Abstract
Mining, like other types of resource extraction, is often carried out by a number of actors ranging from licit to illicit. Laws governing resource extraction have to balance the interests of the local economy, the environment, and law enforcement. In Peru, the government has attempted to tackle the increasing involvement of organized crime groups (OCGs) in the jungle region of Madre de Dios by placing “illegal mining” under the organized crime legislation, thereby elevating the seriousness of illegal mining to an activity classified as “organized crime.” This chapter studies the implications of this classification in the local context of Madre de Dios, focusing on the impact this legislative change is having on the local population involved in artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM). Ethnographic fieldwork and qualitative interviews reveal how conflicting policies have erased the line between the informal and the illegal, victimizing those local miners willing to make the step toward environmental sustainability through the formalization process.
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(Photo credit Eva Bernet Kempers)
Notes
- 1.
The Law of Formalization and Promotion of Small-scale Mining and Artisanal Mining (Law No. 27651) was enacted in 2002. In 2011, the National Plan for the Formalization of Artisanal Mining (Plan Nacional de Formalización de la Minería Artesanal) was implemented. See also Supreme Decree Nº 013-2002 and Supreme Decree Nº 013-2011. The formalization process will be described in greater detail in the coming sections.
- 2.
Illegal mining was added to the Law Against Organized Crime, Law No. 30077 (Ley contra el Crimen Organizado, Ley Nº 30077), Normas Legales 501404 in January 2017. See James Bargent (2017) for a report on the incorporation of mining in this law. The precise wording of the article will be discussed later in this chapter.
- 3.
This is according to the artisanal and small-scale gold miners that I spoke to. This observation is supported by Gerardo Damonte et al. (2013).
- 4.
Law of Formalization and Promotion of Small-scale Mining and Artisanal Mining (Law No. 27651). See also Supreme Decree No. 045–2010–PCM and Emergency Decree No. 012–2010, which emphasize the need to regulate gold mining in the Madre de Dios region. “The formalization process has six mandatory steps: 1) the declaration of a commitment to follow the process within the mining corridor; 2) accreditation of ownership of concession or contract with a concessionaire; 3) authorization for the use of land with no conflicts over rights; 4) authorization for the use of water; 5) use of environmental impact mitigation and correction instruments; and 6) authorization to initiate the mining operations” (Salo et al., 2016, p. 1060).
- 5.
The National Service of Natural Areas Protected by the State (Servicio Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas por el Estado) (SERNANP) is in charge of the fight against illegal mining in these areas.
- 6.
During my fieldwork, there were no mining operations that had fully formalized in Madre de Dios. In 2016, it was reported that there were 11 mining operations that made it to the second step (Salo et al., 2016, p. 1060). According to one of the leading newspapers in Peru, there were only two miners formalized in Madre de Dios prior to 2018. See El Comercio (2018, November 27).
- 7.
Illegal mining was incorporated as a ‘crime’ in the criminal code through Legislative Decree No. 1102.
- 8.
All names of informants were anonymized to protect the research subjects.
- 9.
Around that time, the price of gold rose and an interest in gold mining was present all over the world. See Salo et al. (2016) for a more elaborate discussion of the implications of the gold rush.
- 10.
See Ley Contra el Crimen Organizado (Ley No. 330077) Articulo 3 (21). Translation by the author.
- 11.
This is further specified in Decreto Legislativo No. 1106.
- 12.
Ibid., together with Decreto Legislativo No. 1244.
- 13.
- 14.
This is literally what government officials presented in information meetings that I attended in Puerto Maldonado.
- 15.
Decreto Legislativo No. 1100, article 5(1). Official text: “El uso de dragas y otros artefactos similares en todos los cursos de agua, ríos, lagos, lagunas, cochas, espejos de agua, humedales y aguajales.” Unofficial translation by the author.
- 16.
Facebook page. “No más represion a la minería artesanal, queremos formalizarnos.” See https://www.facebook.com/nomasrepresionmineriaartesanal/. Accessed 12 November 2019.
- 17.
The organization Center for Amazonian Scientific Innovation (Centro de Innovación Científica Amazónica, CINCIA) is doing great work supporting miners like her with the restoration of former mining areas. See, for example, CINCIA’s reforestation program at http://cincia.wfu.edu/en/research/#reforestation-how-will-we-do-it. Accessed 24 March 2019
- 18.
Of course, this is the story of just one miner and might not represent the experience of others, but I saw the will to formalize and work sustainably in far more people involved in artisanal mining activities, and based on existing literature, what I observed is likely the case for the miners that are part of the Malinowski Association of Farmers and Artisanal Gold Miners (Asociación de Pequeños Agricultores y Lavadores de Oro del río Malinowsky, APAYLOM) (as described in Damonte [2016]).
- 19.
Such approach was taken by, for instance, the organization CINCIA, which develops new ways to restore jungle areas in which mining has taken place.
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Supreme Decree Nº 013-2011 (Decreto Supremo Nº 013-2011-EM) (In Spanish). http://www.minem.gob.pe/minem/archivos/file/Mineria/LEGISLACION/2011/DS%20013-2011-EM%20.pdf.
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Bernet Kempers, E. (2020). Between Informality and Organized Crime: Criminalization of Small-Scale Mining in the Peruvian Rainforest. In: Zabyelina, Y., van Uhm, D. (eds) Illegal Mining. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46327-4_10
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