HOW MINING CAN IMPACT RAINFOREST CONSERVATION

Carbon Central Network Pty Ltd.

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An industry that rainforest conservation experts agree contributes to deforestation is mining. Diamonds, gold, copper and may other precious metals are discovered and are being exploited a cross the globe. One mining operation in the Amazon is harvesting alluvial gold deposits which are found along river banks and current channels as well as on floodplains where water once flowed.

HOW CAN MINING HARM THE ENVIRONMENT? Both small and large-scale mining operations use hydraulic mining methods. They often clear-cut large areas where floodplains exist and blast riverbanks. Their heavy machinery exposes the underlying layers of sediment and can release heavy metals into the environment. Large amounts of mercury, for example, have been found in rivers where mining has taken place and mercury has a toxic effect on surrounding ecosystems. Toxic levels increase in animals as the heavy metal makes its way up the food chain. Large predators are most at risk for toxic contamination, especially if their diet consists of fish which have been directly exposed. Furthermore, the process used to extract gold from rocks uses the toxic compound cyanide. Although there are usually safeguards in place to prevent any damage from cyanide, there is always the potential for spills to occur. One such spill in Guyana in August 1995 released over a billion gallons of contaminated wastewater, spoiling drinking water and causing the

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destruction of both terrestrial and aquatic plant and animal life. Even after such an event, the local government granted permission for more mining in the same area. Larger operations which use open-pit mining contribute secondary threats to rainforest conservation. The roads they must construct and the areas they clear make previously inaccessible areas available to other foreign buyers or local settlers and miners. Locals are often mining for gold without permits and will cut down trees for firewood and construction. Settlers and miners also bring new diseases to the indigenous tribes living in the rainforest areas and violence can erupt when locals feel the need to defend their land. CAN MINING BECOME A SUSTAINABLE PRACTICE? There are ways to create more environmentally friendly methods of mining to help sustain rainforest conservation. Some organisations such as the MMSD (Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development) have developed some new policy recommendations such as: boosting effort to confront the legacy of past practices establishing stronger legislation creating incentives for good practices assessing the seven questions of sustainability implementing dispute resolution programs controlling recyclable waste in safe ways addressing equity issues within the labour markets

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Although some of these recommendations may take some time to become standardised, consumers can help reduce the affects of deforestation by lessening the demands for the resources being mined. Consumers are in control of the supply and demand for all world resources. Rainforest conservation can begin with an individual who decides not to support companies that contribute to unsustainable mining practices.