Nauru, the world’s smallest republic with 21 sq. kilometers of land, is a phosphate rock island with rich deposits near the surface that allows easy strip mining operations. Nauruans enjoyed strip mining for a century as it made them among the richest people in the world. Billions of dollars worth of phosphates had been exported. The damage to their environment due to mining was so severe. The rehabilitation of the devastated land and the replacement of income from phosphate are serious long-term problems.
Since 2000, Nauru’s economy has relied largely on payments for fishing rights within its exclusive economic zone and the detention center camps for asylum seekers to Australia, which held Afghan, Burmese, and Sri Lankan refugees. The government-owned mining company, the Republic of Nauru Phosphate Company, or RONPhos, initiated the mining of subsurface secondary reserves of phosphate in late 2009, along with a new rehabilitation program for mined-out land. The rehabilitation program includes the development of a new national cemetery, a nursery for developing native flora for the reforestation of the island, a catchment area for a freshwater reservoir and a conservation area.
The Nauru’s example is a warning for the Philippines. The Philippines is the fifth most mineral-rich country in the world for gold, nickel, copper, and chromite. It is home to the largest copper-gold deposit in the world. The Mines and Geosciences Bureau has estimated that the country has an estimated $840 billion worth of untapped mineral wealth. And all the regions (except NCR and ARMM) in the country allow mining operations.
Even without our resources being exhausted, we have already seen the effects of mining in the country. Mining has said to be the reason of devastation in Compostela Valley during the typhoon Pablo. Hundreds of people died and hectares of banana plantation were destroyed. We must be aware that the resources we have now may be exhausted also like those of Nauru’s if we do not make an action about it. As we benefit from our environment, we should also think of ways on how to conserve.