About 20% of mining areas intersect with critical habitats
Mining activities in Guinea could impact over 23,000 chimpanzees, up to 83% of the country’s ape population. Photo for representation: iStock A new study published in journal Science Advances on April 3, 2024, revealed that more than a third of the entire great ape population in Africa, or nearly 180,000 individuals, could be directly or indirectly threatened by mining now and in the near future.
Gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and orangutans are called great apes in recognition of their comparatively large size and humanlike features.
The study, led by researchers from German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research and Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg in collaboration with non-profit conservation organisation Re:wild, revealed that mining poses a bigger threat to African great apes than previously thought.
The researchers used primates as an example to quantify the potential impact of industrial mining on wildlife population abundance. The intersection of mining areas with critical habitats, which are important for their unique biodiversity, was found to be alarmingly high — around 20 per cent.
Critical habitats are subject to stringent environmental regulations, particularly for mining projects seeking financial support from institutions such as International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group.
Apes in West Africa may be the most severely affected, as up to 82 per cent of the population currently lives near operational and pre-operational mining sites.
The study identified the emerging threat posed by rising demand for critical minerals, which are required for the transition to cleaner energy.
This demand fuels a mining boom in Africa, where many of these resources remain untapped, resulting in deforestation and threatening the great ape population’s habitats.
Using data from 17 African countries, the researchers estimated the potential direct and indirect negative impact of mining activities on ape populations in and around operational and pre-operational mining sites.
The researchers established 10-kilometre buffer zones to account for direct impacts such as habitat destruction, as well as light and noise pollution.
In some of these countries, the researchers discovered a high statistical significance for mining driving deforestation in areas up to 50 km from the mining areas.
Liberia, Sierra Leone, Mali, and Guinea, all in West Africa, had the highest proportional overlaps between ape population abundance and mining areas (in terms of population potentially affected).
Mining activities in Guinea could impact over 23,000 chimpanzees, up to 83 per cent of the country’s ape population. In general, the most sensitive areas, those with high ape and mining densities, are not adequately protected.
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