Illegal Gold Mining in the Brazilian Amazon: Environmental Degradation in Yanomami Indigenous Lands, and Regulatory Failures

ABSTRACT Illegal gold mining has emerged as a major sustainability threat in the Amazon, eroding Indigenous rights, forest integrity, and climate mitigation efforts. This study examines how international market incentives relate to the expansion of illegal mining and associated deforestation within the Yanomami Indigenous Territory (YIT) from 2008 to 2022. Using annual data and log–log OLS specifications, we document a strong positive association between Brazil's gold export value and mining pressure in the YIT: increases in export value are accompanied by proportionally larger increases in mined area. We also find that greater mining pressure is associated with higher deforestation, indicating that mining expansion is linked to forest loss within the territory. By contrast, higher GDP per capita is associated with lower mining pressure, suggesting that improved local economic conditions may reduce vulnerability to illicit extractive activity. Beyond domestic enforcement constraints, we argue that gaps in international due diligence and limited traceability facilitate the entry of illicit gold into formal supply chains, externalizing socio‐environmental costs onto Indigenous lands. The study contributes to sustainability research on global commodity chains by connecting trade incentives, institutional fragility, and environmental degradation, and it derives policy implications for enforceable traceability, accountable sourcing, and SDG‐aligned governance reforms.