Renewable energy mining endangers Africa's great apes — 2/3 of all primates at risk of extinction

Increasing the use of renewable energy and moving away from fossil fuels is essential for a successful energy transition. However, the massive mining of minerals such as copper, lithium and cobalt is threatening the survival of around a third of Africa's great apes.

These include gorillas, but bonobos and chimpanzees are also threatened by the destruction of Africa's tropical rainforests. Around 30 per cent of the world's mineral resources, such as those needed to make batteries for EVs and phones or solar panels for balcony power stations, are found there. In the study, published in Science Advances, the researchers write:

Africa is experiencing an unprecedented mining boom threatening wildlife populations and whole ecosystems.

Over-exploitation by mining also pollutes the remaining forests and is a major cause of disease outbreaks among the animals. Another problem is that the roads needed to reach the mines and for transport also give poachers easier access to the primates, two-thirds of which are already threatened with extinction. Senior scientist Dr Jessica Junker, from the non-profit conservation organisation Re:wild, is advising people to cut down on their consumption:

A shift away from fossil fuels is good for the climate but must be done in a way that does not jeopardise biodiversity. In its current iteration it may even be going against the very environmental goals we’re aiming for. It is crucial for everyone to adopt a mindset of reduced consumption.

A study carried out in collaboration with researchers from the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research and the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg used data on mines in 17 African countries, with the situation particularly serious in the western parts of the country. In Guinea, for example, more than 83 per cent of chimpanzees are threatened with extinction.

Mining companies need to focus on avoiding their impacts on great apes as much as possible and use offsetting as a last resort, as there is currently no example of a great ape offset that has been successful.

- Dr Genevieve Campbell from the International Union for Conservation of Nature, who is also a senior researcher at Re:wild