Peru's national Executive, Judiciary and Public Ministry authorities on Thursday overflew areas affected by illegal gold mining in Amazonian Madre de Dios region.
The delegation was composed of Judicial Branch Head Duberli Rodriguez, Attorney General Pablo Sanchez, Economy and Finance Minister Alfredo Thorne, as well as United States Ambassador to Peru Brian A. Nichols.
The overflight served to verify the devastation caused by said activity in terms of deforestation, river pollution and overall environmental destruction in the Inca nation's Amazon rainforest.
The activity took place within the framework of U.S. Science Envoy Thomas Lovejoy's recent visit to Peru.
Lovejoy, a renowned tropical biologist, is described by WWF as the innovative and accomplished conservation biologist who coined the term "biological diversity."
Last January, Lovejoy gave a presentation in Madre de Dios on sustainable development as part of the Dialogue on the Peruvian Action Plan under the Minamata Convention on Mercury, recently ratified by the Andean country.
The conservationist is also a Senior Fellow at the United Nations Foundation.
(END) NDP/DHT/MVB