Global mining has undermined forest conservation within and beyond protected areas
Abstract Protected areas are widely regarded as a cornerstone of global forest conservation, yet growing mineral demand intensifies mining pressure on them. Here, we present a global assessment of mining-induced forest loss within and beyond protected areas from 2001 to 2020. We find that approximately 11% (~1372 km 2 ) of global mining-induced forest loss occurs within protected areas, with this proportion increasing to ~19% during 2016–2020. Furthermore, ~27% (544) of mines associated with forest loss within protected areas remain active throughout the study period. Mining impacts also extend beyond protected area boundaries, where forest loss in the surrounding 10-km buffer zones (~4113 km 2 ) is nearly three times that observed within protected areas. Temporal analyses further reveal that mining increasingly affects forests with higher biomass density over time. These findings demonstrate growing mining pressure on protected forests and highlight the need to mitigate impacts both within and beyond protected area boundaries.
Authors
- Tingting He (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6889-3333)
- Zhipei Sun (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9771-5293)
- Fashuai Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9443-777X)
- Hongtao Cao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6760-0359)
- Maoxin Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9459-4361)
- Ye Lu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2376-4519)
- Yanling Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7706-880X)
- Yihua Hu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1777-0242)
- Huicai Yang
- He Ren
- Yuwei Chen
- Jianyu Wang
- Jin Wu
- Jianyong Zhang
Institutions
- Tianjin Normal University (CN)
- Hefei University of Technology (CN)
- Beijing Normal University (CN)
- China University of Mining and Technology (CN)
- Beijing University of Technology (CN)
- Hangzhou Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CN)
- Applied Pulsed Power (United States) (US)
- Advanced Laser Technology (United Kingdom) (GB)
- Zhejiang University (CN)
- Aalto University (FI)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2026-06-24
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-74859-3
- Primary Topic
- Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Academy of Finland
- China University of Mining and Technology
- State Key Laboratory of Pulsed Power Laser Technology