What is happening at the moment?
“Neeeeehh” - I heard a loud roaring sound kilometers away in the otherwise quiet part of the Amazon, followed by a dull “Pruughhhh”. A new and more innovative generation of tree poachers, illegal miners and farmers have entered Madre de Dios national park in Peru. Despite protection agreements, this uncontrolled region at the borders of Brazil and Bolivia is under threat and calling for our help. While those criminal groups have different purposes to be there, they all have the same approaches to reach their aim: The destruction and exploitation of the Amazon rainforest.
Together with our local guide we walked through the dense paths of the Amazon jungle. When I say “we” I mean me, the guide and two more environmentalists who want to understand the happening and the importance of this region. It was a hot and humid afternoon. One could hear the mosquitoes buzzing around our heads. Sweat was running from my face. I used my right hand to clear the sweat from my face when suddenly: “This is a mahogany tree” - our guide interrupted the jungle sounds. “This tree can reach up to 350 years and is highly valuable for animals such as macaws, monkeys and jaguars. The trade in Peru has been broadly illegal by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) since 2003 and is only allowed to be shipped with a permit. But still, it is estimated that around 2,000 tons of it make it to the US each year. “They have no idea that they drive deforestation and eliminate local tribes from their habitat when buying these” he added. I inspected the tree. It stood tall and perfectly straight in front of me. “Okay guys, let's keep moving, we don't want to be at one location for too long”. Eventually, I will later find out what this actually means. We continued walking along the Madre de Dios River.
Environmentalists and volunteers often put themselves, and their relatives in danger. In 2020, at least 227 environmentalists were killed worldwide. Meanwhile Peru, Brazil, Mexico and Colombia are among the countries with the most environmentalists missing or being killed annually. Often whole families receive threats from gangs or big corporations in form of hitmen to keep out of their businesses. The funds for these illegal operations are granted by multimillion-dollar companies, drug cartels and privateers. Often, these operations happen under the supervision of bribed local politicians and authorities.
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