Assessment of the impacts of gold mining on soil and vegetation in Brownsberg Nature Park, Suriname

This report describes the assessment of the impacts of small scale gold-mining on soil and vegetation in Brownsberg Nature Park. In the past 10 years small-scale gold mining with heavy machinery has been illegally practiced within Brownsberg Nature Park (BNP). During this process the vegetation and top soil are removed and often large quantities of mercury are spilled that end up in the environment. What remains after abandonment of a mine is a large clearing with deep pits that are filled with water. In this report first the magnitude of the area affected by gold mining was assessed. Secondly the impacts on physical soil characteristics (organic matter, sand, silt and clay content) and the extent of mercury pollution were determined. Thirdly the rate and extent of natural recovery of vegetation at abandoned mining sites was evaluated