The Regional Council of Cusco, Peru, has prohibited mining activities in its department, arguing that a lot of the farming territory, now being taken over by mining firms, will be at environmental risk. The Council fears that citizens will be displaced from their land and lose their crops, while there will be irreversible changes to their “natural spaces”. Currently, 49 mining projects are afoot in Cusco with three more, valued at $2,636 million, to be launched between 2011 and 2013: Xstrata‘s Antapaccay, Norsemont´s Constancia and Minera Quechua. The Council’s decision, backed by the regional president, will be reviewed by the central government over coming days.
See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=10007.