📋 Tender Overview
An innovative research on the bioaccumulation and biotransfer of mercury in cover crops grown in areas degraded by gold mining in Madre de Dios was supported as a thesis project by researcher Herving Kahn at the National Agrarian University La Molina. A native of Inapari, Tahuamanu province, Khan carried out his thesis with the technical advice of the team of researchers and specialists from the Madre de Dios headquarters of the Peruvian Amazon Research Institute, including Eng. M.Sc. Ronald Corvera Gomringer, Director of IIAP Madre de Dios, and Eng. M.Sc. Juan Antonio Guerrero Barrantes and Eng. M.Sc. Manuel Gabriel Velasquez Ramirez from UNALM.
The thesis took place within the framework of the IIAP research project entitled Technological package for the recovery of soil health with fast-growing legumes for timber forest plantations, in areas degraded by gold mining activity, under an approach to ecosystemic and productive reactivation of forests in the department of Madre de Dios, which was made possible thanks to funding from ProCiencia. Kahns research has revealed important information about the role that cover crops such as legumes play in the recovery of soil health, restoring the environmental impact caused by gold mining in the region.
His study demonstrates that mercury, a highly toxic chemical element, can bioaccumulate and biotransfer in cover crops, effectively stabilizing mercury levels in soil and preventing its leaching into water bodies. This discovery has important implications for the development of effective remediation strategies for areas affected by mining and the protection of aquatic ecosystems.
We are incredibly proud of Hirvings achievement, said Ronald Corvera Gomringer, M.Sc., Director of IIAP Madre de Dios. His research represents a major step forward in our efforts to restore degraded ecosystems and promote sustainable development in the Amazon. IIAP remains firmly committed to advancing scientific research and building capacity in the Amazon region.
