Mining’s Impact on Philippine Biodiversity

The Philippines, a country renowned for its extraordinary biodiversity, finds itself at a difficult crossroads. A fifth of the nation’s land mass is currently covered by mining tenements, a figure that underscores the government’s ambition to become a leading exporter of transition minerals like nickel, cobalt, and copper. This push for resource extraction, however, places immense pressure on the very ecosystems that make the archipelago a global conservation priority.

These numbers are not abstract. A quarter of the land used for critical minerals mining clashes with protected areas and key biodiversity zones, while simultaneously overlapping with Indigenous territories. The tension between economic development and environmental preservation is most visible in places like Palawan, often called the country’s “last ecological frontier,” where the push for nickel—a mineral essential for electric vehicle batteries—directly threatens some of the planet’s most precious ecosystems. For a deeper look at how industrial activity reshapes local environments, you can read about the unseen price of industrial growth in the Philippines.

What the Mining Boom Means for Ecosystems and Communities

The core issue is straightforward: the minerals needed for the global clean energy transition—nickel, copper, cobalt—are often found in the most biodiverse and culturally significant areas. The Philippines is the world’s second largest producer of nickel, and demand for it is expected to increase seven-fold by 2040. This creates a direct conflict between global climate goals and local environmental and human rights realities. The term transition minerals refers to the raw materials, like nickel and lithium, that are essential for manufacturing batteries, solar panels, and other clean energy technologies.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has worked to position the country as a leading exporter of these minerals, following the lifting of a nine-year moratorium on open-pit mining by his predecessor. This policy shift has accelerated the pace of extraction, often with profound consequences for local communities who have lived on and stewarded these lands for generations. The situation in Palawan illustrates the trade-offs involved, as explored in coverage of community solutions to combat coastal water pollution.

Palawan: A Case Study in the Cost of Extraction

Palawan’s ecological significance is difficult to overstate. Environmental groups estimate it may hold close to half of all the Philippines’ remaining untouched, old-growth forest, as well as 30% of its remaining mangroves and up to 40% of its coral reefs. Yet from 2001 to 2024, the province lost 219,000 hectares of tree cover—more than any other province—in part due to mining, according to Global Forest Watch.

The Ipilan mine on Mt. Mantalingahan, one of the island’s protected areas, is a telling example. In 2015, Global Ferronickel Holdings bought the rights to a huge nickel laterite deposit on the mountain. Laterite deposits account for about 70% of the world’s reserves of nickel, a mineral now in high demand for battery manufacturing. The mine is one of 11 active projects on Palawan that were exempted from a 2025 moratorium on mining expansion.

The impact on livelihoods is stark. Fishermen like Masap noticed fish disappearing from the bay about four years ago—shortly after the mine expanded and shipped out its first 50,000 tonnes of nickel ore to China. Once, a good day would bring in 40kg of fish. Now, their catch is often as little as 7kg. Meanwhile, residents like Tambiling and his family get painful, itchy rashes after contact with the silt, and his nieces and nephews have developed long-term coughs since a stockpile was built nearby. The mining company has stated that laterite is not considered toxic and is not the cause of losses for farmers or fishermen, though experts note that when processed or washed into waterways, it can release nickel and chromium.

What Gets Missed in the Clean Energy Narrative

The global push for clean energy often presents a simplified story: mining for transition minerals is a necessary evil to combat climate change. But the reality on the ground is far more complicated. Several critical nuances are frequently overlooked.

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The Scale of New Mines Required

According to modelling, using clean energy to limit global heating to 1.5°C above preindustrial levels would require almost 300 new mines by 2030, extracting minerals with a market value of close to $800 billion by 2040. This staggering number means the pressure on biodiversity hotspots will only intensify. Analysis produced for the Guardian by academics found more than 3,267 instances of mining within key biodiversity areas globally, accounting for nearly 5% of the sector’s total footprint.

The Human Rights Dimension

Since 2012, the Philippines has been ranked as the deadliest country in Asia for people protecting land and the environment, with mining linked to a third of all killings documented by Global Witness. The military was linked to the highest number of documented killings and detentions over the past decade, with 134 of the 298 killings from 2012 to 2023—just under 45%—carried out by the military. In 2023 alone, the military was responsible for 15 out of 17 defender killings. The four deadliest regions for Indigenous mining activists were all on the island of Mindanao, which also ranked among the top five regions with the biggest overlap between mining tenements and ancestral domains. Global Witness also recorded seven defender disappearances in 2023, with most abductions reportedly happening in heavily militarised areas. This context is essential for understanding the local actions tackling pollution in the Philippines and the risks involved.

The Royalty Gap

Despite laws requiring mining companies to share profits with Indigenous communities, the reality often falls short. “There are Indigenous peoples who have not received any royalties for the past 10 years,” said Rosento, a local advocate. In one case, a community leader named Coria, who can neither read nor write, said he must sign a document each year when accepting what he is told is his share of Rio Tuba profits. “We get about four kilos of rice from the community leader, who tells us it came from the company,” he said. A one-time compensation offer of 120,000 pesos ($2,150) was described as insulting by another affected resident.

What Can Be Done: Policy, Advocacy, and Informed Choices

While the challenges are significant, there are concrete actions that policymakers, companies, and individuals can take to address the impact of mining on Philippine biodiversity. The situation is not without potential solutions, though each comes with its own trade-offs.

Strengthening and Enforcing Moratoriums

In March 2025, Palawan’s governing council unanimously passed a 50-year moratorium on any new mining permits. Environmental rights lawyer Grizelda Mayo-Anda said the moratorium could stop nearly 70 proposed projects spanning 240,000 hectares. However, existing mines like the Rio Tuba nickel mine in Bataraza—the country’s oldest—are expanding, having secured permission before the moratorium. The key lesson here is that moratoriums must be paired with strong enforcement and no exemptions for existing operations. A recent Supreme Court decision that struck down a mining ban in Occidental Mindoro province shows that legal challenges can undermine even well-intentioned local policies.

Holding Companies Accountable for Rehabilitation

Under Philippine law, mining companies are required to rehabilitate areas they disturb. Baylon, a company representative, stated that “under the law, for every tree you cut, you have to plant 100.” In practice, however, the effectiveness of these programs varies widely. Communities and local governments can push for transparent reporting on tree-planting and rehabilitation efforts, and demand independent audits. The process involves filing requests for information with the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and engaging with local legislative bodies to monitor compliance.

Supporting Indigenous Land Rights

A fifth of the Philippines’ Indigenous land is covered by mining and exploration permits. Strengthening the legal recognition of ancestral domains and ensuring that Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) is genuinely obtained—not merely a procedural checkbox—is critical. Communities can seek assistance from organisations like the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center (LRC) or the Alternative Law Groups (ALG) to navigate the FPIC process and challenge permits that were issued without proper consent.

Demanding Transparency in Supply Chains

Consumers and companies that use nickel in batteries and electronics can push for supply chain transparency. This means asking manufacturers to disclose where their minerals come from and whether they were sourced without human rights abuses or environmental destruction. Certification schemes and due diligence laws, such as the EU’s Conflict Minerals Regulation, provide frameworks for this, though their coverage of nickel is still evolving. For a broader perspective on how industrial activity affects the environment, consider the path from power plants to ocean pollution.

Frequently Asked Questions

Moving Forward with Clear Eyes

The clean energy transition is necessary, but it cannot come at the cost of the world’s most biodiverse ecosystems and the rights of the people who protect them. The Philippines’ experience with nickel mining offers a cautionary tale: without strong governance, genuine community consent, and supply chain accountability, the pursuit of green minerals can leave a trail of environmental destruction and human rights violations. The choice is not between mining and conservation—it is between doing it responsibly or not at all. If this was useful, you might also want to read how communities are reviving Philippine waterways.

Sources

Battling plastic pollution in the Philippines — A look at another major environmental challenge and the grassroots efforts to address it.

Manila’s air quality declared unhealthy on New Year’s Day — An examination of air pollution sources and their health impacts in urban areas.

Rush for critical minerals in Philippines threatens Indigenous communities and biodiversity. Global Witness, 2024.

Clean energy demands put Philippines’ island of Palawan in the crosshairs of nickel mining. The Guardian, 2026.

Philippines biodiversity hotspot pushes back against mining. Philstar Global, 2025.