Threatened Rainforests...Yeah, I Know that It is a Cliche

  The bit of Amazon that we visited is in one of the largest protected rainforest zones in the world.  The Amazon is of course deserving of being protected, 25% of the world's oxygen is produced here and 30% of the world's fresh water can be found here.  Not only does farming threaten the forest, but even within this protected region, the safety of the people living here or trying to protect the forest is constantly at risk.  The main industries in this region of the Amazon are what?  Don't know?  Gold mining and Brazil nut collection.  DUH!  Brazil nuts are great because the Brazil nut trees can only exist in primary (that is, old growth and original) forests.  So, the Brazil nut harvest is good for the forest.  The gold, on the other hand, requires the use of mercury to dissolve gold found on the river banks.  This mercury is often dumped into the rivers threatening ecosystems and the people that live here.  But, seriously, how hard it is to find boats that are sifting for gold on the riverbanks...it's a huge, open river for goodness sake!  Well, I asked about this and learned that if the government were to crack down on the illegal gold collection, Peru would see a rise in drug and coca farming in the jungle region.  I suppose that Peru believe that the lesser of the two evils, some river pollution or gangs of drug traffickers, would be to let gold collection continue.  We humans always seem to find some way to hurt nature, but let us just hope that Peru maintains their stronghold on this protected are of the Amazon for all of our sakes!