Projects
EDITOR
Environmental hazards associated with mining activities in the tropics: a holistic risk approach from Eastern DR Congo
EDITOR aims to address the issue of environmental changes related to increased mining activities driven by global demand for metals, notably in the context of global climate change commitments and implementation of ‘green’ technologies, and mining-related social impacts, such as rapid demographic increase and land use changes, which so far remain either understudied or possibly underestimated in the targeted region (eastern DR Congo). In the perspective of sustainable exploitation of critical metals to cope with their exponential use, this approach is fundamental to effectively consider the interests and priorities of the populations and countries concerned.
The Specific Objectives of the project are:
SO-1: To detect, in space and time, mining induced environmental changes (MIEC)
SO-2: To analyze and characterize the detected MIEC at the local scale
SO-3: To assess the regional trend in MIEC using a machine learning approach
SO-4: To characterize the spatio-temporal variability of the population exposure and vulnerability to MIEC
The targeted area is the eastern part of DRC, known for its concentration of geological resources, particularly critical minerals such as cobalt, copper, tin, coltan and gold. This region is characterized by a high density of different types of mining sites, involving a large population that is directly or indirectly dependent on mining for income, as well as directly or indirectly affected by its environmental and social consequences.
Principal investigator:
Dates:
2023 2029Museum staff:
External collaborators:
Murielle Kirkove, Dominique Derauw, Anne OrbanUniversité de Liège (ULiège) – Centre Spatial de Liège (CSL)
Sara Geenen
Universiteit Antwerpen - Institute of Development Policy (UA)
Harald van der Werff
University of Twente - Faculty Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC)