Growing demand for minerals continues to drive deforestation worldwide. Tropical forests are particularly vulnerable to the environmental impacts of mining and mineral processing. Many local- to regional-scale studies document extensive, long-lasting impacts of mining on biodiversity and ecosystem services. However, the full scope of deforestation induced by industrial mining across the tropics is yet unknown. Here, we present a biome-wide assessment to show where industrial mine expansion has caused the most deforestation from 2000 to 2019. We find that 3,264 km2 of forest was directly lost due to industrial mining, with 80% occurring in only four countries: Indonesia, Brazil, Ghana, and Suriname. Additionally, controlling for other nonmining determinants of deforestation, we find that mining caused indirect forest loss in two-thirds of the investigated countries. Our results illustrate significant yet unevenly distributed and often unmanaged impacts on these biodiverse ecosystems. Impact assessments and mitigation plans of industrial mining activities must address direct and indirect impacts to support conservation of the world’s tropical forests.

中文翻译：

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工业采矿造成的森林砍伐的泛热带评估

对矿物的不断增长的需求继续推动全球范围内的森林砍伐。热带森林特别容易受到采矿和矿物加工的环境影响。许多地方到区域规模的研究记录了采矿对生物多样性和生态系统服务的广泛而持久的影响。然而，热带地区工业采矿引起的森林砍伐的全部范围尚不清楚。在这里，我们提出了一项生物群落范围的评估，以显示从 2000 年到 2019 年，工业矿山扩张导致森林砍伐最多的地方。我们发现，3,264 平方公里的森林因工业采矿而直接消失，其中 80% 发生在四个国家：印度尼西亚、巴西、加纳和苏里南。此外，控制森林砍伐的其他非采矿决定因素，我们发现，在三分之二的调查国家中，采矿造成了间接的森林损失。我们的结果说明了对这些生物多样性生态系统的显着但分布不均且通常不受管理的影响。工业采矿活动的影响评估和缓解计划必须解决直接和间接影响，以支持世界热带森林的保护。