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October 22, 2024 | 01:12 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A new report has unveiled alarming findings about the dangers of extractive industries to some of the world's most important ecosystems. The research, published by Earth Insight, underscores the urgent need to protect key biodiversity areas (KBAs), high-integrity forests, Indigenous Territories, and protected zones in regions like the Amazon Basin, Congo Basin, and Southeast Asia from industrial expansion, the group said in a written statement on Tuesday, October 22.
Titled "Closing Window of Opportunity: Mapping Threats from Oil, Gas, and Mining to Important Areas for Conservation in the Pantropics", the report reveals a significant overlap between these regions and areas slated for oil, gas, and mining extraction.
Key findings from the report show that industrial concessions threaten more than 500 KBAs and 180 million hectares of high-integrity forests across the Amazon, Congo, and Southeast Asia regions. Additionally, over 30 million hectares of Indigenous territories in the Amazon overlap with oil, gas, and mining concessions.
The findings highlight an escalating crisis not only for the environment but also for Indigenous communities, whose millennia-old stewardship of these lands is being undermined by these industries.
“We are at a crossroads,” said Tyson Miller, Executive Director of Earth Insight. “We must act now to safeguard the natural systems that sustain life, or we risk irreversible damage.”
The report calls for urgent global action, including expanding protected areas, respecting Indigenous sovereignty, and increasing funding for nature conservation. With the pantropics serving as critical carbon sinks that help regulate the global climate, the report warns that time is running out to prevent irreparable harm to biodiversity and Indigenous peoples' livelihoods.
The report stresses that global conservation commitments must be matched by real action to halt industrial-scale exploitation and protect these fragile ecosystems.
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