Rainforests in the Amazon, Congo basin, and Southeast Asia are being pushed toward ecological collapse due to mounting demands for minerals, biofuels, and pulp, according to a new report by Profundo for Rainforest Foundation Norway. These fresh pressures compound existing threats from cattle ranching, monocrops, oil extraction, and logging.
The report highlights that mining's environmental footprint is far larger than previously estimated, owing to secondary impacts such as water pollution and infrastructure development. Between 10% and one-third of the world's forests are already affected, and this proportion is expected to rise. The authors stress an urgent need to reduce consumption of products from forest regions rather than simply adding new forms of extraction.
Cattle ranching, agriculture, and gold mining remain the biggest threats, all forecast to expand. Brazilian beef production is projected to increase by 10.2%, causing at least 57,000 square kilometres of deforestation by 2034. Open-pit gold mines already cover 1.9 million hectares in the Amazon, with deforestation linked to gold prices expected to add 375 square kilometres by 2028.
Fossil fuel extraction is also escalating. The Amazon is one of the fastest-growing frontiers for oil and gas, with nearly one-fifth of global reserves identified between 2022 and 2024 found there. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 52 new oil blocks covering 1.24 million square kilometres have been approved in the Cuvette Centrale peatlands, the world's largest terrestrial carbon sink.
Critical mineral mining for lithium, nickel, and cobalt—used in batteries for the clean energy transition—adds further pressure. Cumulative deforestation linked to electric vehicles could reach 4,700 square kilometres by 2050. Mines' environmental impacts can spread across a 50-kilometre radius due to contamination, disproportionately affecting Indigenous territories.
“The cumulative impacts of mining on forest areas have likely been significantly underestimated for many years,” said Veera Mo of Rainforest Foundation Norway. Ingrid Turgen added: “This compilation of pressures is affecting all three rainforest basins. If governments don’t act, places like the Amazon face a bleak scenario.”
