The miners in the Green Gold programme are committed to extracting gold from their mines without creating lasting damage to the environment. The Green Gold project leaders work with the community to give them technical assistance in their mine and support them against the pressure to lease their land to frontloaders.

The Green Gold miners also work together to keep their lands fertile for agriculture, and to create an alternative means of income for their families.

Sixty percent of the money made from the sale of Green Gold is invested back into the community.

This is in stark contrast to mining operations around the world where largescale miners extract the gold from the land, leave the earth devoid of life and move on.

To be certified as a Green Gold miner, each worker must:

� Use clean mining techniques, such as 'panning' � Replace the topsoil from the site that is removed during mining � Not use any toxic chemicals to extract the gold � Control the quantity and frequency of silt that is being loaded into the streams, rivers or lakes.

� Conduct the mining with the agreement of the local community council.

In mining operations around the world:

� They use mercury or cyanide to extract the gold from the ground leading to largescale pollution of the ground and water. This kills the natural wildlife - a source of food for the community - and often leads to poisoning of the local population.

� The production of one gold ring can create 20 tons of mine waste.

� Gold processing produces huge amounts of air pollution. In one Peruvian town, 99% of the children were found to have severe lead poisoning, with 20% of them requiring urgent hospitalisation.

� Entire communities are displaced when the mining operations leave their land destroyed. In Choco, this continues to be a major problem, with huge numbers of families being forced to move to marginalised areas on the outskirts of cities.