Sustainable Water Resources, Agriculture, and Supply Chains to Support Livelihoods in an Artisanal Mineable Landscape

Just as global environmental change is accelerating, so too are the environmental stresses on livelihood production and corresponding governance and human security challenges. New science and innovation are needed to break this cycle of unsustainable production and explore sustainable livelihoods as a vehicle for environmental peacebuilding. Recent developments and progress in sustainable livelihood options, such as regenerative agriculture and agroforestry, show promise for a just transition to a sustainable future. The case of gold mining, climate change, and migration in the Madre de Dios River Valley is an archetype of this wicked problem, with a recent proliferation of informal mining, erosion of governance and democracy, unclear alternatives, and growing social and political discord between disparate groups in the area. The overarching goal of this research is to generate new knowledge, models and methodologies that can be scaled and replicated to support livelihoods in the growing global list of mined landscapes.