Conservation Strategy Fund (CSF) is adapting our landmark Mining Impacts Calculator, a tool that allows anyone to estimate the environmental, social and economic impacts of artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM), to include data for use in Suriname and Guyana. In addition, CSF will promote the adoption of the tool in Ecuador.
This tool was originally developed for Brazil in 2021 and has been helping the government better protect local communities from the negative impacts of gold mining across the country. In 2022, CSF was a finalist for the Conservation X Labs' Artisanal Mining Grand Challenge: The Amazon for an adaptation of our Mining Impacts Calculator in Ecuador. We are now expanding our methodologies for the Calculator’s use in Guyana and Suriname. All three countries are affected by environmental and social harm caused by the ASGM sector, and all three will benefit greatly from this use of this tool.
The Mining Impacts Calculator (which will soon be available for Suriname, and Guyana) includes the impacts of ASGM on deforestation and the human health consequences of mercury contamination in the rivers and ecosystems local populations depend on. We will train key stakeholders in the use of this tool to best serve conservation efforts, and we will prioritize the training of national and local government representatives, police departments, civil society organizations, local communities, and indigenous peoples from Ecuador, Guyana, and Suriname.
With the addition of Guyana, Suriname and Ecuador to our Mining Impacts Calculator, their governments can now join the ongoing efforts in Brazil, Peru and Colombia to reduce harmful mining practices in the Amazon basin. Our hope is that the Calculator will also discourage the use of mercury and promote cleaner mining technologies across the sector.
This project is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
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