Scientists have compiled decades of data on animal species from an undersea plain in the middle of the Pacific. Bursting with life, it also represents a considerable financial windfall for the mining industry.
These environmentally destructive activities highlight the deep divide between economic and ecological interests in many sectors, even in 2023.
An untouched wild nature
The Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) extends over several thousand kilometers between the Hawaiian archipelago and the Mexican coast, at a depth of four kilometers. Due to its isolation, it is one of the most pristine places on the planet, and its biodiversity is nothing short of spectacular.
Researchers have identified 5,578 different species there, 92% of which are new to science. And, many more could still be discovered in the future. According to a study by Muriel Rabone, a deep-sea ecologist at the Natural History Museum in London, the majority of species present are crustaceans and prawns, followed by worms, sea urchins and sponges.
While habitats in this region have been observed for many years, research has intensified in recent times. Thanks in particular to new DNA sequencing techniques, but also to the multiplication of research expeditions. The latter, in particular, have been strongly encouraged by the mining industry.
Indeed, the CCZ is on the way to becoming one of the largest mining exploration regions in the world. It contains many precious metals such as copper, nickel, cobalt, iron, manganese and rare earths. If these elements are still essential to the operation of the device from which you are reading this article, their extraction, already harmful to the environment on the surface, represents a considerable danger for the seabed.
Thousands of endangered species
Despite everything, the mining industry has already filed numerous claims there, all under the aegis of the International Seabed Authority (AIFM), the intergovernmental body that governs its exploitation. This activity is set to intensify in the years to come, and this is what Muriel Rabone and her team seek to limit.
For them, ” many areas of the CCZ are largely unsampled, and this lack of data will contribute to an underestimation of the diversity of the region as a whole “. This could have a significant impact on the judgment of decision makers. Then they add: As mining operations may be imminent, the application of biodiversity data in environmental management, particularly the assessment of species extinction risk, is an essential consideration. “.
Environmental risks are diverse. While the seabed is very sensitive to physical disturbances caused by mining, the suspension of large quantities of sediment harms many organisms, even outside the areas concerned. In addition, another study published in Frontiers in Marine Science reveals that ” the sounds produced by such operations, including remotely operated vehicles on the seabed, overlap cetacean communication frequencies “. In summary, nothing very positive.
This latest study explains that disruptions, whatever their scale, are likely to be long-lasting and irreversible “. This could prompt the UN to intervene, since according to its Convention on the Law of the Sea, no ” serious damage » cannot be caused to the environment by mining activities. It is still necessary that this definition be well understood by all…
Source : Vice
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