Can Responsible Mining and Conservation Go Hand in Hand?

As the race for Africa’s gold, cobalt, and other minerals intensifies, “responsible mining” is emerging as a litmus test for whether extraction can protect forests, water, and communities instead of destroying them. Ghana’s pit-to-cocoa projects and the DRC’s traceable cobalt hint at what is possible, but making this the norm will take stricter enforcement, real mine-reclamation budgets, and power in local hands.

Mining and conservation often seem at odds. Africa needs mineral wealth, but mining can harm forests, water and wildlife. In Ghana and the DRC, mining is a big part of the economy. Still, people worry it comes at the cost of nature and local communities. We’ll look at examples in Ghana and the DRC to see how policy, community action and business practice can tip the balance.

Ghana: Gold and Forests

Ghana relies heavily on gold mining. In 2024 gold made up over 57% of its export revenue. But much of Ghana’s gold comes from forested areas. In late 2022 the government passed a law that opened key forest reserves to mining. Environmental groups say this is dangerous. Ghana lost the equivalent of 30,000 football fields of forest in 2022 alone, and industrial mining was found to be the leading cause of forest loss from 2000–2019. Daryl Bosu of A Rocha Ghana called the new law “retrogressive” and said it ignores earlier promises to protect forests.

Some officials stress sustainability. Ghana’s Environment Minister has talked about “environmentally responsible mining” and using new tech to monitor mines. The government also launched a World Bank-backed project to clean up lands degraded by small-scale mining and promote better practices. And in 2017 Ghana even sent troops to crack down on illegal mining (called “Operation Vanguard”) and formed a committee on illegal mining. Critics say these steps targeted small-scale “galamsey” miners while letting bigger operations keep going. One social scientist said Ghana “wages war” on the “little fish” of artisanal miners but lets the “big fishes” operate freely.

On the ground, big open pits scar the land. Water often pools in these pits, turning yellow or muddy. The photo above shows a former gold pit near Kumasi with yellow water pooling at the bottom. Left unchecked, these pits can drain heavy metals and toxins into groundwater. In Ghana’s Apamprama Forest, one mine company cut through the reserve and over 20 years destroyed one-third of the trees. Local rivers there have run brown with pollution.

Not all companies leave a wasteland behind. Some plan for restoration from the start. For example, one Ghanaian gold mine consulted locals before closing. Community leaders chose to turn its old tailings pond into a cocoa farm and replant native trees. The mine hired local people to spread clean topsoil and plant native shrubs and cocoa seedlings on the site. Over time wildlife began to return there – birds, rodents and even antelope appeared on the rejuvenated land. These kinds of mine-closure plans show how business can help nature recover.

Communities have also fought back when mining threatens their land. In 2020, villagers and groups like A Rocha Ghana sued to stop bauxite mining in the Atewa Forest, a protected reserve. Atewa is home to 5 million people’s water supply and many endangered species. They argued mining would violate Ghanaians’ right to a clean and healthy environment. A local activist said it plainly: yes, bauxite mining could bring profit, “yet there is no need for mining to occur in the Atewa forest area. There are other, more profitable, locations across the country – where the impact will not devastate an entire ecosystem”.

Some local- and company-led projects try to keep mining and nature together. For instance, Ghana’s Minerals Commission is training miners in modern skills. They use drones to survey land so managers can spot illegal sites or pollution. And international groups are working in Ghana to phase out toxic mercury use in small-scale gold mining and to strengthen forest protection. These efforts aim to give miners safer jobs and keep forests standing.

DRC: Minerals and Communities

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is another example of big mining next to big forests. The picture above shows a road through the Ituri forest in northeastern DRC. The Congo Basin holds vast rainforests and is a major carbon sink for the planet. At the same time, the DRC is a world leader in minerals. It produces around 70% of the world’s cobalt and much of its copper. These metals are in high demand for batteries and electronics. Mineral exports make up roughly 90% of the DRC’s export earnings.

Mining is a lifeline for many Congolese, but it brings serious challenges. A lot of the mining is artisanal (small-scale) and informal. There are anywhere from 100,000 to 200,000 artisanal miners, often men working independently, with even more people depending on those mines for income. In these informal sites, health and safety are often poor, and environmental laws are rarely followed. For example, mining sites in forest parks have led to wildlife loss and water pollution. The IMPACT NGO notes that “as mining expands, local ecosystems such as plants, waterways, and whole forests are disrupted or destroyed”. In 2022 alone the DRC lost over half a million hectares of forest – about 13% of global deforestation that year.

Still, people see a way forward. At DRC Mining Week 2025, leaders emphasized that mining should help communities, not harm them. They said mining firms must plan so that towns near mines are better off even after a mine closes. Congo’s president and investors talked about policies to boost local jobs and protect the environment. Even European Union delegates met Congolese officials to discuss deeper cooperation on responsible mining – co-writing rules that would require hiring locals, ethical buying, and environmental safeguards. Some big companies are signing up for standards like the Copper Mark, which commits them to clean operations to keep buyers confident.

Community projects are also linking mining and conservation. For example, the Powering Resilience project in eastern DRC works with women-led mining co-ops. It teaches miners how to restore nearby forest and farmland that mining had damaged. It also passes on indigenous forest-care knowledge to adapt to climate change. This project was launched after experts pointed out that DRC’s forests are vital to fighting global warming, but are under threat from mining. They say, “Democratic Republic of Congo is key in the global fight against climate change – from its abundant reserves of critical minerals … to its wealth of forests”. Helping miners plant trees and protect water means communities can mine and also save carbon sinks.

On the business side, companies and associations are pushing for responsibility too. The Cobalt Institute, an industry group, lists things like paying fair taxes, hiring local staff, and investing in village schools as part of “responsible sourcing” in Congo’s mines. They note that large mines have the resources to make a real social impact. For example, modern mines build roads and clinics for local people, and must meet strict safety and environmental rules. Formal mines also must treat waste and tailings properly by law, something artisanal sites often can’t do safely.

For the artisanal miners themselves, experts say formalizing the sector is key. If small miners are organized into cooperatives or companies, they can be given equipment and training. Then simple laws on water use and safety can be enforced. The idea is to give them basic clinics, safe helmets, filters, and a way to dry their minerals without mercury. In short, these miners need infrastructure and clear rules. The Cobalt Institute emphasizes that formal ASM should include “the development of standards in line with basic human rights principles and environmental standards” – things like sanitation, healthcare and waste treatment.

The DRC government and donors are also working on things like regional certification. The Congo has the CIRAF tool for minerals risk assessment and supports traceability schemes so buyers know mining is ethical. In practice, this means a battery maker in Europe can ask a mine for proof of fair pay, no child labor, and reforestation efforts. These checks won’t solve everything, but they give big financial reasons for mines to do better.

Finding Balance

Neither Ghana nor the DRC has solved the tension between mining and conservation yet, but both show ways it might work. The examples above show it takes many actors. Governments must write and enforce rules. Companies must invest in their host communities and land reclamation. And communities themselves must be partners – sometimes even suing to protect sacred forests, other times working with mines on land-use plans.

Experts at a recent Congo mining summit put it straight: if mining is to earn trust, it has to leave a positive legacy. One executive asked: how can mines “leave communities better off decades after operations end”? That mindset means planning for schools, clinics, and forests now, not just profits. In Ghana, villagers took part in deciding that a mine’s waste pit would become a cocoa grove. In the DRC, local groups teach others how to plant trees that absorb carbon around mining areas.

So can responsible mining and conservation go hand in hand? The record is mixed. Bad mining can devastate land and lives. But with honest policy and practice, they can support each other. Good laws and enforcement, plus active community voices, can steer mining projects to benefit people and protect nature. As the regions’ stakeholders say, mining doesn’t have to be zero-sum. With effort, both a protected forest and a mine can exist on the same landscape – if everyone agrees to care for both.