Beyond the tall tales, something of a gold rush is underway in parts of the Yungas and the Bolivian Amazon, sparked by the rise in gold prices after the 2007-2008 global financial crisis. Much of the mining is illegal and linked to organised crime, poisoned waterways and increased deforestation, as highlighted in a 2018 report by the Amazon Socio-Environmental Geo-Referenced Information Project, a coalition of civil society organisations.