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There on the riverbank stood nine people from an isolated tribe,
watching as we floated toward them. They clearly weren’t cut off
from civilization entirely, as most of them were wearing clothing,
probably given to them by missionaries or other travelers. Five
were young children, two were teenagers, and two were adults
in their 40s or 50s. Alonso Cordova, a biologist with the World
Wildlife Fund, told me that the WWF has been working with the
Peruvian government to create a protected reserve for isolated
people. These kinds of collaborations have also worked with local
entrepreneurs interested in offering eco-friendly adventures to
travelers in conservation zones, providing stable jobs and slowing
deforestation and illegal gold mining, and making it increasingly
easy to visit fragile and stunning landscapes throughout the
Amazon Basin in Peru.
The people on the riverbank seemed to want us to stop, though
it was difficult to tell from their gestures. We floated past them,
waved a final time, and continued downstream. A short while
later, a boat full of plastic jugs sped past. “Illegal gasoline,”
Cordova said, indicating the apparent fuel traffickers on the
boat. “For the gold miners.”
A hundred miles or so to the east lies the Tambopata, a
protected river that flows into Puerto Maldonado, connecting
with the Madre de Dios before entering Bolivia and going on to
become the Madeira River, one of the largest tributaries of the
Amazon. In Brazil, the Madeira runs through parts of the Amazon
Basin that have been hit hard by deforestation. But in Puerto
Maldonado, the waterways have become known as the heart of
Peru’s gold-mining industry. “It used to be quaint,” said Kurt
Holle, co-owner and former director of Rainforest Expeditions,
which runs three lodges and a private villa on the Tambopata.
“We’d stop by a dredge with some of our guests, say hi, and
take some photos, and the miners would explain the process.”
That all changed when the price of gold began to jump in the
early 2000s. Within a few years, the price soared to $1,600 an
ounce. “It became big industry quickly,” Holle said. “When the
price goes up, it’s a massive driver of people relocating to the