REHABILITATION BLUEPRINT

SOIL RESTORATION IN SURINAME

ILLICIT GOLD FLOWS AND THE REHABILITATION OF ARTISINAL GOLD MINES IN SURINAME

Production and sourcing of illicit gold have reached the highest rates ever recorded, and along with deforestation and organised crime, it presents one of the most significant threats to biodiversity in the Amazon today. 

Although SMO are working to provide all industries requiring gold with the opportunity to engage in its provenance, there is a great deal of work to be done by a multitude of stakeholders around the globe. Most importantly, there is an urgent need for transnational action from law enforcement and the downstream supply chain to unite and derail the world's illicit gold flows.

Supply chain traceability and the identification of illicit gold from the Amazon has not increased significantly in the last 10 years and is often sold as bogus recycled once refined in Europe, USA and Asia. 

There urgently needs to be a coherent definition of recycling focused on legitimate waste streams, rather than refining and jewellery-making by-products.

There are however, positive steps we can take to rectify the environmental damage caused by artisanal mining in the Amazon. One of the key missions of the SMO Foundation is to partner with IUCN Netherlands and create a blueprint for the rehabilitation of artisanal gold mines in Suriname.

The goldrush is the primary driver of deforestation in Brownberg Nature Park, Suriname, accounting for 73% of total loss.

Intensive artisanal mining has removed vegetation and topsoil, transforming once green and biodiverse rainforests into barren landscapes. The absence of soil functions and wildlife avoidance, limit seed dispersion and natural regeneration. Fragmentation of the forests has also led to a rapid decline in threatened species such as the jaguar. 

This innovative project aims to create a comprehensive blueprint for rehabilitating abandoned artisanal mine sites. The SMO Foundation will help fund soil rehabilitation, enrichment planting, integrate mining pits into the surrounding environment, restore streams and monitor fauna re-population success.

WHY IT MATTERS

This important work will be recorded and reported in the belief it will create a blueprint that can be repeated, not only across the Amazon but illegal mine sites globally. Given the scale of the issue, rehabilitation will focus on ecological connectivity.

BECOME A DONOR