#yanomami — Public Fediverse posts

Soul invasion: money, drugs and Elon Musk’s dishes threaten Yanomami survival

"The second change [in the Yanomami way of life], which has perhaps had a bigger impact, was the arrival of the internet, which spread like a fire through dry bush after billionaire Elon Musk’s Starlink dishes came to the Amazon.

The technology propagates non-Indigenous customs, with no filters and no instructions on use.

It is no accident that at the start of the Hutukara meeting, Davi Kopenawa said that in addition to Portuguese and math, his people need to learn computer skills to deal with the world of the napëpë."

#Indigenous #Yanomami #ElonMusk #Tech #Amazon #Brazil #internet #technology
https://sumauma.com/en/a-compra-das-almas-dinheiro-e-antenas-de-elon-musk-ameacam-a-sobrevivencia-dos-yanomami/

"According to Davi, the provision of weapons is part of a strategy by illegal miners for the Yanomami to kill each other.“I’ll provide the gun, you all kill each other until it’s over. And we, white men, will work where there are no Indians,where the Yanomami are no more because of weapons. This is the illegal mining game.”
#FuckBillionares #Yanomami #IllegalMining #LandGrab #Ecocide #Ethnocide
Soul invasion: money, drugs and Elon Musk's dishes threaten Yanomami survival
https://sumauma.com/en/a-compra-das-almas-dinheiro-e-antenas-de-elon-musk-ameacam-a-sobrevivencia-dos-yanomami/

📰 G1 Globo

📢 Agente de saúde é morto a tiros em Terra Indígena Yanomami

🔗 https://g1.globo.com/rr/roraima/noticia/2026/07/18/agente-de-saude-e-morto-a-tiros-em-terra-indigena-yanomami.ghtml

#Agente #Terra #Indígena #Yanomami #GlobalFeed #News #PT

Postado automaticamente pelo Global Feed Bot

"Since a peak in illegal mining in 2022, there have been “significant and successive reductions” in the rainforest from 2023 to 2025, researchers using satellite imagery found. However, “mining activity was not completely eradicated,” as miners change how they operate, decentralize and move to borders. Sources also raise concerns about the health of isolated Indigenous people, who are at risk of the spread of malaria linked to illegal mining."

#Indigenous #Yanomami #mining
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/illegal-miners-adapt-their-strategies-in-yanomami-amazon-territory/

TCU aponta redução de transferências de yanomamis por malária e aumento de ocorrências por armas

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://iclnoticias.com.br/tcu-aponta-aumento-yanomamis-armas/

#Gold #mining kills #indigenous peoples 🩸 forcing women and children into sex #slavery! Help #Yanomami people forced violently from their #rainforest homes for the #greed of gold! 🪙⛔️ #BoycottGold #BoycottGold4Yanomami 🫶🌳@palmoildetectives https://wp.me/pcFhgU-8uY?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=Palm+Oil+Detectives&utm_campaign=publer

"In an open letter to the Brazilian president,  leaders such as Davi Kopenawa and Ailton Krenak, along with Indigenous specialists, doctors, scientists, and jurists, denounce inadequate vaccination coverage and the government’s failure to implement strategies for wiping out malaria"
#IndigenousRights #Colonialism #Brazil #Yanomami #DaviKopenawa #ailtonkrenak
#IndigenousPeoples #Malaria
“President Lula, the Yanomami’s health situation remains very serious” - SUMAÚMA
https://sumauma.com/en/presidente-lula-a-situacao-de-saude-dos-yanomami-continua-muito-grave/

Today is #InternationalWomensDay #IWD. #Gold #mining forces women and children into sex #slavery! Help #Yanomami people forced from their #rainforest homes for the #greed of gold! 🪙⛔️ #BoycottGold #BoycottGold4Yanomami 🫶🌳 @palmoildetect.bsky.social https://wp.me/pcFhgU-8uY?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=Palm+Oil+Detectives&utm_campaign=publer

#Gold #mining kills #indigenous peoples 🩸 forcing women and children into sex #slavery! Help #Yanomami people forced violently from their #rainforest homes for the #greed of gold! 🪙⛔️ #BoycottGold #BoycottGold4Yanomami 🫶🌳@BarbaraNavarro @palmoildetect.bsky.social https://wp.me/pcFhgU-8uY?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=Palm+Oil+Detectives&utm_campaign=publer

#Gold #mining kills #indigenous peoples 🩸 forcing women and children into sex #slavery! Help #Yanomami people forced violently from their #rainforest homes for the #greed of gold! 🪙⛔️ #BoycottGold #BoycottGold4Yanomami 🫶🌳 https://wp.me/pcFhgU-8uY?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=Palm+Oil+Detectives&utm_campaign=publer

#Gold #mining kills #indigenous peoples 🩸 forcing women and children into sex #slavery! Help #Yanomami people forced violently from their #rainforest homes for the #greed of gold! 🪙⛔️ #BoycottGold #BoycottGold4Yanomami 🫶🌳@BarbaraNavarro @palmoildetect.bsky.social https://wp.me/pcFhgU-8uY?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=Palm+Oil+Detectives&utm_campaign=publer

Indigenous Empowerment to Reverse Amazonia’s Mineral Demand

Illegal #mining for minerals like #gold and cassiterite, the latter used for renewable energy, is driving #deforestation in Indigenous #Amazonia. Countries like #Brazil, #Suriname and #Guyana face the challenge of conserving forests, protecting #indigenous peoples, biodiversity whilst also meeting international resource demands. Empowering indigenous peoples to care for biodiversity rich areas of Amazonia is key to saving them for future generations. Act now to protect Indigenous lands and wildlife. #BoycottGold4Yanomami #Boycott4Wildlife.

The drive for #mineral #mining in #Amazonia is driving #indigenous peoples and endangered #animals towards #extinction. Help and fight for them when you #BoycottGold4Yanomami #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect @barbaranavarro https://wp.me/pcFhgU-8TF

Key to tempering #Amazonia’s mineral #mining demand for #gold and other metals is prioritising #Indigenous #empowerment #landrights and indigenous sovereignty #BoycottGold4Yanomami #Boycott4Wildlife @barbaranavarro @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-8TF

Written by Yolanda Ariadne Collins, Lecturer, International Relations, University of St Andrews. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Illegal mining for critical minerals needed for the global renewable energy transition is increasingly driving deforestation in Indigenous lands in the Amazon.

In recent years, these illegal miners, who are often self-employed, mobile and working covertly, have expanded their gold mining operations to include cassiterite or “black gold”, a critical mineral essential for the renewable energy transition. Cassiterite is used to make coatings for solar panels, wind turbines and other electronic devices. Brazil, one of the world’s largest exporters of this mineral, is now scrambling to manage this new threat to its Amazon forests.

The need for developing countries such as Brazil to conserve their forests for the collective global good conflicts with the increasing demand for their resources from international markets. To complicate matters further, both the renewable energy transition and the conservation of the Amazon are urgent priorities in the global effort to arrest climate change.

But escalating deforestation puts these forests at risk of moving from a carbon sink – with trees absorbing more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than they release – to a carbon source, whereby trees release more carbon dioxide than they absorb as they degrade or are burnt.

Indigenous and other forest-dwelling communities are central to forest conservation. In 2014, I spent a year living in Guyana and Suriname, two of the nine countries that share the Amazon basin. I studied the effectiveness of international policies that aim to pay these countries to avoid deforestation.

I met with members of communities who were bearing the brunt of the negative effects of small-scale gold mining, such as mercury poisoning and loss of hunting grounds. For decades, mining for gold, which threatens communities’ food supply and traditional ways of life, has been the main driver of deforestation in both countries.

Small-scale mining operations can damage both communities and the natural world. Gold mining, which generates gold for export used for jewellery and electronics, usually begins with the removal of trees and vegetation from the topsoil, facilitated by mechanical equipment such as excavators. Next, the miners dig up sediment, which gets washed with water to extract any loose flecks of gold.

Miners usually then add mercury, a substance that’s known to be toxic and incredibly damaging to human health, to washing pans to bind the gold together and separate it from the sediment. They then burn the mercury away, using lighters and welding gear. During this process, mercury is inhaled by miners and washed into nearby waterways, where it can enter the food chain and poison fish and other species, including humans.

My new book, Forests of Refuge: Decolonizing Environmental Governance in the Amazonian Guiana Shield, highlights the colonial histories through which these countries were created. These histories continue to inform the land-use practices of people and forest users there. Having seen the dynamics firsthand, I argue that these unaddressed histories limit the effectiveness of international policies aimed at reducing deforestation.

Some of the policies’ limitations are rooted in their inattentiveness to the roughly five centuries of colonialism through which these countries were formed. These histories had seen forests act as places of refuge and resistance for Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities. I believe that power structures created by these histories need to be tackled through processes of decolonisation, which includes removing markets from their central place in processes of valuing nature, and taking seriously the worldviews of Indigenous and other forest-dependent communities.

But since 2014, small-scale mining-led deforestation in the Amazon has persisted, and even increased. The increase in mining worldwide, driven partly by the renewable energy transition, indicates that these power structures might be harder to shift than ever before.

Added pressure

When crackdowns on illegal gold mining took place in Brazil in the 1970s and ’80s, miners moved en masse to nearby Guyana and Suriname, taking their environmentally destructive technologies with them. Illegal miners of cassiterite are now following a similar pattern, showing that the global effort to reduce deforestation cannot simply focus on a single commodity as a driver of deforestation on the ground.

My work shows that the challenge of mining-led deforestation in the Amazon is rooted in historically informed, global power structures that position the Amazon and its resources as available for extraction by industries and governments in wealthier countries. These groups of people are now seeking to reduce their disproportionately high emissions through technological solutions and not through behavioural change.

These tensions also have roots in the readiness of governments and forest users in postcolonial countries, like Brazil and Guyana, to respond positively and unquestioningly to international demand for these resources.

In the Amazon, outcomes are affected by whether different groups of people have access to livelihoods that do not drive deforestation, such as those based on non-timber forest products. The situation is further shaped by the extent to which governments can work together to ensure that crackdowns in one part of the Amazon, such as Brazil, do not just drive deforestation elsewhere to Suriname, for example.

Until the power structure that disadvantages Indigenous and other historically marginalised groups changes, the negative effects of developing technologies to “save” the planet will continue to disproportionately burden these groups, even as their current way of life remains critical to supporting sustainable development outcomes.

Written by Yolanda Ariadne Collins, Lecturer, International Relations, University of St Andrews. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

ENDS

https://youtu.be/RLsqyADpgn0?si=BniKvXzjQFeZXUoV

Read more about gold mining, indigenous rights and its cost to animals

Western Parotia Parotia sefilata

Western Parotias AKA Arfak Parotias are stunning bird-of-paradise of West Papua known for their mesmerising dances. Palm oil and mining ecocide are threats

Indigenous Peoples Fight Climate Change

After wildfires, Belize’s indigenous people rebuild stronger based on “se’ komonil”: reciprocity, solidarity, gender equity, togetherness and community.

Tucuxi Sotalia fluviatilis

Tucuxi, small freshwater dolphins of Peru Ecuador Colombia and Brazil are Endangered due to fishing nets, deforestation, mercury poisoning from gold mining.

An Action Plan for Amazon Droughts: The Time is Now!

The fertile lungs of our planet, the Amazon jungle faces severe drought due to El Niño, climate change, and deforestation for agriculture like palm oil, soy and meat. This along with gold mining,…

Brazilian three-banded armadillo Tolypeutes tricinctus

The Brazilian three-banded #armadillo Tolypeutes tricinctus, known as “tatu-bola” in Portuguese, is a rare and unique species native to #Brazil. With the ability to roll into a near-impenetrable ball, this endearing behaviour has…

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Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings

Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao

Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert

How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20

https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20

https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here

New Research: Indigenous Communities Reduce Amazon Deforestation by 83%”

Although #deforestation rates in the Brazilian #Amazon have halved, this globally critical biome is still losing more than 5,000km² every year. That’s an area three times larger than Greater London. By combining satellite imagery for the entire Amazon region with data from the Brazilian national census, our new study found that deforestation in areas protected by #Indigenous communities was up to 83% lower compared to unprotected areas.

Results demonstrate that returning lands to Indigenous communities can be extremely effective at reducing deforestation and boosting #biodiversity to help address #climatechange. Yet, forest conservation should not come at an economic cost to people living in Indigenous-managed lands.

The world’s largest #rainforest the #Amazon 🫁🌳🌿 is vanishing. Yet a bright spark of hope finds #deforestation in #Indigenous protected areas is 83% lower. They are the KEY to saving the #forests and animals! #BoycottGold4Yanomami #Boycott4Wildlife https://wp.me/pcFhgU-8SM

Written by Johan Oldekop, Reader in Environment and Development, University of Manchester; Bowy den Braber, Postdoctoral Researcher, School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, and Marina Schmoeller, PhD Candidate, Ecology, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG)vThis article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Despite this win for indigenous-led conservation, our results also show that Indigenous communities had the lowest levels of socioeconomic development. Incomes in Indigenous territories were up to 36% lower compared to other land uses.

Indigenous people are among the most disadvantaged groups of people in the world. Although Indigenous communities in Brazil have strengthened their political representation in recent years, 33% of people living below the poverty line are Indigenous.

Improving the economic wellbeing of Indigenous people is not only the socially just thing to do but can also be environmentally effective. Research in Nepal showed that communities with higher levels of socioeconomic development are less likely to trade off development with deforestation. Providing communities with the ability to protect and conserve their local forests and develop economically can be a win-win for both people and the environment.

In 2022, governments across the world agreed to protect 30% of the planet’s surface by 2030. To meet the commitments of this 30×30 agenda, many countries need to drastically increase their conservation efforts to reverse deforestation in the Amazon and beyond.

Governments and philanthropic organisations pledged unprecedented political and financial support for forests and Indigenous peoples and local communities at the 2021 COP26 climate summit in Glasgow. These pledges have helped raise the voices of Indigenous peoples and ushered in a new era of commitments to return ancestral lands.

Yet, forests and their resources across the world remain coveted by many different interest groups, including mining and large agribusiness. The Supreme Court in Brazil is currently debating the constitutional validity of the controversial “Marco Temporal” or time limit framework which could substantially limit the ability of Indigenous peoples across the country to make claims for lands. This legal theory states that Indigenous peoples are only entitled to make claims for lands if they can prove that they were in possession of them on or before October 5 1988 when the Brazilian constitution came into effect.

Perhaps surprisingly, our results show that agricultural business development of the Brazilian Amazon is unlikely to provide greater socioeconomic benefits for local, non-indigenous communities than protection-focused alternatives that preserve forest cover but allow sustainable resource use by rural communities. But the agribusiness lobby in Brazil, who are often in direct conflict with Indigenous people, often argues that agricultural expansion will provide economic development for the region.

Our results demonstrate that returning lands to Indigenous communities can be extremely effective at reducing deforestation and boosting biodiversity to help address climate change. Yet, forest conservation should not come at an economic cost to people living in Indigenous-managed lands.

Access to land and opportunity

Indigenous communities need to regain access to their ancestral lands while also gaining access to development opportunities. Indigenous people in Brazil are eligible to receive support from social welfare programmes, such as the family allowance scheme (or bolsa familia in Portuguese), which is credited with lifting millions of Brazilians out of poverty and reducing inequality.

However, many rural and isolated communities face substantial difficulties accessing support. For example, fuel costs to take long boat trips from remote communities to urban centres to collect payments are high and many communities lack access to technology to even apply for such schemes.

President Lula Da Silva’s government is considering developing an Indigenous family allowance programme to address access problems faced by Indigenous communities in Brazil. As efforts to return rights to land ramp up in the wake of the 30×30 agenda, more governments and nongovernmental organisations should support the many other rights that Indigenous peoples have and reduce the structural barriers that prevent rural communities from claiming them.

Written by Johan Oldekop, Reader in Environment and Development, University of Manchester; Bowy den Braber, Postdoctoral Researcher, School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, and Marina Schmoeller, PhD Candidate, Ecology, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG)vThis article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

ENDS

Read more about human rights and indigenous rights

Concerns Mount Over Palm Oil Expansion in Nagaland

Concerns Mount Over Palm Oil Expansion in Nagaland | The Nagaland Climate Change Adaptation Forum (NCCAF) has raised grave concerns about the environmental and social impacts of expanding palm oil plantations in the…

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Palm Oil Is Ruining Kalangala Uganda — Locals Paying the Price

A catastrophic storm in #Uganda’s Kalangala district left nearly 1,000 households homeless. The real culprit? Rampant #deforestation for #palmoil. Once rich in native forests that buffered storms, Kalangala is now a fragile landscape…

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Violence for Palm Oil Against Peasant Communities in Honduras Meets Resistance

In the Aguán Valley of northern Honduras, peasant communities reclaiming ancestral lands face increasing violence and intimidation from armed groups linked to organised crime. The Dinant Corporation, a prominent palm oil producer, is…

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The Great Malaysian Timber and Palm Oil Swindle

A joint investigation by Malaysiakini and Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Investigations Network (RIN) reveals alarming deforestation in Pahang, #Malaysia, caused by one of the country’s largest #palmoil plantations. The plantation threatens endangered species like…

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The origins of animal words in SE Asia and what this reveals to us about our connection to them

South East Asia is home to many fascinating creatures and rich biodiversity. The secrets of animal origins and ancient legends are revealed in their names: #Orangutan, #Gibbon, #Binturong and #Siamang in South East…

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Take Action in Five Ways

1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.

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2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.

Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

Read more

Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings

Read more

Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao

Read more

Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

Read more

The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert

Read more

How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

Read more

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20

https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20

https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here

#Amazon #AmazonRainforest #biodiversity #BoycottGold #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottGold4Yanomami #Brazil #climatechange #deforestation #forests #humanRights #indigenous #IndigenousActivism #indigenousKnowledge #indigenousMedicine #indigenousRights #landRights #PalmOil #rainforest #Yanomami

🚁 Yanomami youth turn to drones to watch their Amazon territory

https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/yanomami-youth-turn-to-drones-to-watch-their-amazon-territory/

#amazon #yanomami #indigenous #drones #globalsouth #technology

‘Hope has returned’: tribe hails Lula’s fight against illegal mining in #Amazon - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/03/yanomami-tribe-lula-illegal-mining-amazon "Two years after Brazil’s president vowed to bring the #Yanomami tribe back from the brink, hunger and infant mortality rates are falling" good news for al change #brazil

Ein #Rundhaus der #Yanomami (Bild: Kuliw (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Diese #Kultur lebt im #Regenwald in Regionen am #Amazonas - heute zu #Brasilien gehörig. Es handelt sich um eine indigene Gruppe, die sich ihr kulturelles Leben bewahrt hat. Sie wissen, dass es unsere Art zu leben gibt, bevorzugen es aber in Rundhäusern im Regenwald zu leben. Es gibt viele Kulturen, die für sich solche Entscheidungen getroffen haben. Leider werden sie oft von oben herab betrachtet:

https://buff.ly/3VlmY6C

How We End Gold Mining’s Ecocide For Good

Gold mining is unparalleled in its environmental destruction and human rights toll. Frustratingly, 93% of gold is used for non-essential purposes like jewellery and investments.

A recent study suggests that transitioning to a fully circular gold economy, relying entirely on recycled gold, is achievable. Recycling gold eliminates mercury use, reduces carbon and water footprints, and still supports industries like technology and jewellery. Human rights groups have long called for the end of this destructive industry. To end gold mining, investors should focus on existing reserves. Governments must ensure justice and ‘land back’ for displaced indigenous peoples; along with a just transition for miners. Make sure you #BoycottGold #BoycottGold4Yanomami and demand the end to gold mining right now!

New #study finds that recycling #gold would eliminate the mercury pollution and #deforestation of #goldmining. It would also mean an end to violent #indigenous landgrabbing for #gold in #SouthAmerica #BoycottGold4Yanomami @BarbaraNavarro @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-90d

#Gold 🥇🚫 is a controversial commodity because it is unmatched in destruction to #indigenous peoples and #forests. A new study shows how we can end the #ecocide of gold #mining for good! #BoycottGold #BoycottGold4Yanomami @BarbaraNavarro @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-90d

https://youtu.be/RLsqyADpgn0?si=0as7dS8JN6v2mWr3

Written by Stephen Lezak, Research Manager at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, University of Oxford. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The 16th-century King Ferdinand of Spain sent his subjects abroad with the command: “Get gold, humanely if possible, but at all hazards, get gold.” His statement rings true today. Gold remains one of the world’s most expensive substances, but mining it is one of the most environmentally and socially destructive processes on the planet.

Around 7% of the gold purchased globally each year is used for industry, technology or medicine. The rest winds up in bank vaults and jewellery shops.

Beautiful objects and stable investments are worthwhile things to create and own, and often have significant cultural value. But neither can justify gold mining’s staggering human and ecological toll. In a recent study, my colleagues and I showed how it might be possible to end mining and instead rely entirely on recycled gold.

Despite improvements in gold mining practices over the past century and new regulations designed to limit mining’s impacts, this industry continues to wreak havoc upon landscapes across every continent except Antarctica.

In a given year, gold mines emit more greenhouse gases than all passenger flights between European nations combined. Gold mining also accounts for 38% of annual global mercury emissions, which cause millions of small-scale miners to suffer from chronic mercury poisoning, which can cause debilitating illness, especially in children.

Our research involved modelling hypothetical scenarios in which gold consumption could decline to more sustainable levels. Using current recycling rates, we examined a fully circular gold economy in which the world’s entire supply of gold came from recycled sources.

Even today, nearly one-quarter of annual gold demand is supplied through recycling, making it one of the world’s most recycled materials. The recycling process uses no mercury and has less than 1% of the water and carbon footprint of mined gold.

We found that a global decline in gold mining would not necessarily derail any of gold’s three central functions in jewellery, technology or as an investment.

Towards circularity

Our model showed that the gold used for industrial purposes (mainly in dentistry and smartphones) could be supplied for centuries even if all gold mining stopped tomorrow.

We also found that jewellery could still be produced with recycled gold in a fully circular gold industry. There would just be about 55% less to go around, which would still leave more than enough for essential uses.

In order to make this future a reality, investors would have to limit their trading to existing reserves, without adding newly mined gold to their coffers.

A world with a shrinking supply of gold would likely mean that consumers would pay more for the same 24-karat pure gold ring. But more likely, jewellery purchases would shift to cheaper (and more durable) alloys of gold that are already popular. And in the future, demand for gold may decline as consumers become more concerned with making sustainable choices.

The role that invested gold plays in the global economy would likely continue to function regardless of extraction. Like Renaissance art, gold is valuable precisely because it is scarce. Ending gold mining would not put an end to the buying and selling of gold for bank vaults. Instead, it would make existing stocks of gold more valuable.

Irrespective of whether the world needs gold, our research suggests that the world does not need gold mining.

Private investors and central banks may balk at this idea. The US government, for example, is the world’s single largest owner of gold, holding US$11 (9.1) billion in reserves. But transitions to sustainability are always hard-won and the gold industry is no exception.

Inspired by other transitions

Like gold, the extraction of fossil fuels is also environmentally damaging. But unlike gold, fossil fuels provide warmth and electricity to homes and businesses, power to vehicles and fertiliser to farms. Transitioning away from this resource required decades of research and investment into clean energy technologies.

By contrast, finding substitutes for gold does not require any research. Jewellery can be made more sustainable by blending gold with other metals. Investors can rely on existing gold stocks and diversify to other stable assets. And technology can continue to use recycled gold when appropriate.

Closing gold mines is the first step. But many regions have grown dependent on gold mining, and artisanal mining alone supports as many as 19 million miners and their families worldwide, mostly in developing economies.

These miners deserve a just transition that ensures they do not become collateral damage in the shift to sustainability. Governments must provide a robust safety net for former gold miners and their families. That includes offering low-cost training and reskilling to ensure that miners can find employment in more sustainable industries.

Steps toward sustainability

Responsibly drawing down gold extraction will take time. But several measures are available to begin the transition today.

On the demand side of the industry, major jewellery brands, including Pandora, have already committed to using only recycled gold by 2025. Global technology firm Apple has also recently set a goal to use exclusively recycled materials by 2030.

On the supply side, mining companies should begin retiring mines that extract only gold. Many copper mines produce gold as a byproduct, which will likely continue into the future.

Meanwhile, institutional investors should stop investing in new gold mines. That includes groups like the World Bank, which has invested US$800 (£660) million in gold mines in Africa, Asia, South America and the Pacific Islands since 2010.

Justice-minded fund managers, such as those overseeing endowments, should add gold mining firms alongside coal producers to their divestment lists. And central banks should redirect their future investments toward other stable stores of value, or at least source exclusively recycled gold.

The world is filled with difficult sustainability trade-offs. Gold mining is not one of them. Drawing down this industry stands out as a relatively easy way to reduce humanity’s footprint on a fragile planet.

Written by Stephen Lezak, Research Manager at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, University of Oxford. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

ENDS

Read more about human rights abuses and greenwashing in the gold mining industry. Make sure that you #BoycottGold4Yanomami!

Did you know that gold kills indigenous people and rare animals?

Gold mining kills indigenous peoples throughout the world like the Yanomami people of Brazil and Papuans in West Papua. The bloody, violent and greedy landgrabbing that goes on for gold forces indigenous women…

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Artist and Indigenous Rights Advocate Barbara Crane Navarro

Artist Barbara Crane Navarro merges art and activism to defend the Amazon and Yanomami from destructive gold mining. Support #BoycottGold4Yanomami.

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13 Reasons To Boycott Gold for Yanomami

Hunger for Gold in the Global North is fueling a living hell in the Global South. Here are 20 reasons why you should #BoycottGold4Yanomami

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2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.

Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

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Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings

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Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao

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Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

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The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert

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How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

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3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20

https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20

https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

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#BarbaraCraneNavarro #BoycottGold #BoycottGold4Yanomami #corruption #deforestation #ecocide #forests #gold #goldMining #goldmining #humanRights #indigenous #indigenousRights #mining #SouthAmerica #study #workersRights #WorkersRights #Yanomami

Gestern waren wir bei einer interessanten Veranstaltung in Neukölln. Es gab einen Film über die #Yanomami und insbesondere den Klimaaktivisten und Schamanen Davi #Kopenawa, der mit Bruce Albert ein sehr großes Buch geschrieben hat, das ich wirklich sehr empfehlen kann.

Davi Kopenawa/Bruce Albert: Der Sturz des Himmels. 970 Seiten Matthes&Seitz.
Hier etwas mehr dazu bei Interesse:
https://martinzaehringer.com/politische-kosmologie-der-yanomami/

Der Film, der offensichtlich sehr für den Zweck des Abends gekürzt war, hatte zwei interessante Überraschungsmomente:
Im Film zeigen die Yanomami-Aktivisten vom Amazonas einmal eine Drohnenaufnahme von einem illegalen Goldgräberlager im Gebiet der Yanomami. Was denkt ihr bei diesem Begriff? Ich dachte immer eher so an Abenteurer im Westernstil, die Goldnuggets im Fluss schürfen. Nein, die Aufnahme zeigt riesige Bagger, ausgebaggerte Schlammwüsten, ein Goldbergwerk praktisch, vollindustriell illegal und an verantwortlicher Stelle wissen es alle. Und die Person von Survival International, der sie den FIlm zeigten, war sehr überrascht, so groß hatte selbst sie sich das nicht vorgestellt. In dieser HInsicht haben die Bilder wirklich etwas verändert in unserer Vorstellung, obwohl wir das Buch gelesen haben.

Im Film folgen wir auch dem Aktivisten Davi Kopenawa durch verschiedene Stationen der westlichen Welt, er hält nichts von unserer urbanen Zivilisation, das wird klar. Die tollen Pflanzen im Park hält er zum Beispiel für Gefangene, jeder Baum isoliert. Klar, Urwald haben wir nicht. Aber wir sollen eben auch nicht seinen zerstören. Aber dann, als er in Versailles herumgeführt wurde und das ganze Gold an den Wändenr und Decken sah, da sagte er: "Ich will nicht, dass ihr hier ein Foto von mir macht. Das ist das Blut meiner Ahnen, ich bin sehr schockiert". Gefilmt wurde er doch, und man sieht es ihm an, und es ist wirklich das Blut seiner Ahnen.

Der Ort in Neukölln selbst kommt mir komisch vor. Eine private Stiftung hat da zwei sehr teure Imobilien aufgebaut und gibt jedes Jahr 12 Millionen aus. In dem einen soll Biokultur repräsentiert werden (Womöglich halten sie die Yanomami für eine Biokultur?) und das Programm soll in enger Abstimmung mit den Stiftern entwickelt werden. Das Personal ist typisch Berlin Neukölln.

Das zweite Projekt soll angeblich den Journalismus fördern. Diese Dinge entstehen zur gleichen Zeit, in der die taz gerade ihre Printausgabe abwickelt. Zufall? Jetzt können die ausgeschiedenen tazler ja zur Stiftung in Neukölln gehen und sich Studios mieten und sich mit ganz tollen jungen MedienStartUps vernetzen und Storytelling in tollen Studios machen. Kommt mir alles komisch vor.
Ein intersektionales Bündnis mit dem Kapital?

Nun ja, der Geist der Zeit, aber das Buch von Davi Kopenawa solltet ihr lesen, wenn ihr etwas mit poetischer Philosophie und Ethnographie und Widerstand gegen Goldräuber und indigenen Kollaborationen anfangen könnt, in gutem altem linkem Verstand.

“The military is very resistant to fighting mining in Yanomami territory,” Estêvão Senra, senior analyst at Socioambiental, told Mongabay by phone.
#Brazil #indigenous #Yanomami
https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/how-the-brazilian-military-sabotaged-protection-of-indigenous-people-in-the-amazon/

Missionsrat - Brasiliens Indigene bleiben bedroht

1972 gründete sich der Missionsrat Cimi, um das Verhältnis zu den Indigenen Brasiliens zu verändern - doch diese fürchten noch heute um ihr Land und Leben.#BrasiliensIndigene #MissionsratCIMI #Lula #Goldsucher #Landraub #Yanomami
Missionsrat: Brasiliens Indigene bleiben bedroht

The Brazilian government no longer publishes data on the health of the Yanomami people, deaths and illnesses due to malnutrition. The last government bulletin is from February, with data from December! #Brazil #indigenous #Yanomami noticias.uol.com.br/politica/ult....

Governo deixa de publicar dado...

The Brazilian government no longer publishes data on the health of the Yanomami people, deaths and illnesses due to malnutrition. The last government bulletin is from February, with data from December!
#Brazil #indigenous #Yanomami

https://noticias.uol.com.br/politica/ultimas-noticias/2024/07/26/governo-deixa-de-publicar-dados-sobre-mortes-de-yanomamis-apos-alta-em-2023.htm#:~:text=Governo%20deixa%20de%20publicar%20dados%20sobre%20mortes%20de%20yanomamis%20ap%C3%B3s%20alta%20em%202023&text=Desde%20que%20constatou%20um%20aumento,%C3%B3bitos%20e%20doen%C3%A7as%20no%20territ%C3%B3rio.

#Kayapó #ForestDefenders Urge #UnitedNations to Help Halt Illegal #GoldMining in #Brazil

By #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews
July 23, 2024

GENEVA -- "#Indigenous from Brazil urged the United Nations to join them and demand Brazil halt illegal gold mining, and its #mercury #contamination, now destroying the ancestral homelands of #Kayapó, #Yanomami and #Munduruku Peoples, during the U.N. Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

"Doto Takak Ire, Mebêngôkre, said, 'The Kayapó are still warriors and we will always be defenders of the forests.'

"'We do not want any kind of #exploitation of #NaturalResources in our territories. We want the #Amazon protected, so that our children and all the children of the world can grow up healthy.'"

Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/07/kayapo-forest-defenders-urge-united.html

#NoGoldMining #NoMining #NoMiningWithoutConsent #ProtectTheForest #ProtectTheAmazon #IndigenousPeoples #IndigenousRights #CulturalGenocide #WaterIsLife #Pollution

11-JUL-2024
Scientists call for urgent action to tackle nutritional crisis devastating the Yanomami
A research group at the State University of Campinas stresses that #Yanomami children are suffering the most severe nutritional deficit of any #Indigenous community in the Americas and warns of long-term consequences for #health

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1051063
#science #nutrition #brazil

Yanomami people threatened by Defence Minister José Múcio!

He suggested that mining companies should have access to Brazil's largest Indigenous Land as a way of replacing illegal mining.

#Brazil #Yanomami #indigenous #mining
https://www.socioambiental.org/noticias-socioambientais/nao-solucao-de-mucio-para-invasao-da-terra-yanomami?utm_source=isa&utm_medium=&utm_campaign=