Environmental & Health Impacts of Mining on Surrounding Communities of Surigao Del Norte

Background of the Study INTRODUCTION To achieve rapid economic development, many countries resort to various activities to use and take advantage of natural resources. One of such activities is mining. Thus, mining became an important activity which has potential for the contribution of development of areas enriched with resources. Having visited Surigao Del Norte once a month starting February until August of this year, I was deeply frustrated by the negative impact of mining in the province. I saw how communities affected by mining. I heard how indigenous people had been shifted off their lands to make way for mining and how their consultation rights had been ignored. I saw polluted rivers, destroyed mangrove forests, damaged coral and ruined agriculture. I concluded that Surigao del Norte is in danger of losing much of its rich biodiversity and damaging the lives of unique indigenous cultures. Surigao Del Norte is a province of the Philippines located in Caraga Region in Mindanao. It has a population of almost 450,000 lines between the different groups which cannot be accurately distinguished. It has an area of 2,740 square kilometers. It embraces within its domain 27 municipalities and a component city. Mangrove is the major theme in the coastal areas of the province. It has also many caves and tunnels in its islands. The ironwood forests of the province are one of the watersheds most productive resources. By its nature, it is growing and adapted to a mineralized soil. So it should be carefully managed for sustained productivity. Its biggest islands are usually mountainous and rich in minerals. Its islands have one of the world's largest deposit of nickel and chromite. The smaller ones either rest on sand and gravel or have a limestone base bonded by boulders ( large rounded mass of rock lying on the surface of the ground or embedded in the soil ), reefs, and sandbars. There are also springs, lagoons, caves, waterfalls, mangroves, marshes and