Involving the Public - Mining and the Environment: From Ore to Metal - page 149

accurate assessment of people living in the area and of current land use, an assessment
that needs to be well-documented and best witnessed by local community members (see
Chapter Eighteen).

NGOs and Mining

Because of the massive and highly visible impacts large mining projects have on both the
physical and human environment around a mine site, mining projects are an easy tar-
get for environmentalists and community development NGOs. Photographs of defor-
ested landscapes, and videos of poor village people who somehow got lost in the shufl e
make for excellent copy in both national and international media, while the whole story
of carefully planned community development programmes, not to mention massive eco-
nomic benei ts to the host country gets completely overlooked in the rush to publish. Some
national NGOs, sometimes with funding and other support from international NGOs,
have used the obvious, and acknowledged, impacts from mining to mount effective anti-
mining campaigns locally and internationally. Given the reach of the Internet, and the skill
that some anti-mining organizations have acquired in using it, international campaigns to
block or signii cantly modify major mining enterprises can be quite successful in slowing
project development, adding costs through delays and litigation.
On the other hand, NGO involvement can be productive. NGOs often combine strong
social commitment with sound knowledge of their areas of interest. Local NGOs tend
to have a genuine interest in local development, and companies have much to gain from
working in partnership with these not-for-proi t organizations in spurring development.
Such partnerships can arise in the context of a company's philanthropic activities, or as a
part of its core business operations. The motivation for and method of collaboration may
differ, but it is grounded in the fact that the private sector and development organizations
have many long-term goals in common: both have an interest in a stable society; both want
to foster income-generating activities and build the capacity of local entrepreneurs; both
want to ensure that people are healthy and educated. These shared goals can provide a
basis for partnership (WBCSD and IBLF 2004).
Among the wide variety of roles that NGOs play, the following nine can be identii ed
as important, at the risk of generalization, although no one organization performs all of
them (Cousin 1991; OECD 1999):
●

Mining projects are an easy
target for environmentalists and
community development NGOs.

Local NGOs tend to have
a genuine interest in local
development, and companies
have much to gain from working
in partnership with these not-for-
profi t organizations in spurring
development.

Provision of expertise - NGOs can contribute to specii c aspects in environmental
assessments;

●

Training - competent NGOs can be involved in training for government, the private
sector and the general public;

●

Community links - one of the reasons given for the growing involvement of NGOs
in environmental assessment is related to the fact that environmental assessment is the
only environmental management tool accepted around the world that carries an obli-
gation to consult with local people. NGOs have been instrumental in achieving such
'grass roots' consultation links.

●

Education and awareness - either directly, or through their networks, NGOs are able
to reach a wide spectrum of the public on environmental issues;

●

Sensitizing private sector and politicians - NGOs may be in a unique position to sway
development decisions through publicizing environmental issues;

●

Advocacy for and with the poor - in some cases, NGOs become spokespersons for the
poor and attempt to inl uence government policies or private sector developments on
their behalf. This may be done through a variety of means ranging from demonstration