Federal agents are fighting illegal mining in the Tapajós River region in the state of Pará-Brazil. In addition to forest degradation, watercourses are under threat. "The Tapajós River gets a lot of sediment. The water becomes much cloudier. The more heavy machinery that is used on the mining fronts, the more sediment is dumped into the rivers and all the water bodies. And there is also contamination, mainly from mercury. The region itself is highly degraded and there are no species that will ever live there again," said Tatiana Leite, coordinator of the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation - ICMBio.

Source: Amazon Agency