“Year of Dialogue and National Reconciliation”

CENTER OF LANGUAGES - MARISCAL NIETO

“FINAL WORK OF INTERMEDIATE ENGLISH”

TEACHER:
PAOLA PARRA OCAMPO

Commented [M1]: REMOVE

MADE BY:
FELIX MIGUEL FUENTES MARCA

MOQUEGUA-PERU
2018
DEDICATION Commented [M2]: DEDICATORY

I thank in the first place to God for allowing me to reach this point and have

given me health, be the source of life and give me what is necessary to move

forward day by day to achieve my goals.

I thank my mother for having supported me at all times, for her advice, her Commented [M3]:

values, for the constant motivation that has allowed me to be a good person, but

more than anything, for her love, and perseverance that characterize her and that

always unfounded, for the courage shown to get ahead and for his love; and to

all those who helped directly or indirectly to make this document.

I thank to my teacher for her great support and motivation for the culmination of

our professional studies, for her support offered in this work, for having passed

on the knowledge obtained and taking me step by step in the learning.

 INDEX

TITLE………………………………………………………………...………….1

INTRODUCTION……..………………………………...………………………1

DEVELOPMENT…………………...………….……………...………………...1

CONLUSION …………..……………………………..………………………..3

BIBIOGRAPHY.…………….………………………...………………….……..4
 1. TITLE:

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT IN MADRE DE DIOS

2. INTRODUCTION

In the present work I will talk about artesanal mining that exists in the locality of

Madre de Dios, good as we know artisanal mining is an important phenomenon in many

parts of the world. From the small production of coal in China to the washing of gold in

different parts of South America, it is estimated that this activity employs more than 13

million people. At the same time, it is also known that these artisanal operations are

characterized by their low productivity, their scarce safety conditions and their negative

impact on the environmental.

3. DEVELOPMENT

A. POLLUTION

Mercury contamination in Madre de Dios is overwhelming. In Madre de Dios it

has been estimated that 30 to 40 tons of mercury are poured into the environment

annually. The scientist Luis Fernandez, who received the support of the conservation

association, undertook an important mercury study and found that:9 of the 15 fish

species most consumed for sale in the markets have mercury levels that exceed the limit

established by the US EPA and 78% of the residents of the capital of Madre de Dios

have dangerously high levels of mercury in their bodies, being women in fertile age the

most affected.
 B. DEFORESTATION

In December 2014, officials from within Peru’s Ministry of the Environment

stated that nearly 360,000 acres of the Peruvian rainforest were cleared that year, up

from an average of 280,000 acres per year since 2001. As of September 2012, Madre de

Dios alone lost over 50,000 hectares of forested land to deforestation from artisanal and

small-scale gold mining (AGSM).

Completion of the Interoceanic Highway in 2010 increased access to the Madre

de Dios region and today more than 59,000 miners are estimated to be operating without

legal operating permits in the area.

By leveling forests, removing topsoil, and releasing mercury, illegal mining

devastates habitat, contaminates waterways, and endangers public health. Miners use

mercury as a gold magnet, creating mixed nuggets of mercury and gold. The mercury is

then burned off at multiple stages of extraction, releasing an estimated 30 to 40 tons of

atmospheric mercury into the environment annually. In Madre de Dios, from February

until April of 2015, a monthly average of 1.1 metric tons of mercry were released,

showing a 30% increase from 2014.

 Although in 2013 Peru’s Vice Minister of the Environment signed the Minimata

Convention, a legally binding international treaty aimed at reducing mercury pollution,

Peru has not yet ratified.

C. HUMAN HEALTH IMPACTS OF MINING

Mercury pollution by ASGM activity poses a serious risk to human health,

including impaired neurological development in children. Mercury is released directly

into the river (as excess or accidental waste), or burned off the gold-mercury

amalgamate in order to have purer gold for sale. The resulting atmospheric mercury

lingers locally and can be captured and spread to waterways by precipitation cycles. In

the waterways, fish take in the mercury as methylmercury. The fish are then consumed

by humans, who can accumulate fatal amounts of mercury causing nervous system

failure. When mercury vapor is inhaled, humans are susceptible to nervous, digestive,

and immune system complications, as well as damage to lungs and kidneys.

In 2012, an ACA-sponsored study conducted by the Carnegie Institution for Science

found that 9 of the 15 most-consumed fish species in Madre de Dios have mercury

levels exceeding the safe limit set by the World Health Organization (WHO). A follow-

up Carnegie study found that 78% of people in Puerto Maldonado have dangerously

high levels of mercury in their bodies. Children in indigenous communities are even

harder-hit, with an average of 5 times the WHO safe limit of methylmercury in their

bodies.
 4. CONCLUSION

I came to the conclusion that in Madre de Dios there is a great environmental

impact, which includes the flora and fauna of this place. It is very unpleasant to

see how forests are cut down and how mines pollute the river, harming people

and animals.
 5. BIBLIOGRAPHY

https://www.amazonconservation.org/pdf/aca_gold_mining_fact_sheet.pdf

http://www.grade.org.pe/upload/publicaciones/archivo/download/pubs/JK-

asm_peru_eng.pdf

https://wordpress.clarku.edu/extractiveindustries/files/2016/06/JYarlequeIpanaq

ue_Honors_Thesis.pdf Commented [M4]: HAZ TU REFERENCIA