The threat of mineral extraction to global vertebrate biodiversity

Mineral extraction is a rapidly expanding industry driven by continued demand for raw material for housing, infrastructure, technology and energy. The proximity of mines to regions of high biodiversity is increasing as easily accessible high-grade deposits are exhausted and the impacts of extraction are pushed out of sight and out of mind. Yet, these impacts can be highly variable, spatially vast and extend well beyond the closing of mining operations. In this thesis I use the IUCN Red List to investigate the threat of mineral extraction and mining processes to global vertebrate biodiversity, assessing the extent to which vertebrates are threatened, investigating the links between threatened species and extraction across commodity groups, and highlighting the biodiversity risk at individual mine sites and their primary extracted commodity. In Chapter 1, I find that mining threat to vertebrates is ubiquitous for all taxonomic groups, with threat to vertebrate biodiversity especially concentrated across tropical regions and within tropical moist broadleaf forest. In Chapter 2, I reveal that threat to vertebrate biodiversity is universal across commodity types, but that mines for each commodity are unevenly spatially distributed, resulting in coal, gold, and mines with unreported primary commodities being of particularly high conservation concern due to their risk and spatial extent. In Chapter 3, I highlight the need for better understanding of threats to biodiversity from non-metallic minerals and construction minerals through improved coverage of these mines and their production within global datasets and more detailed monitoring of their impacts on species. This thesis contributes the most comprehensive analysis of the biodiversity risks from mining, revealing considerable impact and risk of mineral extraction on global biodiversity. Societies need to adapt to prioritise innovative, equitable and circular economies to reduce raw mineral demands, transition away from fossil fuels and developing responsible mining practices where to mitigate against severe biodiversity losses.