“The elite soldiers protecting the Amazon rainforest”, 10^th May 2019

…French Guiana, a small French overseas territory on the north-eastern coast of South America, is one of the most forested nations on the planet, but its precious ecosystem is under threat from illegal gold mining…Beneath the Amazon rainforest lies treasure: gold deposits can be found just 15m (50ft) below the forest floor. For centuries, prospectors have been lured into these forests in the hope of finding a fortune. But just over a decade ago, when the economic crash of 2008 caused the price of gold to skyrocket, a gold rush began all over the Amazon jungle…Since then, the price of gold has continued to soar and rampant illegal gold mining has destroyed swathes of jungle from Ecuador across Peru, Colombia and Venezuela to Brazil. In French Guiana, which has a population of less than 300,000 people, there are an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 illegal miners…As Dominick Plouvier, conservation expert and director of Amazon Conservation Team explains, the problem lies in the use of one high volatile chemical. "Mercury, used in the extraction process is the big problem. It pollutes the rivers, which then poisons the fish, which then in turn poisons the people who eat the fish."…