The airstrip is owned by the Brazilian government - the only way for health care officials to reach the Indigenous people in the nearby village. But illegal miners have seized it, using small planes to ferry equipment and fuel into areas where roads don't exist.
Carved into the dense, lush landscape, they are part of vast criminal networks that operate largely unchecked because of the neglect or ineffectiveness of enforcement and regulatory agencies in Brazil, including the military. Recent research shows that climate change and widespread deforestation are pushing the rainforest to a tipping point that could destroy its ability to recover from such damage.
Wildcat mines are heavily dependent on mercury, which is used to separate gold dust from the riverbeds' mud. Discarded in the rivers, the element is poisoning the water and fish. PHOTO: NYTIMES About 60 per cent of those airstrips are on Indigenous and protected lands where any form of mining is forbidden.
Aircraft that supply and support illegal mining in the Amazon make low-altitude flights to avoid being detected by radar systems, such as this one operated by the Brazilian military in Boa Vista. PHOTO: NYTIMES A recent government analysis of water collected from four Yanomami rivers found mercury levels 8,600 per cent higher than what is considered safe for human consumption."The destruction in some communities is total," Mr Hekurari the health official said."Mining is everywhere."
Wildcat mining can be legal, but much of it is carried out without the required environmental permits or in protected areas where it is forbidden. As part of a broad investigation last year into illegal mining on Yanomami land, Amid international pressure, the government suffocated most illegal mining by blowing up dozens of airstrips, jailing and extraditing miners and closing off airspace over the Yanomami land for months at a time, according to news reports.
On the Yanomami land, the army has three bases for monitoring border activity, one of which is sometimes used to fight illegal mining. The force has a single transport helicopter for the entire country. The military often refuses to support countermining operations, unless agencies with much smaller budgets pay large sums to use its aircraft, according to police officials. Investigations by federal police, environmental agents and prosecutors paint a picture of chaos in the Amazon's airspace.
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