Diagnóstico Situacional Ambiental de las Actividades Mineras en la Cuenca del Río Abujao

The country is the world's leading producer of silver and second-largest producer of copper. In the Ucayali department, the cuencas with mining activities are located in the rivers Aguaytia, Sheshea, Pachitea, Urubamba, Tamaya, Utuquinia, Callería, and Abujao, with the latter being the most impacted. The formalization of mining activities in the Abujao river basin is hindered by the lack of coordination between the government central and regional authorities. The Ucayali regional government lacks a unified cadastre, leading to discoordination among institutions. The government central and regional authorities do not have the necessary data and information to follow up on the formalization process. The presence of gold extraction activities in the Abujao river basin is significant, with 50% of the area's mining rights being managed in this region. The majority of extractors in the region are located in the Abujao and Sheshea river basins, accounting for 58% of the region's extractors. The Director of the Regional Energy and Mines Department of Ucayali, Engineer Roque López Mathews, stated that the formalization of mining activities has been complicated by the implementation of the Decrees 1100 to 1107, which have added numerous requirements for miners. The lack of budget for the Department of Mining has hindered the implementation of formalization processes, leading to a decrease in the number of miners and formalization requests. The First Fiscal Prosecutor for Environmental Crimes in Pucallpa, Jorge Manuel Budiel Ticona, reported that environmental crimes related to mining are almost non-existent, and his office has not received any denunciations on this matter. However, his office has provided support for diligences of interdiction, but has not opened any investigation files due to the lack of identification of responsible parties. The Director of the Mining Area of the Regional Energy and Mines Department of Ucayali, Engineer Carlos Ríos, stated that the new legislation has led to the creation of around 10 petitorios in the Abujao region. Historically, the Abujao region has been the most impacted by mining activities, with a total of approximately 4,000 hectares of land affected.