Mining drives extensive deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon

Laura J. Sonter; Diego Herrera; Damian J. Barrett; Gillian L. Galford; Chris J. Moran; Britaldo S. Soares-Filho

doi:10.1038/s41467-017-00557-w

Nature Communications (Oct 2017)

Mining drives extensive deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon

Laura J. Sonter,
Diego Herrera,
Damian J. Barrett,
Gillian L. Galford,
Chris J. Moran,
Britaldo S. Soares-Filho

Affiliations

Laura J. Sonter: Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont
Diego Herrera: Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont
Damian J. Barrett: Energy Flagship, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
Gillian L. Galford: Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont
Chris J. Moran: Curtin University
Britaldo S. Soares-Filho: Centro de Sensoriamento Remoto, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-00557-w
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 8, no. 1
pp. 1 – 7

Abstract

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Industrial mining contributes to deforestation in the Amazon, and the extent of effect could occur beyond areas of land explicitly permitted for mining. Here, Sonter et al. show that deforestation in 70-km buffer zones around mines has led to an estimated 9% of Brazilian Amazon deforestation since 2005.

Published in Nature Communications

ISSN: 2041-1723 (Online)
Publisher: Nature Portfolio
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Science
Website: https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

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