Illegal gold mining is a really big problem not just in the Amazon, but worldwide, and is the biggest source of mercury pollution in the world. One major area of illegal gold mining in the Amazon is found in wester Peru and the Madre de Dios region, covering 70 thousand hectares of destroyed river ecosystems and adjacent forest. The mercury pollution affects health and causes social ills such as child prostitution, the result of organized crime. This issue must be taken on at scale and in its full complexity through cooperation by different ministries of the government. Economic alternatives must be provided for those who are doing the illegal mining and ecological restoration must take place. The Minamata treaty is an international treaty about reducing mercury pollution and controlling sources and eliminating it from unnecessary uses.

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