Illegal gold digging rises 30% in Yanomami Indigenous Land during the pandemic

Weeks after the Federal Public Prosecution issued an order forcing government officials to remove illegal gold diggers from the Yanomami Indigenous Land (TIY), a new study shows that illegal mining grew in the territory during the pandemic. From January to December 2020, gold diggers destroyed five hundred hectares of forest in the indigenous land, a 30% increase over the previous year.

“Scars in the forest: evolution of illegal mining in the Yanomami Indigenous Land in 2020,” released by the Hutukara Yanomami Association (HAY) and Wanasseduume Ye’kwana Association (Seduume), denounces not only the environmental devastationa nd the risk of conflicts with indigenous people promoted by the gold diggers, but also the impact of the activity on the health of the Yanomami, by acting as a vector of malaria and Covid-19 contamination, threatening, above all, isolated peoples.

“To malaria and other infectious diseases was added COVID-19, transmitted directly by gold diggers that continued to walk freely in TIY. 949 cases of the disease were recorded until October 2020, with a strong incidence in the Waikás (26.9% of the population), Kayanau (9.5%)”, says the study.