.

1. Management Strategies for ASM in
Protected Areas and Critical Ecosystems
worldwide
Based on research by the ASM-PACE Programme
By Cristina Villegas of Estelle Levin Ltd. and ASM-PACE
As part of the “Enhancing the Developmental Potential of
Artisanal and Small‐Scale Mining” Conference
The World Bank, June 7-8, 2012
www.estellelevin.com and www.asm-pace.org
19. Juni 12

2. Protected Areas
Protected areas are
increasingly vulnerable to
mineral rushes because of
the escalating price of
certain minerals (especially
gold) and because protected
areas are seen as virgin, and
un-mined.

3. Where does ASM take place & why is it a problem?
ASM-PACE
19. Juni 12
• ASM is occurring in or around 96 of 147 protected areas or critical
ecosystems are affected (and those were the ones identified in a desk-based
study)
• Of 36 countries studied, we found evidence in 32 countries of ASM actively
taking place in or adjacent to protected areas or “critical ecosystems”
• Affected sites include at least 7 natural World Heritage Sites and at least 12
WWF Priority Landscapes
• ASM is impacting all types of critical ecosystems, from artic landscapes
(Greenland) to tropical rainforests (Brazil and Gabon, among many others),
to coral reefs (Philippines) and more

4. Places
Countries subject to ASM
practices

5. ASM-PACE
19. Juni 12
Affected conservation sites
World Heritage Sites:
• Kahuzi-Biega National Park (DRC)
• Okapi Wildlife Reserve (DRC)
• Virunga National Park (DRC)
• Garamba National Park (DRC)
• Salonga National Park (DRC)
• Lorentz National Park (Indonesia)
• Niokolo-Koba National Park
(Senegal)
Possibly threatened WHS (more
information needed):
• Manú National Park (Peru)
• Serengeti National Park (Tanzania)
• Selous Game Reserve (Tanzania)
WWF Priority Places/ Ecoregions:
• Amazon-Guianas
• African Rift Lakes Region
• Borneo (Indonesian)
• Cerrado-Pantanal
• Choco-Darien
• Congo Basin
• Coral Triangle
• Madagascar
• Mekong Complex
• Namib-Karoo-Kaokoveld
• New Guinea & offshore islands
• Orinoco River & Flooded forests
Possibly threatened (more info needed):
• Yangtze Basin
ASM-PACEASM-PACE

6. The Environmental
Challenge
Artisanal diamond mining in
DRC

7. Key motivations for ASM
ASM-PACE
19. Juni 12
What does ASM brings to people:
• Job creation
• Income
• Positive economic effects on local communities
• Dignity
• Food security
• Education

8. Key motivations for ASM to be done in protected
areas and critical ecosystems
ASM-PACE
19. Juni 12
• Protected areas are virgin areas; they have not yet been mined
• There is no need to have a legal license to work in a protected area. If it is
unguarded it is free money
• Industrial mine development pushes artisanal miners from traditional areas
and into more remote locations or nearby protected areas.
• Lack of legitimacy of park borders amongst the local population (e.g.
Suriname and Liberia)
ASM-PACE

9. Management Strategies
ASM-PACE
19. Juni 12
1. Eviction
- Most common used ‘strategy’
- Key risks, best and worst practice
2. Negotiated Access
- Example & key risks
3. Multi-stakeholder supply chain initiatives
- Example & key risk
4. Certification initiatives
- Replicable in weak states?
5. Alternative Livelihood Programmes
- Key risks
6. Selected de-gazettement or “Mining mindful” conservation planning
- Example & key risks
7. Conversion to protected area status
ASM-PACE

10. Thank you
cristina@estellelevin.com
estelle@estelleleving.com
www.estellelevin.com
www.asm-pace.org
ASM-PACE
19. Juni 1219. Juni 12

11. Generous leadership funders of the ASM-PACE
programme:
• The Tiffany & Co. Foundation
• World Bank’s Programme on Forests (PROFOR)
• WWF Netherlands
• WWF USA
• WWF DRC
• WWF Madagascar
• Africa Biodiversity and Conservation Group (ABCG/
BATS) – a USAID-funded initiative
• WWF’s Central Africa Regional Programme Office
(WWF CARPO)
19. Juni 12

12. Dry season terracing by
artisanal gold miners in
Minkebe National Park, Gabon

13. The effects of artisanal mining
in Brownsberg Nature Park,
Suriname