As thousands marched against climate change ahead of the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen (Denmark) next week, world leaders have urged rich countries to cut their emissions by at least 40% by 2020 and to provide US$150 billion a year by then to help the world's poor cope with the impact of climate change while increasing the supply of renewable energy.
It all seems rather far away from poverty-stricken Venezuelans and Amazon Indian tribes in the southern jungles of Bolivar State where a seemingly unwinnable battle is being fought to curb illegal gold prospectors (garimpieros) from further adding to an already devastated region.
In this picture cavalcade, we revisit the jungles and present the unblemished truth of Venezuela's dilemma...
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A tin-hulled 'lancha' plows along the mighty Cuyuni River in Venezuela's south-
eastern State of Bolivar close to the border with neighboring Guyana where it
joins the Essequibo River to flow into the southern Atlantic Ocean
The Rio Cuyuni is the culmination of many tributaries which drain the
gold-rich regions of Venezuela's Guayana region
The Cuyuni River rises in the Guiana Highlands of Venezuela and descends north-
ward to El Dorado, where it turns east and meanders through tropical rainforests
forming the international boundary with Guyana for some 100 km (60 miles).
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Illegal miners have torched massive swathes of pristine rainforest in their
search for gold, regardless of the environmental damage they leave in their wake.
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The environmental damage caused to Venezuela's Amazonian rainforest
is plain to see for anyone and everyone who cares ... do you?
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Our pictures show illegal miners working in remote areas of the jungle
after they have burned the rainforest and water-blasted layers of earth
as they descend to the deposits of gold beneath the surface
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Behind them thy leave poisoned lakes and water tables
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The illegal miners (garimpieros) excavate huge holes in the rainforest floor while
living in crude wood and metal shacks close to the working in the remote jungle
You may click on individual pictures to view a very much larger image:
You may click on individual pictures to view a very much larger image:
You may click on individual pictures to view a very much larger image:
You may click on individual pictures to view a very much larger image:
You may click on individual pictures to view a very much larger image:
Closer to 'civilization' the Venezuelan government has sited a remote electricity
sub-station to convey high-voltage electricity from the Guri hydroelectric dam
all the way to Venezuela's southern border with Brazil. It is largely thanks to
the electrification that international mining companies have realized the potential
of mining operations making use of cheap power supplies. Beneath -- an aerial
photograph of El Callao at the center of the gold-mining industry.
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Always there is environmental devastation to be found in the wake of illegal gold
mining operations with polluted pools an lakes throughout the Km 88 region.
The Kilometer 88 region of southern Bolivar State is already a "Lake District"
suffering from widespread pollution and devastated flora and fauna.
Closer to gold-mining operations at Las Cristinas and Las Brisas del Cuyuni,
illegal mining by garimpieros has left its indelible traces on the landscape. An
eventual clean-up after more than 50 years of serious neglect is a major concern
to the Venezuelan Environmental & Natural Resources (MinAmb) Ministry and
will cost millions in funding that could otherwise be put to better use improving
the living standards of thousands of Venezuelans throughout the affected region.
Who with a conscience can condone this unbridled exploitation of the rainforest?
How long will the environmental devastation be allowed to continue?
Is it already too late?
VHeadline Venezuela News
news.desk@vheadline.com
