Forests world over are shrinking and various anthropogenic activities, such as timber extraction, industrialisation, agricultural expansion, mining and urbanisation are leading to these changes.
While forest cover loss (FCL) in tropical regions is influenced by a number of factors such as increasing population, migration, unemployment, lack of property rights, and agricultural and infrastructural development, mining activities are among the most important causes for loss of forest cover informs this paper published in the Journal of Environmental Management.
Mining involves acquisition of vast stretches of land and land use changes that often lead to conflicts among various stakeholders, including the government, investors and the people who depend on the land for their livelihoods. Increase in mining activities also leads to extensive environmental degradation and destruction of forests.
Forests are vital resources that purify the air we breathe, filter the water we drink, prevent erosion, and act as an important buffers against climate change. Forests support a diverse array of plants and animals and provide essential natural resources from timber and food to medicinal plants.
While forests also support local communities that depend on them for their livelihood and survival, mining can spell doom for the lives and livelihoods of indigenous tribes and populations that depend on forests and forest produce.
The study explores the impact of mining on forest resources of Odisha. Odisha, the wealthiest Indian state in terms of mineral deposits like coal, iron ore, bauxite, chromite, and manganese, contributes significantly to the state’s and India’s Gross Domestic Product. Mineral production and the number of workers involved in mining activities in the state show a rise in recent years.
The forest covers 33.15 percent of the geographical area in Odisha and the state has a large proportion of tribal population that resides in these forests, with the highest concentration of tribal populations being found in Mayurbhanj, followed by Rayadada districts.
The primary coal deposits in Odisha are located in deep-forested areas around indigenous populations, and the mineral exploration has resulted in the displacement of large numbers of tribal populations. This has happened because mining production has now shifted from underground to open-pit mining threatening people’s livelihoods causing conflicts between the local populations and the mining companies.
The study finds that:
After mining was shifted to underground in 2016, the destruction of forests seemed to slow down. However, deforestation now continues and has extended over longer distances - more than 10 km beyond lease boundaries due to the combined effects of land-use displacement, urban expansion, development of commodity supply chains and due to spread of mine waste discharge and spills. This has not only threatened biodiversity in the area, but also caused changes in local climate.
Mining activity is now expanding rapidly in a high-value forest area that is already subject to a host of other pressures such as conversion into agricultural lands, pasture lands and population growth.
The full paper can be accessed here