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The 10 most forest-rich countries account for two-thirds of the Earth’s forest area: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, India, Indonesia, Peru, the Russian Federation and the United States of America. Unfortunately the natural forest area is annually reduced by an area of about the size of England. Logging at current rates in some of the world’s most pristine habitats, such as Indonesian Papua and Papua New Guinea, is predicted to destroy their forests and habitats in as little as 10 years from now. Mining is often singled out as the main cause of forest loss, an accusation that contradicts public data. Clearing to allow agriculture far outweighs all other activities that contribute to rain-forest loss. This compares to forest loss due to mining of less than 0.1%.
Interestingly, mining may help to conserve forest areas by supporting the host economy, and by committing management skills and capacity to forest conservation. The attached photo illustrates uncontrolled illegal logging by local villagers in protection forest close to a prospective mine development in Indonesia, in the expectation that the Company will provide compensation for lost cultivated land if and when the mine moves from exploration to operation. Government authorities are well aware of these illegal logging activities but opt to remain silent. This is in contrast to the government’s stance towards the proposed underground mine development (with very limited impact on forest) where forestry permits have been delayed for years. The argument can be made that an operating mine would allow the mine proponent to allocate funds and knowledge to support local forest protection measures. This author argues that in this example, as for many other responsible mine developments, the existence of the mine would help local government authorities (and villagers) to preserve valuable natural resources such as pristine forest areas, rather than destroying them.
Karlheinz Spitz at 1/18/2012 10:47:45 AM
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