this is la pampa - in the buffer zone of the tambopata national reserve. its part of more than a hundred thousand acres of rainforest in peru that have been decimatd by an illegal gold rush. to investigate - techknow traveled deep into peru - to a region called madre de dios - the mother of god. it's one of the most biodiverse areas on the planet - and the source of 70% of the illicit gold produced each year in peru. so we're on our flight into the area of peru where goldmining is taking stronghold. if you look out the window you can actually already see signs of the damage. we arrived at puerto maldonado - the region's capitol and a gold mining boom town. an estimated 30 thousand illegal miners work in madre de dios. chances are you might find some of them here - to sell gold or buy equipment. i stopped into one of the shops to look around. it's a place called amazon gold and when you walk in, there's a sign 'compro 'ro' - i buy gold. as i exchanged my money there was a little scale right in front of me that had some gold dust on it from past exchanges. b