Irreversible losses of natural areas and damage to ecosystem services are caused by large-scale mining. These effects are prominent in Minas Gerais, which is home to a mining industry with hundreds of tailings dams concentrated in global hotspots: the Cerrado and the Atlantic Forest. We present an overview of the spatial overlap between protected areas (PAs), priority conservation areas (PCAs), tailings dams, and their influence areas. A total of 218 dams accumulated environmental costs and liability that are represented by 2.24 thousand million m³ of tailings and industrial waste. Most dams (≈ 70%) are located in PCAs, 45 dams in conservation units, 58 in their respective buffer zones, and 51 in special protection areas. We have identified an urgent need to implement adequate public policies to establish management and monitoring mechanisms in PAs and PCAs and to address a scenario of high potential for socioenvironmental damage associated with tailings dams.

中文翻译：

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保护悖论：巴西东南部两个全球热点保护区内的大规模采矿废物。

大规模采矿造成自然区域不可逆转的损失和生态系统服务的破坏。这些影响在米纳斯吉拉斯州尤为突出，这里是采矿业的发源地，数百座尾矿坝集中在全球热点地区：塞拉多 (Cerrado) 和大西洋森林 (Atlantic Forest)。我们概述了保护区 (PA)、优先保护区 (PCA)、尾矿坝及其影响区之间的空间重叠。共有218个水坝积累由2240万立方米表示环境成本和责任³尾矿和工业废物。大多数大坝（≈ 70%）位于主保护区，45 座大坝位于保护区，58 座位于各自的缓冲区，51 座位于特殊保护区。我们已经确定迫切需要实施适当的公共政策，以在保护区和 PCA 中建立管理和监测机制，并解决与尾矿坝相关的社会环境破坏的高潜力情景。