Drug trafficking has destroyed around 2 million hectares of forests in Peru, Environment Minister Antonio Brack said Sunday.
The figure accounts for 3 percent of all forests in the country, he said.
The minister said drug trade is having a big impact on the environment because forests are being destroyed to provide land for growing coca leaves, the main source of cocaine.
The drug trade has already destroyed forests in San Martin, Huanuco and in areas around the river valleys of Auprimac and Ene (VRAE), Brack said.
He said chemicals used to produce drugs have also contaminated rivers and altered the hydrobiological environment.
The Environment Ministry will take measures "to recover forests and improve the environment in areas where drug trafficking is taking place," Brack said.
Peru has a total area of more than 52,000 hectares where coca leaves are produced, 12,000 of which are illegal.
Source:Xinhua
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