Women-Led Mercury-Free Gold Mining and Reforestation in Peru's Madre de Dios

Madre de Dios, in the Peruvian Amazon, is one of Peru's largest artisanal and small-scale gold mining regions; mercury used to separate gold causes severe environmental and health harm, and mining activity rose 900% between 2021 and 2024.

Support women-led mining associations in adopting mercury-free gold processing and expanding reforestation of mined-out land, and strengthen women's formalized role in the mining sector.

Women miners organised through associations including AMATAF (active since 2014) and the Women's Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining Network of Madre de Dios (established 2020); a 2025-2027 project led by Pure Earth Peru, funded by Brilliant Earth, supports adoption of mercury-free processing methods such as shaking tables and expansion of reforestation.

Women now hold 30% of formalized mining concessions in Madre de Dios, the highest share in Peru. Since 2014, AMATAF's women-led operations have reforested more than 10 hectares with over 10,000 native trees, with a further 3 hectares targeted under the current project.

These are real, documented gains but remain modest against the scale of the problem: over 67,000 hectares were deforested in Madre de Dios in the past decade alone, and only a minority of mining operations in the region are formalized.