[Reproduced from WWF Brasil]
High tension on the border with French Guiana
Agreement signed in 2008 has not been ratified by Brazilian Congress. Use of mercury is concerned.
The lack of political agreement between Brazil and France is extending environmental impacts on the border between the two countries.
A year ago, two French militaries were shot dead by a gang involved in illegal gold mining. This was reported by a denouncing letter signed by European parliamentarians and non-governmental organizations, published last week in the newspaper Le Monde and French news agencies.
In April of that year, about 100 Brazilian miners were arrested in French Guiana. In 2010, some 1,500 foreigners in an irregular situation had been arrested.
The gold rush gained momentum with high ore prices on the international market after the financial crisis of 2008 and increased demand for jewelry in emerging countries such as India.
On 24 June, a Brazilian boatman was killed by a police officer, in the territory of French Guyana. He would be transporting clandestine products to a gold mine.
In addition to the violence, a lot of mercury flows from illegal gold mining. Extremely toxic substance to health, it is used to separate the gold from other materials, but ends up spreading in the environment, in the flesh of fish and other links of food chains.
To produce one kilogram of gold, the illegal miners come to use one kilogram of mercury. The WWF estimates that 30 tonnes of mercury are disposed in Guayana natural environment each year, including within protected areas and indigenous lands.
French Guiana [from Wikipedia] officially just Guiana, French: Guyane, is an overseas region of France on the north Atlantic coast of South America. It borders Brazil to the east and south, and Suriname to the west. Its 83,534 km2(32,253 sq mi) area has a very low population density of less than 3 inhabitants per km2, with half of its 239,450 people in 2012[1] living in the metropolitan area of Cayenne, its capital.
French Guiana [from Wikipedia] officially just Guiana, French: Guyane, is an overseas region of France on the north Atlantic coast of South America. It borders Brazil to the east and south, and Suriname to the west. Its 83,534 km2(32,253 sq mi) area has a very low population density of less than 3 inhabitants per km2, with half of its 239,450 people in 2012[1] living in the metropolitan area of Cayenne, its capital.
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