内容摘要：The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s

Senegal swore in a new president in 2024, but residents say the problems remain.“There’s a new administration in place, but promises are still just promises,” Goumbala said. He believes the lack of progress is due to limited funding.

A man walks with his bike with a view of a town built near a gold mining site in the Kedougou region of Senegal on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)A man walks with his bike with a view of a town built near a gold mining site in the Kedougou region of Senegal on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)In an effort to curb pollution, authorities temporarily suspended mining within 500 meters (1,640 feet)of the Faleme River, which cuts through Senegal’s gold belt and forms part of the border with Mali.

But enforcement is weak as officials struggle to stem the influx of informal miners, many of whom arrive from neighboring countries. Critics say the measure barely scratches the surface of the problem.“The solution is to install the gold processing units within the communities — at least one per village,” Goumbala said.

Women work at a gold mining site in the Kedougou region of Senegal on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)

Women work at a gold mining site in the Kedougou region of Senegal on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)Artisanal and small-scale gold mining is the largest global source of mercury emissions, even more than the burning of coal, according to the UN Environment Programme. In Senegal alone, artisanal mines are estimated to release between 12 and 16 metric tons of mercury each year.

“Kedougou has rich land — very rich land,” Dramé said. “Now mercury is everywhere. Our animals consume it, and it comes back to us. Even the soil is no longer fertile.”Women process gold at a mining site in the Kedougou region of Senegal on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)

Women process gold at a mining site in the Kedougou region of Senegal on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)Along the muddy banks of a rust-colored pond, dozens of women wade knee-deep as they rinse piles of sediment in search of gold. Children dart between mounds of earth while the runoff pools around their feet. With little access to clean water, many women spend long hours in local waterways to work, bathe their children, wash clothes and clean dishes.