Sustainability of gold mining put to the test

The Germans would interpret "too much Jack London and Karl May with a pinch of Greenpeace", in the way of life of the inhabitants of the Amazon. On the occasion of the 6th German-Brazilian environmental symposium in October 2013 Professor Dr. Mario Schmidt became?? an idea of ??the situtation of the gold diggers in Brazil. These experiences the Pforzheimer Professor passed on to the students of resource efficiency management. He also plans to work with the Brazilian University in Santarem.

"We have many clichés about life in the wild," said Mario Schmidt. The professor of resource efficiency at the Pforzheim University used its participation in the symposium to inform himself about the "simple" gold mining in Brazil by the so-called Garimpeiros . In Germany  a conflict between the "good" indigenous residents and the "evil " lumberjacks and miners is constructed .  "In reality, it's about survival ," said the Pforzheimer Professor . "Poverty is the essential driving force for misguided development." In that context Schmidt mentioned the deforestation or the release of mercury by gold mining .
"The problems in the rainforest can be understood only against the difficult social background of Brazil. " Schmidt therefore emphasizes the need to consider ecological sustainability and social requirements as two sides of the same coin.

The 6th German -Brazilian environmental symposium in Santarem was opened by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science, Assistant Secretary, Simone Schwanitz. The Amazonian city lies between Manaus and Belem." Fim do mundo " - at the end of the world , the inhabitants of Santarem explain their situation themselves, while they live in the middle of nature 's richest area in the world. The Amazon flows into the Rio Tapajos Santarem flows. For the young university UFOPA in Santarem the environmental symposium was an important stimulus for Education and Science in the Amazon region and for cooperation with scientists from Baden- Württemberg.

"We will intensify our contacts to Santarem and explore the conditions in the field together ," said Professor Schmidt.  Together with his colleague Professor Bernhard Peregovich of the UFOPA he visited the Garimperios who live and work 500 kilometers deep in the rainforest. In particular, Gold lends itself as an object of study, because you only see the end of the processing chain in Germany. " In areas such as the Amazon the production takes its beginning, with all the social and environmental problems ," said Mario Schmidt.