Pristine parts of northern Kachin State are under threat as demand grows for high-tech devices that rely on rare earth.

Main photo: The leaching ponds at a rare earth mining site in Kachin State, where toxic chemicals are applied to dissolve the metals. (PHOTO: Maran)

Kachin State’s Chipwi Township in northernmost Myanmar is known for its pristine forests and crystal-clear water.

• Critics of the Indonesian government’s plan to build a new capital city in the coal-mining heartland of East Kalimantan province have long warned about the abandoned mining pits dotting the landscape.
• The government has now acknowledged that these will be a problem: it says it has identified 2,415 of these pits at the site of the new city, covering a combined area of 29,000 hectares (71,700 acres).
• It also says it’s been working to rehabilitate these decommissioned mines since 2021 — a revelation that has raised concerns that the public is paying

• Critics of a government plantation scheme have slammed the program following revelations that only a fraction of forest reserves cleared for plantations over the past decade have actually been replanted.
• An investigation by environmental news site Macaranga found that only 5% of the 77,331 hectares (191,089 acres) of forest reserves cleared in Pahang state for plantations between 2012 and 2020 were replanted.
• A Pahang state opposition lawmaker has called the program a “cover-up” for a logging scheme, while an environmental activist has criticized

International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)  and the Land Portal are launching a new blog series on the governance of land-based investments in the Global South. The series will explore practical strategies and approaches adopted by rights defenders and others to address common challenges surrounding these investments.

Ecuador has elevated nature as a legal subject in its constitution - and still allows harmful copper mining. A young woman learns to fight back 

(AFP)

El gobierno hondureño de Xiomara Castro declaró al país "libre de minería a cielo abierto" y anunció la "cancelación" de las licencias, permisos y concesiones, hecho celebrado por ambientalistas y que pone en jaque a la industria.

"Se declara todo el territorio hondureño libre de minería a cielo abierto (...) y se procederá a la revisión, suspensión y cancelación de las licencias ambientales, permisos y concesiones", dijo el lunes en un comunicado la Secretaría de Energía, Recursos Naturales, Ambiente y Minas.

With over 1000 licenses issued across the country, a diverse range of mineral extraction operations are transforming Mongolia’s rural cultural landscape. The Gobi region is crowded with both mega mines and smaller-scale operations. The Gobi also has excellent conditions for renewable energy and is poised to be a site for significant investment in this industry.

• The Indonesian government has rejected a proposal made by a prominent university to reclassify oil palms as a forest crop.
• The proposal was ostensibly meant to resolve the problem of illegal plantations operating inside forest areas, and would have redefined plantations as forests, and new plantings as reforestation.
• The environment ministry says it has no plans to adopt such a plan because it has its own program, the social forestry scheme, to get local communities to switch from illegal oil palm plantations to more sustainable, and profitable,

After adapting to challenges of COVID-19, 2021 turned into a very busy and exciting year for the global WOLTS team.