Infrastructure for African mines destroying forests at 34 times the rate of the mines themselves

[OKIsItJustMe]

https://sheffield.ac.uk/news/infrastructure-african-mines-destroying-forests-34-times-rate-mines-themselves

3 June 2026

Industrial-scale mining in Africa to support global supply chains is leading to unprecedented deforestation across the continent, with 34 hectares of forest removed for every single hectare of active mine site.

• For every hectare (10,000 square metres) of active mine site in Africa, an additional 34 hectares of forest are lost to supporting infrastructure like roads, housing and agriculture, according to a new University of Sheffield-led study
• Between 2001 and 2020, 187,000 hectares of forest were converted to mines in Africa - an area roughly equivalent to the country of Mauritius
• Demand for green energy transition minerals like copper and cobalt - essential for electric vehicles and renewables - is a primary driver of this deforestation, with demand expected to grow 40-fold by 2040
• Researchers warn that current environmental assessments drastically underestimate mining's true footprint, calling for ‘zero-deforestation’ supply chains to protect vital forests from being sacrificed

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Using satellite imagery and statistical modelling, researchers found that vast swathes of forest are being lost to make way for the infrastructure supporting mines, such as roads, housing settlements and agricultural land to feed workers.

The first large-scale study of mining-triggered deforestation across Africa, published in Nature, compared deforestation rates in mined areas to geographically similar non-mined areas.

Mines extracting cobalt and copper were found to cause the highest rates of overall deforestation. These metals are critical components in renewable energy technologies, electric vehicles and household electronics. Mining for high value minerals such as gold and silver, and critical manufacturing minerals such as iron, also drove higher rates of deforestation.

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Morton, O., Bousfield, C.G., Dégny Valé, P. et al. Mining triggers extensive additional deforestation in sub-Saharan Africa. Nature (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10551-2