Understanding the impacts of mining on ecosystem services through a systematic review

Boldy, Robyn; Santini, Talitha; Annandale, Mark; Erskine, Peter D.; Sonter, Laura J.

doi:10.1016/j.exis.2020.12.005

Cited by 42 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…Millions of people in developing countries depend on artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) for their livelihoods. However, this activity comes at a price [3,4]. These activities are quite diverse, sometimes illegal or informal, often virtually tolerated by the authorities, and can be seasonal or year-round, long-term, or follow a boom-and-bust cycle.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gold Mining in the Amazon Region of Ecuador: History and a Review of Its Socio-Environmental Impacts

Mestanza-Ramón

Cuenca-Cumbicus²,

D’Orio

et al. 2022

Land

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Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) and large-scale mining in the Ecuadorian Amazon region is potentially harmful to nature, and its impacts are associated with environmental degradation and deterioration of people’s health. So far, limited efforts have been directed at exploring the current situation and challenges facing the implementation of environmental policies in the country. The objective of this study focused on analyzing the historical and current situation and challenges of ASGM in the Amazon region of Ecuador in relation to a political perspective (laws), socioeconomic impacts (population displacement, loss of livelihoods, migration of people, cost of living, water scarcity, and health impacts), and environmental impacts (biotic and abiotic). The methodology used was based on a literature review and interviews, and information that was discussed through an expert judgment allowed for establishing challenges to improve ASGM management. The main results indicate that lack of community participation in decision-making, insufficient coordination between government institutions, communities, and miners, and lack of control of mining activities are factors that contribute to ineffective compliance with environmental policies in the gold mining sector in the Amazon. Finally, the study concludes by considering the socioeconomic and environmental scopes within its findings for implementing effective environmental and social policies in the Amazon region of Ecuador.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gold Mining in the Amazon Region of Ecuador: History and a Review of Its Socio-Environmental Impacts

Mestanza-Ramón

Cuenca-Cumbicus²,

D’Orio

et al. 2022

Land

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“…Given the socioeconomic importance of mining as a driver of additional developments in local communities that could prevent biodiversity loss impacts in the long term, future work is needed to align social, economic, and biodiversity conservation goals. 85,86 In addition to extraction data from the BGS, 38 miningrelated land use, 29 and resultant biodiversity loss, 30,31 REX covers further key indicators that tackle the sustainable development goals. These include the total material footprint (including bulk ore milled for all metals in mining sectors), climate impacts, health impacts due to particulate matter emissions, 87 blue water consumption, water stress, 88 total land use, and related biodiversity loss 89 (based on the UNEP-SETAC methodologies 31 in accordance with ref 28).…”

Section: Limitations and Outlookmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, further work is needed to incorporate other drivers of biodiversity loss into MRIO analysis, including the biodiversity impacts of oil and gas mining (especially shale gas and oil sands), acid mine drainage, and environmental disasters due to dam failures of tailings. − ,− Moreover, other environmental aspects such as mining-related local water scarcity − as well as the socioeconomic dimension of mining should be tackled. Given the socioeconomic importance of mining as a driver of additional developments in local communities that could prevent biodiversity loss impacts in the long term, future work is needed to align social, economic, and biodiversity conservation goals. , …”

Section: Limitations and Outlookmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hotspots of Mining-Related Biodiversity Loss in Global Supply Chains and the Potential for Reduction through Renewable Electricity

Cabernard

Pfister

2022

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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Anticipated infrastructure growth and energy transition may exacerbate biodiversity loss through increased demand for mining products. This study uses an enhanced multiregional input–output database (REX, Resolved EXIOBASE) and supply chain impact mapping (SCIM) method to assess global biodiversity loss associated with mining-related land use. We identify hotspots in the supply chain of mining products, compare the impact of fossil and renewable electricity, and estimate the share of mining in total global impacts. We found that half of the global mining-related biodiversity loss occurs in Indonesia, Australia, and New Caledonia. Major international trade flows of embodied biodiversity loss involve Indonesia’s coal exports to China and India, New Caledonia’s nickel exports to Japan and Australia, and Australia’s iron and bauxite exports to China. Key end-consumers include China’s growing infrastructure and the EU’s and USA’s household consumption. Electricity generation accounted for 10% of global mining-related biodiversity loss in 2014. The impact of coal-fired electricity was 10 times higher than that of renewables per unit of electricity generated. Globally, mining contributes to less than 1% of the total land use-related biodiversity loss, which is dominated by agriculture. Our results provide transparency in sourcing more sustainable mining products and underline synergies in fostering renewables to meet local biodiversity and global climate targets.

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“…Only one electronic database was selected to avoid double-counting scientific publications [52]. As ESs have been extensively studied, and the uses of the term are not standardized, there exist obvious differences in the expression of ESs in scientific publications of various countries [53,54]. By using relevant research [55], the final search used the combination of keywords shown in Table 1.…”

Section: Systematic Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatiotemporal Variability of Human Disturbance Impacts on Ecosystem Services in Mining Areas

Liu

et al. 2022

Sustainability

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Human activities pose significant impacts on ecosystem services (ESs) in mining areas, which will continually increase over time and space. However, the mechanism of ES change on spatiotemporal scales post-disturbance remains unclear, especially in the context of global climate change. Here, we conducted a global literature review on the impact of two of the most frequent disturbance factors (mining and restoration) on 27 different ESs, intending to synthesize the impacts of human disturbance on ESs in mining areas via a meta-analysis, and analyze the spatiotemporal variability of ESs after disturbance. We screened 3204 disturbance studies published on the Web of Science between 1950 and 2020 and reviewed 340 in detail. The results of independence test showed that human disturbance had a significant impact on ESs in the mining areas (p < 0.001). The impacts (positive and/or negative) caused by mining and restoration differed considerably among ESs (even on the same ESs). Additionally, spatiotemporal scales of human disturbance were significantly related to spatiotemporal scales of ES change (p < 0.001). We found that the positive and negative impacts of disturbances on ESs may be interconversion under specific spatiotemporal conditions. This seems to be associated with spatiotemporal variability, such as the temporal lag, spatial spillover, and cumulative spatiotemporal effects. Climate changes can lead to further spatiotemporal variability, which highlights the importance of understanding the changes in ESs post-disturbance on spatiotemporal scales. Our research presents recommendations for coping with the twofold pressure of climate change and spatiotemporal variability, to understand how ESs respond to human disturbance at spatiotemporal scales in the future, and manage disturbances to promote sustainable development in mining areas.

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Understanding the impacts of mining on ecosystem services through a systematic review

Cited by 42 publications

References 66 publications

Gold Mining in the Amazon Region of Ecuador: History and a Review of Its Socio-Environmental Impacts

Gold Mining in the Amazon Region of Ecuador: History and a Review of Its Socio-Environmental Impacts

Hotspots of Mining-Related Biodiversity Loss in Global Supply Chains and the Potential for Reduction through Renewable Electricity

Spatiotemporal Variability of Human Disturbance Impacts on Ecosystem Services in Mining Areas

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