Industrial-scale mining of materials such as coal, gold and iron ore is spurring deforestation in tropical regions, with previously impenetrable forests being destroyed to open mines and access roads, research published on Monday shows.
In the first study to quantify the impact of industrial mining on tropical forest loss, an international team of scientists found that four countries are the main culprits: Brazil, Indonesia, Ghana and Suriname.
Together, the four forest-rich nations accounted for about 80% of tropical deforestation caused by large-scale mining operations between 2000 and 2019, according to the study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
While at least 70% of deforestation is done to clear land for agriculture, scientists have classified industrial mining as an emerging concern, given the growing global appetite for minerals used in clean energy technologies to combat climate change.
“The energy transition will require large amounts of minerals — copper, lithium, cobalt — for decarbonized technologies,” said study co-author Anthony Bebbington, a geographer at Clark University in Massachusetts.
“We need more planning tools from governments and companies to mitigate the impacts of mining on forest loss.”
Mines around the world already extract more than twice the amount of raw materials than in the year 2000, according to the study.
For the study, the researchers studied global satellite imagery and data tracking forest loss, along with location information for industrial-scale mining operations over the past two decades.
The study did not measure the impacts of artisanal and small-scale mining.
Overall, there were 26 countries responsible for most deforestation in tropical regions of the world since 2000.
But around industrial mining sites, the four countries dominate. The biggest losses were in Indonesia, where coal mines on the island of Borneo expanded to meet fuel demand from China and India.
Ghana and Suriname also showed high rates of deforestation around gold and bauxite mines. In Brazil, the extraction of gold and iron ore has driven deforestation caused by mining.
Mining operations often clear forests to make room for expansion of extraction sites and tailings storage facilities, as well as to build access roads and settlements for miners.
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