Did you know that gold mining is one of the most destructive activities that contributes to forest degradation?
The NICFI data program, as well as the current MAAP initiative, demonstrates how powerful high resolution satellite imagery can be when it comes to protecting the most vulnerable environments.
The demand for jewelry accounts for nearly 40% of mine production and most of us don’t really know where the gold in our products comes from or how it is mined. Unfortunately gold mining is one of most destructive activities that contributes to forest degradation, devastating the overall environment and posing a particular threat to indigenous communities.
The MAAP initiative highlights one of these cases. One Airbus SPOT 6/7 high resolution image dated back to 2014 was provided to the NICFI data program, and unveils the environmental conditions and landscape 8 years ago. Acquired in 2021, a new SPOT 6/7 image witnesses drastic expansion of gold mining exploitation and the true impacts on the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest.
