On July 16, the Training and Capacity Building Center (CFC) of the State Attorney General's Office (PGE), in partnership with the Conservation Strategy Fund (CSF), launched the virtual course "Using the Illegal Gold Mining Impact Calculator." This academic initiative seeks to strengthen the technical capacities of public officials in legally defending the State against damages caused by illegal mining. The course was held in two sessions scheduled for July 16th and 18th of this year.

The course was aimed at PGE officials, particularly those from the Valuation and Expertise Directorate, as well as attorneys and solicitors working in areas affected by illegal gold mining. Throughout the course, participants covered key concepts of environmental economics and the fundamentals of core economic valuation methodologies.

This training provided guidance to public prosecutors and lawyers on how to use the Mining Impacts Calculator, a tool developed by CSF that allows for technical and scientific estimates of the cost of environmental and social damage caused by this illegal activity, including deforestation, river sedimentation, and mercury contamination.

During the course's opening, Arelí Valencia Vargas, director of the CFC, noted that one of the greatest challenges facing the State's legal defense has been translating environmental damage into an objective economic assessment: this academic workshop therefore offers an innovative tool to strengthen the institution's work.

The director of CSF Peru, Augusto Mulanovich, emphasized that this training process will provide technical support for economic appraisals and legal claims through a tool that provides accurate data on the social and environmental costs of illegal mining.

This training was part of the inter-institutional cooperation agreement between the PGE and CSF for the use of the Gold Mining Impact Calculator, and is supported by the Foundation for Conservation and Sustainable Development (FCDS) and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

For more information on other PGE CFC training courses, visit https://aulavirtualcfc.pge.gob.pe.

Access the Mining Impacts Calculator: https://miningcalculator.conservation-strategy.org

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