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Peer-reviewedCC BYNature

Mining triggers extensive additional deforestation in sub-Saharan Africa

  • Oscar Morton1
  • Christopher G. Bousfield2
  • Prince Dégny VALE3,4
  • Ieuan Lamb5
  • VICTOR WEGNER MAUS6,7
  • Robert G. Bryant8
  • David P. Edwards9,10,11
11 affiliations
  1. 1Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, School of Biosciences, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK. [email protected]
  2. 2Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, School of Biosciences, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK. [email protected]
  3. 3Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d'Ivoire, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
  4. 4Université Jean Lorougnon Guédé, Daloa, Côte d'Ivoire
  5. 5Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, School of Biosciences, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
  6. 6Advancing Systems Analysis Program, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria
  7. 7Institute for Ecological Economics, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Vienna, Austria
  8. 8School of Geography and Planning, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
  9. 9Centre for Global Wood Security, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. [email protected]
  10. 10Conservation Research Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. [email protected]
  11. 11Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. [email protected]
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Abstract

. Here we present a spatiotemporal assessment of mining-driven deforestation of dense forests across Africa, using continent-wide data on post-deforestation land uses and a robust difference-in-differences framework to assess 16,627 mines between 2001 and 2020. In total, we find 187,000 hectares of direct mining-driven deforestation, that is, deforestation due to features directly associated with mining operations, such as pits, tailing ponds and spoil heaps. We estimate that mining also triggers an additional 8.0 percentage points (pp; 95% confidence interval (CI): 7.2-8.9 pp) increase in deforestation within 1 km of a mine compared with unmined areas. Increased levels of deforestation (1.1 pp, 95% CI: 0.7-1.5) persist up to 20 km from mines even after ten years. For every hectare of direct deforestation due to the mine footprint, mining triggers, on average, 34 hectares of additional offsite loss within five years through ancillary activities, including agriculture and settlements. Mines extracting cobalt and copper-key energy transition minerals-caused the highest amount of additional deforestation. Embedding offsite deforestation levels into environmental impact assessments for new mining projects will be key to ensuring zero-deforestation or no-net-loss supply chains for critical minerals and reduce future mining-driven forest losses in sub-Saharan Africa.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{morton2026mining,
  title = {{Mining triggers extensive additional deforestation in sub-Saharan Africa}},
  author = {Oscar Morton and Christopher G. Bousfield and Prince Dégny VALE and Ieuan Lamb and VICTOR WEGNER MAUS and Robert G. Bryant and David P. Edwards},
  journal = {Nature},
  year = {2026},
  month = jun,
  doi = {10.1038/s41586-026-10551-2},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10551-2},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Mining triggers extensive additional deforestation in sub-Saharan Africa
AU  - Oscar Morton
AU  - Christopher G. Bousfield
AU  - Prince Dégny VALE
AU  - Ieuan Lamb
AU  - VICTOR WEGNER MAUS
AU  - Robert G. Bryant
AU  - David P. Edwards
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/06/03
JO  - Nature
DO  - 10.1038/s41586-026-10551-2
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10551-2
AB  - . Here we present a spatiotemporal assessment of mining-driven deforestation of dense forests across Africa, using continent-wide data on post-deforestation land uses and a robust difference-in-differences framework to assess 16,627 mines between 2001 and 2020. In total, we find 187,000 hectares of direct mining-driven deforestation, that is, deforestation due to features directly associated with mining operations, such as pits, tailing ponds and spoil heaps. We estimate that mining also triggers an additional 8.0 percentage points (pp; 95% confidence interval (CI): 7.2-8.9 pp) increase in deforestation within 1 km of a mine compared with unmined areas. Increased levels of deforestation (1.1 pp, 95% CI: 0.7-1.5) persist up to 20 km from mines even after ten years. For every hectare of direct deforestation due to the mine footprint, mining triggers, on average, 34 hectares of additional offsite loss within five years through ancillary activities, including agriculture and settlements. Mines extracting cobalt and copper-key energy transition minerals-caused the highest amount of additional deforestation. Embedding offsite deforestation levels into environmental impact assessments for new mining projects will be key to ensuring zero-deforestation or no-net-loss supply chains for critical minerals and reduce future mining-driven forest losses in sub-Saharan Africa.
SN  - 0028-0836
SN  - 1476-4687
ER  -