Photographic Exhibition Shows Devastating Effects of Illegal Mining in Madre de Dios

01/26/2024

Nature and Culture International supported a recent photographic exhibition that sheds light on the environmental and social impacts of illegal mining on the Madre de Dios region of the Peruvian Amazon.

From December 21st to January 6th, a series of photographs was exhibited at the Parish Hall of the Main Church of Iquitos, Peru. These images illustrate the devastating impacts of illegal mining in the Madre de Dios region over the years. The impacts are not only environmental; they also result in a breakdown of the connection between people and the surrounding natural landscapes that are slowly disappearing.

A warning of the consequences of illegal mining

Photographer and climate activist, Pavel Martiarena, is from Puerto Maldonado, the capital city of the Madre de Dios region in southeast Peru. He traveled to Iquitos to exhibit more than 20 photographs that detail the harmful effects of illegal mining in his region. The photographic exhibition not only summarizes the fatal impacts of mercury on the natural landscape of the Amazon Rainforest but also exposes the irreparable marks mining has left on the population: domestic violence, drug trafficking, alcoholism, and human trafficking, among other crimes.

In this sense, Pavel Martiarena’s exhibition was received in Iquitos as a warning of the negative impacts of illegal mining in an Amazonian landscape. This reality could be repeated in Loreto, especially in the basins of the Chambira and Nanay rivers, both of which supply potable water for the city of Iquitos with over 400 thousand inhabitants.

Nature and Culture worked together with organizations like the Frankfurt Zoological Society, Derecho, Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, and the Center for Amazonian Scientific Innovation to handle the organization and logistics required for the exhibition.

The photographic exhibition was presented by the Apostolic Vicariate of Iquitos and the management committees of the protected areas affected by illegal mining in Loreto: the Regional Conservation Area “Alto Nanay Pintuyacu Chambira” and the National Reserve “Allpahuayo Mishana.” The exhibition opening was attended by representatives of the Vicariate, the “Allpahuayo Mishana” National Reserve, and regional and national authorities, including the Minister of the Environment, Albina Ruiz.