Deforestation Caused By Bauxite Mining

Rationale – While forests are critically important to the environment and must be protected, they’re being rapidly destroyed due to the continuous extraction of bauxite through open cut mining. Bauxite is a sedimentary rock that is predominantly composed of impure aluminium hydroxides as well as a variety of other minerals (Donoghue, 2014). Bauxite is the main raw material used in the commercial production of aluminium; however, it’s one of the main causes of deforestation because it necessitates the complete removal of vegetation and topsoil. Deforestation is defined as the removal of forestland or trees on a massive scale without restoration. The open cut technique, which entails the extensive clearing of surrounding habitats with the use of numerous heavy machines and explosive substances, is primarily accountable for this environmental issue. Climate change, desertification, soil erosion, and rising levels of greenhouse gases are also the highly predictive consequences of this activity (Singhania, 2022). To minimise the negative impact on the environment, miners undertake the rehabilitation process to substitute the original forest with the remaining overburden from the initial site. This procedure covers the mined area; however, it doesn't restore the ecosystem or vegetation that flourished on the land previously. (Adams, 2019) The misconception always perceived around deforestation is that logging results in more extinction of the environment than mines, however more land has been cleared from bauxite mining than any other timber industry (Kruijff, 2022). Research Question: What is the relationship between bauxite mining and its effect on deforestation that's caused by the open cut procedure?