Illegal mining spreads across Peru's protected areas, hitting Cotahuasi Reserve

Illegal mining operations are expanding throughout Peru, affecting at least eight protected natural areas from the Amazon basin to the Andes and the coast. The Cotahuasi Sub‑Basin Landscape Reserve in Arequipa is among the most visible sites, where authorities have carried out raids, confiscated equipment and destroyed illegal mining infrastructure, yet activity persists.

Satellite imagery shows camps and heavy machinery inside the Reserve National Tambopata in Madre de Dios, where roughly a thousand miners are reported to have cleared over 500 hectares of forest, as well as sites near Bahuaja Sonene National Park, Huascarán National Park in Áncash, and areas linked to the Nazca Lines in Ica. The surge is linked to rising gold prices and is compounded by budget cuts to Peru's environmental prosecutor's office and weakening of the Ministry of Environment and SERNANP. A proposed legislative bill (Law 3377) is sparking debate, with experts warning it could ease concessions for informal miners and further threaten protected zones.