Sediment and pebbles are all that's left on the earth around much of Bernardino Mosquera's small riverside community in northwest Colombia's Choco region. Just a year ago, healthy shrubs and trees filled this important biodiversity spot teeming with species native to the land.

Illegal gold mining along the banks of northwestern Colombia’s Atrato river is causing severe contamination and deforestation for the small, impoverished riverbank communities made up of predominantly