Could expanding protected land undermine biodiversity?
Africa Is a Country | 01.04.2026 05:30
A decade ago, nearly two-thirds of the African continent’s natural world heritage sites—recognized by the United Nations as globally important for their biodiversity, ecological significance, and natural beauty—were identified as promising prospects for mining, oil, and gas exploration. In 2022, 196 countries committed to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, pledging to protect 30% of land and sea by 2030 to curb biodiversity loss. On the surface, mining and conservation seem at odds: one is premised on the destruction of the earth, the other on its preservation in an unaltered state.
