Deforestation in Venezuela surges as gold miners ransack the Amazon

The lack of pristine forest is estimated to be rising by round 170 per cent yearly in Venezuela – a fair quicker price than Brazil – because of a state-sanctioned increase in gold mining

By Luke Taylor

The destruction of the Amazon rainforest is accelerating quicker in Venezuela than in some other nation, spurred by a state-sanctioned increase in gold mining.

“No one is seeing this destruction because it’s happening so fast that it’s impossible to measure,” says Alejandro Álvarez Iragorry, the coordinator of Clima21, an NGO that promotes environmental human rights in Venezuela. “The environmental damage and the speed with which it’s happening is disastrous.”

Round 63 per cent of Venezuela’s land is roofed by pure …