Tambopata National Reserve (Peru) under the ‘tyranny’ of the ‘narcos’ and ‘illegal mining’

From the moment it leaves the ground until it reaches the market, gold goes through a long chain of processes and actors, often illegal. This happens because the trade of this metal, beyond the fluctuations of the market, has enormous margins of profit. In this way, illegal mining in Tambopata is linked to crimes such as drug trafficking, forced labour, child exploitation, human trafficking, hired assassin, extortion, homicide, land theft and ta…

For more than two decades, the reserve had 13 park rangers and an annual budget close to the Bs 2 million. In 2024 there are only five park rangers and Bs 160,000 in budget.