A pantropical assessment of deforestation caused by industrial mining

Stefan Giljum; Victor Maus; Nikolas Kuschnig; Sebastian Luckeneder; Michael Tost; Laura J. Sonter; Anthony J. Bebbington

doi:10.1073/pnas.2118273119

A pantropical assessment of deforestation caused by industrial mining

Stefan Giljum^*, Victor Maus, Nikolas Kuschnig, Sebastian Luckeneder, Michael Tost, Laura J. Sonter, Anthony J. Bebbington

^*Corresponding author for this work

Institute for Ecological Economics

Publication: Scientific journal › Journal article › peer-review

Abstract

Growing demand for minerals continues to drive deforestation worldwide. Tropical forests are particularly vulnerable to the environmental impacts of mining and mineral processing. Many local- to regional-scale studies document extensive, long-lasting impacts of mining on biodiversity and ecosystem services. However, the full scope of deforestation induced by industrial mining across the tropics is yet unknown. Here, we present a biome-wide assessment to show where industrial mine expansion has caused the most deforestation from 2000 to 2019. We find that 3,264 km² of forest was directly lost due to industrial mining, with 80% occurring in only four countries: Indonesia, Brazil, Ghana, and Suriname. Additionally, controlling for other nonmining determinants of deforestation, we find that mining caused indirect forest loss in two-thirds of the investigated countries. Our results illustrate significant yet unevenly distributed and often unmanaged impacts on these biodiverse ecosystems. Impact assessments and mitigation plans of industrial mining activities must address direct and indirect impacts to support conservation of the world’s tropical forests.

Original language	English
Article number	e2118273119
Journal	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume	119
Issue number	38
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2118273119
Publication status	Published - 20 Sept 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. This work was supported by the European Research Council under the EU’s Horizon 2020 Programme Grant 725525 (FINEPRINT; https://www.fineprint.global/). We thank Rachel Golden Kroner for helpful comments on an earlier version of the manuscript.

Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2022 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.

Keywords

deforestation
indirect effects
land-use change
large-scale mining
tropical forests

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10.1073/pnas.2118273119

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University Library Catalogue

Cite this

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title = "A pantropical assessment of deforestation caused by industrial mining",

abstract = "Growing demand for minerals continues to drive deforestation worldwide. Tropical forests are particularly vulnerable to the environmental impacts of mining and mineral processing. Many local- to regional-scale studies document extensive, long-lasting impacts of mining on biodiversity and ecosystem services. However, the full scope of deforestation induced by industrial mining across the tropics is yet unknown. Here, we present a biome-wide assessment to show where industrial mine expansion has caused the most deforestation from 2000 to 2019. We find that 3,264 km2 of forest was directly lost due to industrial mining, with 80% occurring in only four countries: Indonesia, Brazil, Ghana, and Suriname. Additionally, controlling for other nonmining determinants of deforestation, we find that mining caused indirect forest loss in two-thirds of the investigated countries. Our results illustrate significant yet unevenly distributed and often unmanaged impacts on these biodiverse ecosystems. Impact assessments and mitigation plans of industrial mining activities must address direct and indirect impacts to support conservation of the world{\textquoteright}s tropical forests.",

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AU - Luckeneder, Sebastian

AU - Tost, Michael

AU - Sonter, Laura J.

AU - Bebbington, Anthony J.

N1 - Funding Information: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. This work was supported by the European Research Council under the EU’s Horizon 2020 Programme Grant 725525 (FINEPRINT; https://www.fineprint.global/). We thank Rachel Golden Kroner for helpful comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2022 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.

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N2 - Growing demand for minerals continues to drive deforestation worldwide. Tropical forests are particularly vulnerable to the environmental impacts of mining and mineral processing. Many local- to regional-scale studies document extensive, long-lasting impacts of mining on biodiversity and ecosystem services. However, the full scope of deforestation induced by industrial mining across the tropics is yet unknown. Here, we present a biome-wide assessment to show where industrial mine expansion has caused the most deforestation from 2000 to 2019. We find that 3,264 km2 of forest was directly lost due to industrial mining, with 80% occurring in only four countries: Indonesia, Brazil, Ghana, and Suriname. Additionally, controlling for other nonmining determinants of deforestation, we find that mining caused indirect forest loss in two-thirds of the investigated countries. Our results illustrate significant yet unevenly distributed and often unmanaged impacts on these biodiverse ecosystems. Impact assessments and mitigation plans of industrial mining activities must address direct and indirect impacts to support conservation of the world’s tropical forests.

AB - Growing demand for minerals continues to drive deforestation worldwide. Tropical forests are particularly vulnerable to the environmental impacts of mining and mineral processing. Many local- to regional-scale studies document extensive, long-lasting impacts of mining on biodiversity and ecosystem services. However, the full scope of deforestation induced by industrial mining across the tropics is yet unknown. Here, we present a biome-wide assessment to show where industrial mine expansion has caused the most deforestation from 2000 to 2019. We find that 3,264 km2 of forest was directly lost due to industrial mining, with 80% occurring in only four countries: Indonesia, Brazil, Ghana, and Suriname. Additionally, controlling for other nonmining determinants of deforestation, we find that mining caused indirect forest loss in two-thirds of the investigated countries. Our results illustrate significant yet unevenly distributed and often unmanaged impacts on these biodiverse ecosystems. Impact assessments and mitigation plans of industrial mining activities must address direct and indirect impacts to support conservation of the world’s tropical forests.

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A pantropical assessment of deforestation caused by industrial mining

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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FINEPRINT: Spatially explicit material footprints: Fine-scale assessment of Europe's global environmental and social impacts

Cite this

A pantropical assessment of deforestation caused by industrial mining

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

Access to Document

Check availability

Other files and links

Projects

FINEPRINT: Spatially explicit material footprints: Fine-scale assessment of Europe's global environmental and social impacts

Cite this