🌱 How does mining impact habitats?
Opencast mining can cause a loss of both habitats and biodiversity.[i] Opencast mining often results in large-scale land destruction. The terrain is permanently altered, and hydrological conditions change.[ii] Mining also brings the construction of settlements and infrastructure with it, which results in more losses of forests.[iii] In some cases, water and soil can be polluted and effect a much larger area than the actual mining area. As an example, the Escondida copper mine in the Atacama Desert in Chile has “a very large land footprint, require[s] large water and energy inputs and generate[s] large amounts of mining waste”.[iv]
🌱 How is mining linked to deforestation?
Mining is a driver of deforestation. In recent years, mineral extraction in the tropical rainforests has been on the rise. Since 2000, the forest loss has been especially significant in Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Indonesia, Russia, Canada, the US, Australia, Ghana, and Myanmar. It should be noted that these countries do not use or consume all the metals and minerals they mine themselves, but that these are largely extracted for consumption in other countries.
🌱 Does deforestation happen on protected lands?
In many of the countries where mineral extraction occurs, mining sadly does not even stop the downgrading and downsizing of nature reserves or national parks. The downgrading and downsizing of protected land has impacted at least 130 million hectares (321 million acres) globally, according to Conservation International. In Brazil alone, 219 mining claims extend to protected areas.[v]
🌱 What mining causes the most deforestation?
Up until now, the majority of the mining-related deforestation has been caused by gold and coal mining – with a toll of ca. 6 877 square kilometers (4 273 square miles) of forest loss in the last two decades alone. With the rising demand for critical minerals, critical mineral mining could however end up taking an even bigger toll on forests than gold and coal mining has had to date.[vi]
This post has been adapted from a newsletter written by Christine Nikander and Heidrun Kordholste-Nikander. The newsletter titled “How does the mining of critical raw materials impact forests and their biodiversity?” was originally published in “The E-Waste Newsletter”.
[i] European Environment Agency: Biodiversity – Ecosystems, published on 18 Jun 2008, last modified 10 Feb 2020: https://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/biodiversity/intro (22.01.2024)
[ii] Yuan Gao, Jinman Wang, Nin Zhang, Sijia Li: Measurement and prediction of land use conflict in an opencast mining area. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0301420721000167 (25.04.2024)
[iii] Maxwwell, Radwin: Mongabay News & inspiration from nature’s frontline; Mining may contribute to deforestation more than previously thought, report says. https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/mining-may-contribute-to-deforestation-more-than-previously-thought-report-says/ (20.04.2024)
[iv] German Environment Agency: KlimRess – Impacts of climate change on mining, related environmental risks and raw material supply. https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/sites/default/files/medien/479/publikationen/texte_106-2020_klimress_case_study_chile.pdf (26.08.2024)
[v] Maxwwell, Radwin: Mongabay News & inspiration from nature’s frontline; Mining may contribute to deforestation more than previously thought, report says. https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/mining-may-contribute-to-deforestation-more-than-previously-thought-report-says/ (20.04.2024); Conservation International: How well protected are protected areas? Tracking legal changes to protected lands and waters. https://www.conservation.org/projects/paddd-protected-area-downgrading-downsizing-and-degazettement (26.08.2024)
[vi] Maxwwell, Radwin: Mongabay News & inspiration from nature’s frontline; Mining may contribute to deforestation more than previously thought, report says. https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/mining-may-contribute-to-deforestation-more-than-previously-thought-report-says/ (20.04.2024)