Year: 2024
Type: review
Abstract: Amid a global infrastructure boom, there is increasing recognition of the ecological impacts of the extraction and consumption of construction minerals, mainly processed as concrete, including significant and expanding threats to global biodiversity. We investigated how high-level national and international biodiversity conservation policies address mining threats, with a special focus on construction minerals. We conducted a review and quantified the degree to which threats from mining these minerals are addressed in biodiversity goals and targets under the 2011-2020 and post-2020 biodiversity strategies, national biodiversity strategies and action plans, and the assessments of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Mining appeared rarely in national targets but more frequently in national strategies. Yet, in most countries, it was superficially addressed. Coverage of aggregates mining was greater than coverage of limestone mining. We outline 8 key components, tailored for a wide range of actors, to effectively mainstream biodiversity conservation into the extractive, infrastructure, and construction sectors. Actions include improving reporting and monitoring systems, enhancing the evidence base around mining impacts on biodiversity, and modifying the behavior of financial agents and businesses. Implementing these measures could pave the way for a more sustainable approach to construction mineral use and safeguard biodiversity.
Source: Conservation Biology
DOI: 10.1111/cobi.14261
Institutions: University of Alicante, Michigan State University, UCLouvain, University of Kent, University of Oxford, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Estación Biológica de Doñana, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Bangor University
Language: English
Subfield: Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Life on land
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,240
Funders: National Science Foundation, European Commission, Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, Generalitat Valenciana, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, LifeWatch – Niclas Öberg Foundation, Horizon 2020 Framework Programme, Natural Environment Research Council, European Regional Development Fund, Conselleria de Innovación, Universidades, Ciencia y Sociedad Digital, Generalitat Valenciana, FP7 Science in Society, HORIZON EUROPE Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Awards: G121811674, G1443770520, G1556930255, Shifting the baseline and assessing its impact on the status and trends of biodiversity and its implication for decision-making in conservation, G29316538, HDR Institute: Geospatial Understanding through an Integrative Discovery Environment, Environment East (EnvEast) Doctoral Training Partnership, Framing sand sustainability in a telecoupled world, G3879359908, G434337789, CNH2-L: Uncovering Metacoupled Socio-Environmental Systems, G511364388, G6020743587, Systemic solutions for upscaling of urgent ecosystem restoration for forest related biodiversity and ecosystem services, G8214381519
OpenAlex ID: W4393947562