Copper boom fueling energy transition puts Earth’s wildlands at risk
In the high Andes of Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina, you can still find the vicuña, a shy, elusive camelid, revered by Indigenous people. It has reasons to be cautious of humans. Long-prized for its fine wool, European colonists hunted it relentlessly. Flocks in the millions were reduced to 6,000 individuals by the 1960s. Indigenous-driven […]
A copper boom is driving a looming threat to Earth's wildlands, particularly in the high Andes of Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. The vicuña, a camelid revered by Indigenous peoples, once numbered in the millions across these countries. However, relentless hunting by European colonists reduced their population to just 6,000 by the 1960s. Thanks to Indigenous-led conservation efforts, the vicuña has since made a remarkable recovery, now estimated to be around 350,000 individuals.
Unfortunately, this copper-rich Andean region poses a significant risk to the species' fragile survival. The proposed Vicuña mining district, valued at $18 billion, could reverse the conservation gains achieved through legal protections, community-based initiatives, and bans on international trade. Straddling Argentina's San Juan province and Chile's Atacama region, this high-altitude Andes area represents a delicate balance between economic development and preserving the habitat of an iconic species on the brink of endangerment.
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