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Legal but Environmentally Harmful Practices Involved in Gold Mining in Madre de Dios, Peru

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Abstract

The aim of this research is to examine environmental harms produced by artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) in the region of Madre de Dios, Peru. This study evaluates explanations for legal but environmentally harmful practices involved in ASGM from a sociological institutionalist approach, which offers a theoretical lens for considering various political, social, and administrative explanations. Data are drawn from the Peruvian legal framework relevant to ASGM, field observation, and key informants from different sectors. The findings provide greater clarity as to the extent those specific institutional explanations, such as regulatory capture and red tape, would account for lawful but awful environmental harms produced by ASGM.

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Notes

  1. There are two mining enclaves in Inambari: the town of Mazuco and the area known as La Pampa.

  2. This district includes the largest mining towns in the region: Boca Colorado, Bajo Puquiri (known as Delta 1), Delta 2, Delta 3 and Delta 4.

  3. The poverty rate in 2009 in MDD was 15.7%. It reached only 9.5% in Inambari, 12.9% in Laberinto, 6.8% in Madre de Dios, and 8.1% in Huepetuhe. The extreme poverty rate reached 4.2% in MDD, but it was 2.0% in Inambari, 3.0% in Laberinto, 1.2% in Madre de Dios, and 1.5% in Huepetuhe (INEI, 2015).

  4. From 2002 to 2008, 445 mining claims were registered annually in MDD. It decreased 74% to 115 claims annually from 2009 to 2016. In 2017, after the new process of formalization, the average number increased again from 115 to 530 claims annually.

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Acknowledgements

Special thanks to Dr. Stephen Perz for his continued support. Some parts of this research were supported by research grants from the Tropical Conservation and Development Program from the University of Florida.

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Correspondence to Johanna Espin.

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Espin, J. Legal but Environmentally Harmful Practices Involved in Gold Mining in Madre de Dios, Peru. Crit Crim 31, 563–579 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10612-023-09685-w

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