Context: Gold mining is the most destructive activity in the natural forests of the Madre de Dios region in the southeastern Peruvian Amazon. Understanding the natural regeneration process of these degraded areas is necessary to develop forest restoration projects in such conditions. Aims: We aimed to evaluate forest recovery and identify the successional and structure patterns of vegetation governing natural regeneration over time. Methods: Structure, composition, richness, diversity, and successional status were evaluated in abandoned artisanal gold mine areas in Madre de Dios, southeastern Peru. Vegetation data were recorded in 61 plots of 250 m2 established in five sites varying from 1 to 19 years of abandonment. Vegetation in abandoned areas was compared with six undisturbed forests evaluated in previous inventories. Results: In the mining lands, tree density and basal area recovere...