigenous populations in Canada was included in order to disseminate lessons to the three Latin American countries from the Canadian experience. Some of the most important conclusions and recommendations are: 1) Distinguishing mines by size is not as important as age. 2) The management of tailings could be opened up to market mechanisms. 3) Only artisanal and small mines that are economically viable should be encouraged; mining policy should not substitute for social policy. Cultural and social considerations are increasingly important in the decision-making process of the mining sector.
Download or read book The Amazon Gold Rush and Environmental Mercury Contamination written by Daniel Marcos Bonotto and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The importance of the Amazon area to sustain the global equilibrium in the environment has been recognised world-wide. This has been much more accentuated in the present days due to the intense debate related to global warming. Consequently, all initiatives/studies directed to a better knowledge/management of that huge environment are welcome and needed. This book is a contribution to this task, as gold has been exploited intensively in the Brazilian Amazon during the past 30 years using garimpo methods (small-scale gold mining), where the elemental mercury (Hg) used in amalgamating the gold, the final stage of the ore dressing process, has caused abnormal Hg concentrations in waterways. This has occurred in several areas of the Amazon region, where most of the ore prospected is alluvial. Particular attention to the Madeira River has been given since 1986 by several investigators. The main reason for this is that the Madeira River is the largest tributary of the Amazon River and the gold mining was officially allowed on a 350-km sector of the river, for its mid and upper reach, in the north-western reach of the Amazon basin. Consequently, mercury was released from gold-mining fields to the atmosphere or to waterways in the metallic form, due to the large number of mechanical dredges operating simultaneously (about 6,000 during the peak mining activities). Although Hg0 is relatively immobile in the aquatic environment and its solubility is low in water, Hg contamination in people living upstream and downstream from garimpos has been reported. The gold-mining activities on the Madeira River basin reduced substantially in the present days, i.e. it is practically absent. However, despite this, it is necessary a better understanding of the Hg behaviour in tropical aquatic systems, mainly close to the most populated areas, as people may be still suffering toxicological consequences of the Hg releases in the past. Therefore, even in the present days, the knowledge of the mercury occurring in the aquatic system of the Madeira River basin is a great concern by local/international authorities and environmentalists, since it can contribute for identifying the effects of the anthropogenic Hg inputs relatively to the background reference levels expressing the natural Hg concentration. This book describes the results obtained on the analysis of samples of water, bottom sediments, suspended solids and fishes that were collected at the Madeira River basin, Brazil, with the purpose of investigating the mercury release in the aquatic environment as a consequence of the gold mining activities.
Download or read book International Handbook of Population and Environment written by Lori M. Hunter and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-03-11 with total page 518 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This handbook presents a timely and comprehensive overview of theory, data, methods and research findings that connect human population dynamics and environmental context. It presents regional summaries of empirical findings on migration and environmental connections and summarizes environmental impacts of migration – such as urbanization and deforestation. It also offers background on the health implications of environmental conditions such as climate change, natural disasters, scarcity of natural resources, as well as on resource scarcity and fertility, gender considerations in population and environment, and the connections between population size, growth, composition and carbon emissions. This handbook helps readers to better understand the complexities within population-environment connections, in addition to some of the opportunities and challenges within environmental demography. As such this collection is an invaluable resource for students, researchers, and policy analysts in the areas of demography, migration, fertility, health and mortality, as well as environmental, global and development studies.
Download or read book Planetary health approaches to understand and control vector borne diseases written by Kimberley Fornace and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2023-12-21 with total page 446 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mosquitoes transmit many of the pathogens that cause zoonotic diseases from wildlife and livestock to people, with devasting consequences for public health. The factors affecting the ecology and evolution of the transmission dynamics of these mosquito-borne pathogens can be revealed using multidisciplinary research approaches. This 7th volume of the ECVD series focuses on the ecological factors that determine the transmission dynamics of mosquito-borne pathogens naturally circulating between animals of different taxa and their importance for human health. The authors revise the current knowledge on the pathogens that affect wildlife, including those maintained in captivity, as well as the use of cutting-edge techniques for the identification of potential vectors of these pathogens. In addition, this volume explores the role of factors related to global change, including changes in landscape use, deforestation and urbanization, as major drivers of the distribution of mosquito vectors and the dynamics of pathogen transmission. Finally, updated information on the approaches used to identify and control mosquito-borne diseases is presented, with a particular focus on those affecting humans. In summary, this book provides an updated review of the different mosquito-borne pathogens affecting animals and their public health relevance.
Download or read book Exploring the Potential Health and Safety Issues of Artisanal and Small scale Gold Mining in Ghana a Case Study written by William McWhorter and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 33 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining is a way of life for many individuals living in developing countries, especially Africa. This subsistence form of mining provides many households with an income to provide food and shelter for their families. Although done with good intentions, limited financial resources along with the lack of government capacity to properly regulate small-scale gold mining activities leads to hazardous working conditions that can be detrimental to both human health and the environment. By using a case study approach, this paper explores the current mining techniques being used in rural Ghana to identify the health and safety issues associated with small-scale gold mining and policy options to help streamline the mining process. Although the appropriate regulations exist, much of Ghana's small-scale gold mining sector is pushed to operate informally which through financial shortcuts exposes miners and the surrounding community to health and safety risks. By identifying the issues at hand, we hope to promote more effective policies that streamline the small-scale gold mining process through active local government cooperation while creating a more sustainable environment and safe workplace for future generations.
Download or read book Artisanal and Small Scale Gold Mining ASGM Related Environmental and Health Problems written by José Luis Rivera Parra and published by Mdpi AG. This book was released on 2023-03-03 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This reprint focuses on artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) all over the world, as well as its impact on the economy, environment, and health, providing sustainable solutions to severe ASGM problems. This book presents a total of 20 published articles of regions including Southeast Asia, South America, and South Africa, as well as a general overview of ASGM issues. Studies included in this book posit that (1) ASGM activity is still widely practiced as an alternative livelihood in rural areas in many countries around the world, using toxic elements such as Hg and cyanide due to a lack of legal enforcement on the ASGM sector; (2) ASGM has a negative impact on environmental ecosystems, causes occupational health problems for miners, and causes chronic health disorders in both ASGM communities and those living far from ASGM areas. However, some studies propose that specific potential bioindicators could be used to monitor the environment and health of those living in ASGM communities, providing sustainable solutions to severe ASGM problems.
Download or read book Artisanal and Small Scale Gold Mining ASGM Related Environmental and Health Problems written by Masayuki Sakakibara and published by . This book was released on 2023 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This reprint focuses on artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) all over the world, as well as its impact on the economy, environment, and health, providing sustainable solutions to severe ASGM problems. This book presents a total of 20 published articles of regions including Southeast Asia, South America, and South Africa, as well as a general overview of ASGM issues. Studies included in this book posit that (1) ASGM activity is still widely practiced as an alternative livelihood in rural areas in many countries around the world, using toxic elements such as Hg and cyanide due to a lack of legal enforcement on the ASGM sector; (2) ASGM has a negative impact on environmental ecosystems, causes occupational health problems for miners, and causes chronic health disorders in both ASGM communities and those living far from ASGM areas. However, some studies propose that specific potential bioindicators could be used to monitor the environment and health of those living in ASGM communities, providing sustainable solutions to severe ASGM problems.
