Highlights on a UNESCO/Sida project to assess the environmental and health challenges of mining activities in Sub-Saharan Africa

Mining is an important pillar of economic growth of many African countries. However, problems arising from this activity pose serious challenges, which most of these countries have difficulties to address properly because of poor environmental governance as highlighted in the Africa Mining Vision. Many African countries also lack a precise inventory and assessment of environmental impacts of abandoned and derelict mines. As a consequence, there is an urgent need to evaluate the true extent of the detrimental effects of metal and metalloid pollutants and their impact on human and animal health, as well as on ecosystems. Between 2013 and 2017 and thanks to a Partnership Programme between UNESCO and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), a network of over 100 Earth scientists from 29 Africa assessed the impacts of mining activities in sub-Saharan Africa. The project intended to provide crucial scientific knowledge that will contribute to understanding the factors that control cycling of pollutants from mine sites (abandoned or active) to soils, water and vegetation and the impact on the food chain. We anticipate that the results of the project will be used to improve the environmental norms in individual countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and the efficiency of governments in addressing the challenges related to the adverse effects of mining activities. The preliminary results of the project have recently been published as a Special Issue in the Journal of Geochemical Exploration. During the presentation, we intend to highlight few examples where mining activities alone or in interaction geological background are contributing to threat the ecosystem and health of neighbouring communities. We will also draw the lessons learnt from the implementation of this continental-scale project.