Declan Butler,ParisTropical ecologist Pierre-Charles Dominiquewill be out in a helicopter over the Amazonthis month, helping to track down illegalgold-miners.

The ‘garimpeiros’, who have been wreak-ing damage on the environment for years,have now had a more direct effect on ecologi-cal research in the area — last month theyransacked Dominique’s research camp,taking material worth €75,000 (US$92,000)and delaying an ambitious new project.

According to witnesses, illegal gold-miners arrived by canoe at a camp belongingto the Nouragues research station in FrenchGuiana on 12 June. They stripped it bare,taking everything from hydraulic pumpsand diesel engines to solar panels and food.

The material was intended for the firsttrial of the Canopy Operation PermanentAccess System (COPAS) — a European pro-ject designed to allow researchers easy accessto the treetops of a tropical rainforest. Whencompleted, a huge helium balloon will floatabove the trees suspending a basket that canhold two scientists, who will be able to movevertically and horizontally within the canopyalong a system of cables. This will be a boonfor researchers who have had to climb trees,swing on aerial walkways or hang from giantcranes to get their data.

The ransacking will delay the project forseveral months, predicts Dominique. Theresearchers will also have to ask the French

National Centre for Scientific Research(CNRS) for extra funds to replace equipment.

Mining has flourished in Guiana over thepast two years; there are now at least 10,000clandestine miners.More than 25 illegal minesare though to operate in the 1,000 square kilo-metres of Les Nouragues natural reserve.

These cause substantial ecological dam-age: river beds are suctioned for goldnuggets, trees are felled, and mud and mer-cury pollute waterways. Studies show thatsome 280 tonnes of mercury compoundshave accumulated in the environmentbecause of mining in Guiana over the pastcentury, and illegal mining continues to add

5 to 10 tonnes annually.Mercury levels in fishand the local population are also high.

“Without massive intervention by the gendarmerie, it will soon be impossible topursue the scientific research, carried outsince 1986, at the Nouragues station,”warnedthe World Conservation Union following ameeting in Paris on 22 June. On 28 June, thelocal government in Guiana called on theFrench president, Jacques Chirac, to establishan emergency plan that “mobilizes all humanand material means to have the law respected”.

The police have already been given somepowers to tackle the situation. In September2002,they were authorized to destroy on sightall miners’ equipment. Special interventionsquads have also been created. But search-and-destroy missions are not easy, saysDominique. Illegal sites are readily spottedfrom the air, he says, but miners deliberatelyfell trees in nearby clearings to prevent heli-copters from landing.This forces the police tomake risky rope descents or to approachinland,giving the culprits time to escape.

Several sites have been destroyed in arecent intensification of operations, and thepolice are also working to dismantle the criminal networks that organize the mining.Dominique says his discussions with localofficials have reassured him.“It’s too soon tohave an official response” from the Frenchgovernment, he says. “But I’m workingclosely with the local gendarmerie, and theyhave made Nouragues a priority.” ■

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Quirin Schiermeier,Munich,and Monica Salomone,MadridA top Spanish cell biologist has spurned thechance to lead a huge cardiology centreunder construction in Madrid.

Salvador Moncada, director of the WolfsonInstitute for Biomedical Research in London,has been consulting for five years with theNational Centre for Cardiovascular Research(CNIC), which is being built by the Spanishhealth ministry.

Moncada — an expert on the role of nitricoxide in cell signalling — had been planningto take over as the CNIC’s scientific directorearly next year, when about 100 researchersalready employed by the centre will move intoits new laboratory building.

But immediately after the Spanishelections in March, and just before the newlyelected socialist government took power, thehealth ministry terminated Moncada’sconsultancy contract. According to sourcesclose to negotiations, officials at the ministrydecided that its terms were too generous.

The ministry offered him new terms, butMoncada turned them down and said hewould quit the CNIC.

“The rigid Spanish bureaucracy, theexcess of authority and, lately, the politicaldefamation have made me take thisdecision,” he wrote in an e-mail to CNICstaff. By defamation, Moncada is believed to mean information leaked to Spanishnewspapers about alleged irregularities with business expenses that he claimed while consulting for the centre in 1999.The source of the leak is not known.

Moncada says the salary he has beenoffered by the ministry is a quarter of what hegets in Britain.“If the government is seriousabout calling high-profile scientists to Spainit must offer competitive conditions, as RealMadrid did for David Beckham,” he says.Beckham is a footballer who left ManchesterUnited for Real Madrid in 2003.

Senior researchers at the CNIC fear thatMoncada’s departure will spell trouble forthe laboratory, which is expected to host up

to 15 internationally recognized groups,including more than 300 scientists, by 2007.

“The huge respect he enjoys in thecommunity was key to attracting some ofthe most talented young researchers in thefield,” says Santiago Lamas, a group leader at the CNIC who studies diseases of blood-vessel walls, such as arteriosclerosis.

“It’s an immense loss,” says JuanRedondo, who leads a group investigatinggene expression in blood-vessel walls. “Theinspiration and motivation he has given usare not going to be easy to replace.”

Redondo hopes that Elena Salgado, healthminister in the new government, might yetpersuade Moncada to change his mind. Butsome observers doubt that the left-leaningminister will go out of her way to up the termsof the deal offered by her predecessor. ■

Treetop ecologists brought down by miners

‘Inspirational’ leader quits Madrid heart project

Dirty tricks: illegal mines damage the Amazon.

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