Community stories
Hugo Quispe, committed to environmental recovery in Madre de Dios, Peru
Hugo Quispe, Madre de Dios, Peru
In the middle of the scorching heat and the thick Peruvian Amazon lives Hugo Quispe, a slow man and of calm speech. He came to that area, in the department of Madre de Dios, 23 years ago to dedicate himself to mining. Today he is the owner of the Linda 2 mining concession, in which approximately 10 miners work, and his dream is to achieve certification with the Fairmined fair mining standard.
“We have always dreamed of selling our gold at a fair price and giving added value, that is what we have been looking for years ago. We would like to certify ourselves, give an example to the other miners that it is possible to work doing responsible mining ”, says Hugo.
The Linda 2 mining concession is one of those that work formally in this region of Peru, an area that has been affected by illegal mining and where there are still great challenges for its eradication. Hugo acknowledges that it has not been an easy path to achieve formalization, but he has persisted, seeking support from the local and national government, as well as international organizations, to achieve mining that meets all the requirements required by law.
Mining with responsibility and commitment
“Mining means a livelihood for my family and job creation,” says Hugo, who is aware that mining requires responsibility and commitment.
Thereupon, Hugo is leading the development of different projects in the mining concession, which has 100 hectares. One of them is the recovery of forests that were degraded by illegal mining: “We are reforesting, we have already recovered 7 hectares”. This has been possible thanks to the commitment of all the miners that are part of the organization, as well as a professional specialist, who has supported them with their technical knowledge.
“I am creating a Green Fund, I am looking to work with NGOs. That is my goal: to recover all those green areas. We want to do well-done mining and recover the Amazon ”, he says.
Besides, Hugo has sought alliances and financing to carry out soil and water studies, among others, to improve its mining extraction processes.
Responsible gold for Peru and the world
“We want to provide Peru and the rest of the world with our product, responsible gold”, It is Hugo’s dream, who is leading the way of the progressive improvement of Linda 2 to achieve Fairmined certification and be able to receive an economic incentive from the market to implement nurseries, invest in plant production and hire professionals to advise them with this process of environmental recovery.