Safeguarding biodiversity from critical mineral mining in China

Rapid advancements in clean energy technologies have spurred a significant surge in China’s demand for critical minerals. However, developing clean-energy-critical minerals (CECMs) increasingly threatens China’s biodiversity. This study conducts a comprehensive spatial analysis of the impacts of CECMs and fossil energy minerals (FEMs) on China’s protected areas (PAs). We found that the impacts of CECMs are exceeding those of FEMs. Within the boundaries of PAs, we identified 1,338 developed mining ore fields, with an additional 618 earmarked for potential mining activities. Approximately 6,307 km2 of PAs directly overlap with ore fields, and 167,551 km2 are indirectly impacted by energy mining activities. Our findings suggest that imposing strict mining restrictions in PAs could mitigate 67% of the mining threat. This study underscores the urgent necessity for proactive conservation strategies to safeguard China’s PAs from the escalating risks posed by the expansion of clean energy technology. •Mining activities in China pose significant threats to its protected areas•The threats from clean-energy-critical minerals surpass those of fossil energy minerals•Restricting mining in protected areas can reduce over 60% of threats•An integrated strategy is suggested to balance energy transition and conservation This research uncovers the conflict between China’s development of critical minerals for its energy transition and biodiversity conservation within its protected areas (PAs). The energy transition is urgent to address climate change. However, the transition will increase demand for critical minerals, potentially exacerbating biodiversity loss. This study analyzed the spatial overlap between critical minerals, traditional energy minerals, and PAs based on China's mineral database to investigate this issue. The results indicate that mining activities already threaten China's PAs and that the future extraction of critical minerals will present a greater threat than traditional energy minerals. This study highlights that by implementing more rigorous restrictions, we estimate that mining-related threats could be reduced by 67%. There is an urgent need for suitable mining regulations within PAs to protect key ecosystems. Meanwhile, an integrated strategy combining dynamic monitoring, flexible policies, and multi-stakeholder collaboration is needed to achieve long-term conservation and socioeconomic balance within and outside PAs. In the long term, these insights c