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Impacts of artisanal gold mining systems on soil and woody vegetation in the
semi-arid environment of northern Ethiopia

Article in Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography · July 2017

DOI: 10.1111/sjtg.12203

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 doi:10.1111/sjtg.12203

Impacts of artisanal gold mining systems on

soil and woody vegetation in the semi-arid
environment of northern Ethiopia
Hailemariam Meaza,1,2 Mushir Ali,1 Zbelo Tesfamariam1,2 and
Niguse Abebe3
1
Geography and Environmental Studies, Mekelle University, Ethiopia
2
Department of Geography, Universteit Gent, Belgium
3
School of Civil Engineering, Mekelle University, Ethiopia

Correspondence: Hailemariam Meaza (email: hiwothailat@gmail.com)

Gold mining is a tremendously important economic activity in rural districts of Ethiopia. We assessed
the impacts of artisanal gold mining on soil and woody vegetation in northern Ethiopia. Estimation of
soil loss, plant inventory, group discussions and transect studies were used to address the research
questions. We employed t-test to compare woody species and soil loss between mined and unmined
sites. Moreover, we ran one-way ANOVA to compare the average volume of soil loss among the
mining sites. The study shows that gold mining removed colossal volumes of soil from the mining
landscape with a significant difference among gold mining sites (P ≤ 0.05). Soil loss between the
mined and unmined sites was also significant (P ≤ 0.05). Moreover, gold mining destroyed massive
tracts of vegetation. Woody species encountered at plot level decreased from artisanal gold mined
to unmined sites (P ≤ 0.05). Moreover, dead trees and exposed tree roots were higher in mined than
the unmined areas (P ≤ 0.05). This discouraged regeneration and recruitment of woody vegetation.
To conclude, gold mining system converted vegetated sites and farmlands into dysfunctional
landscape. Therefore, we suggest that combined rehabilitation efforts are required to overcome the
challenges of artisanal gold mining on sustainable land management in northern Ethiopia.

Keywords: artisanal gold mining, devegetation, gold pit, northern Ethiopia, poverty, soil loss

Accepted: 17 December 2016.

Introduction

Gold mining has been an important source of livelihood for rural communities throughout
the world (Hinton et al., 2003; Mudd, 2007; Phillipson, 2006). The ‘get-rich-quick’
principle resulted in getting 15 million individuals involved in gold mining (Ferring et al.,
2015; Seccatore et al., 2014). Artisanal gold extraction has been an integral part of the
economy for many developing countries (Nana & Jeff, 2016). Artisanal gold mining is a
poverty driven activity practised in the most remote rural areas of the countries in Africa
and Asia (Seccatore et al., 2014). In the leading gold producing South Africa and
Ghana, artisanal gold mining has brought economic success stories on booming national
income (Phillipson, 2006). Similarly, in Tanzania, small-scale gold mining is perceived
as a ‘ladder that sends people to wealth’ (Fisher et al., 2009). As a result, artisanal
gold mining becomes a livelihood diversification strategy in third world countries
(Hilson, 2016).
Gold occurrences are widespread in Ethiopia and exploitation of placer gold dates back
at least 3500 years (Phillipson, 2006). Notably, gold potential sites are confined to
Precambrian basement rocks known as Northern, Western, and Southern Greenstone Belts
in Ethiopia (Figure 1A). These greenstone belts have a large potential for any scale of gold

Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography 38 (2017) 386–401

© 2017 Department of Geography, National University of Singapore and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd
Artisanal gold mining and land resources 387

Figure 1. Location of the gold rich green belts of Ethiopia (A) and map of the actual study tabias indicated by
green colors (B) which are part of the northern green belts. Tabias are local administrative divisions below
districts (Meaza et al. 2016).
Source: MoM, 2012; Authors’ analysis.

mining. Secondary enriched (placer) gold has long been mined in the country. Thus,
artesian gold mining has become an attractive economic activity since the last 2500 years
(Jelenc, 1966; Tadesse et al., 2003). Notably, in the last 30 years, artisanal gold mining
has become an important source of livelihood for the rural poor (Phillipson, 2006).
Consequently, about 1.2 million unemployed people engaged in artisanal gold mining.
Based on past and present facts, small-scale gold mining activity is projected to grow
rapidly due to soaring gold prices, land shortage, population growth and poverty
(Soulard et al., 2015).
However, artisanal gold mining brought acute environmental troubles (Aryee et al.,
2003; Hilson & Nyame, 2006; Adeoye, 2015). The trend of environmental hitches
associated with artisanal gold mining has become more dangerous in Sub-Sahara
Africa (Hilson, 2002). In this regard, artisanal gold mining has long been an
environmentally destructive activity in Ghana, Tanzania, and Mozambique (Hilson &
Van Der Vorst, 2002). It creates environmental stresses such as increasing sheet erosion,
rill erosion, and gully erosion (Ferring et al., 2015; Maponga & Ngorima, 2003). Similarly,
these erosion forms have increased in Zimbabwe (Frost, 2013) and Tanzania (Kitula,
2006; Mwakaje, 2012) because of low technical operations and absence of land
rehabilitation at the abandoned gold mining sites. The physical effects of artisanal gold
mining system could degrade fundamental soil properties (Kuma, 2007).
Artesian gold mining threatens the severely depleted status of vegetation resources
across the tropical countries (Alvarez-Berríos & Aide, 2015). In this regard, enormous
clearance of vegetation resulted in the loss of biodiversity and genetic resources (Calle
et al., 2013). Similarly, another study showed that greater area of vegetation cover in
the mined areas lost their properties (Heemskerk, 2002). Notably, the species richness
of keystone tree and shrub species declined over time (Alvarez-Berríos & Aide,
2015). In the same vein, Peterson and Heemskerk (2002) found that deforestation
following artisanal gold mining disrupted the arrangement of vegetation over space
scale.
388 Hailemariam Meaza, Mushir Ali, Zbelo Tesfamariam et al.

Artisanal gold mining affects hydrology at the artisanal gold mining areas in Africa
(Bjerklie & Laperriere, 1985). In Ghana, 40 per cent of the groundwater resources have
been destroyed by artisanal mining operations (Kuma, 2007). Congruently, Mudd
(2007) reported that artisanal gold mining disrupted the quality of surface water. This
indicates that artesian gold mining deteriorates surface and groundwater that risks
livelihoods of marginal farmers in the downstream areas (Getaneh & Alemayehu, 2006).
Artisanal gold mining lead to land cover and land use change in developing countries
(Schueler et al., 2011). In this regard, Kumah (2006) added that artisanal gold mining on
farmlands increased conflicts between agrarians and artisanal gold miners. To this effect,
unplanned gold mining systems marginalize the livelihood foundations of local farmers
(Hilson, 2016). The economic activity converts forest and shrub areas into grazing areas
(Schueler et al., 2011).
We have limited studies about the socioeconomics benefits of small-scale gold mining
in Ethiopia. In this regard, Meaza et al. (2015) inferred that traditional gold mining has
positive and adverse effects on livelihoods of local communities, landless youths and
migrants. Apart from unpublished government reports, the availability of information
required to understand the effects of artisanal gold mining operations on the state of
natural resources is fragmented. Though recent studies elsewhere in the world show that
artisanal gold mining threatens sustainable rural development (Adeoye, 2015; Frost,
2013; Hilson & Nyame, 2006; Niane et al., 2014), it has been given less attention in
Ethiopia.
Knowledge about the environmental impacts of artisanal gold mining is inadequate
in northern Ethiopia. Importantly, data on the impacts of artisanal gold mining on the
state of natural resources remain scarce in the region. This lack of knowledge on the state
of natural resources could affect sustainable use of natural resources. Comprehensive
scientific knowledge about the functional relationship between artisanal gold mining
and land resources is required to reduce consequences of artisanal gold mining activities.
This, in turn, helps planners to design improved gold mining policies and strategies to
enhance sustainable development. Therefore, we investigated the impacts of artisanal
gold mining on soil and vegetation structure and composition in northern Ethiopia. To
address the main objective of the study, we asked the following research questions:
• Does traditional gold mining increase soil erosion in the study area?
• What is the status of woody vegetation across mined and unmined areas?
• What interventions are required to mitigate the negative impacts of gold mining?

Methods and materials

Environmental setting of the study area

The study was conducted in Asgede Tsimbla district, Northern limit of Ethiopia (Figure 1).
The area lies between 37032’ to 38012’ E and 13048’ to 14012’ N. The average annual
rainfall is about 550–900 mm, and the mean maximum temperature ranges between
20 °C and 35 °C. The study area is characterized by rugged topography with steep ridges
and deep gorges. Elevation of the study area ranges from 1210 to 1057 metres above sea
level (m.a.s.l) (Table 1).
The study area is part of the active gold mining territory in the Northern Greenstone
Belt (Figure 1A). Gold occurrences are widespread throughout the study area. The
potential gold area comprises of low grade volcanic, sedimentary rocks, and associated
intrusive rock. Part of this, we consider to be 58.6 ha gold mining area comprising of
hillsides, farmlands, river banks and forest (Table 1).
Artisanal gold mining and land resources 389

Table 1. Topographic characteristics of the study areas: elevation (m.a.s.l), the area of mining site
(ha), the number of sampled open gold pits (Pits).

Sites UTM Elevation (m.a.s.l) Area (ha) Pits

Edaga Hibret 339836 1554790 1210 14.5 20

Hitsats 388173 1561311 1062 15.7 20
May Siye 388541 1561307 1057 14.6 20
Adi Mohameday 374085 1559128 1071 13.8 20

Source: Authors’ analysis

Artisanal gold mining has long been practised in a disorganized manner since the
Axum civilization, before three Millennium. Conceptually, artisanal gold mining is gold
mining carried out by individuals, families, and cooperatives working with no
mechanization to excavate and process gold (Hirons, 2011). Motivated by the gold rush,
many migrants, landless youths, and local community flocked across the landscapes to
feed their growing families. Artisanal gold mining is the most direct source of income.
Markedly, it is an attractive source of revenue to sustain the livelihoods of landless
farmers (Meaza et al., 2015).

Methods

Sample size and sampling procedure. The Regional, Zonal and District Bureau of Energy and
Mines were first visited to get practical knowledge about the potential gold areas in the
Northern Greenstone belts (Figure 1A). Asgede Tsimbla was selected as (i) the district
accommodates large concentration of jobless youths (80 000 miners in 2012), (ii) it
has 217 mining sites and (iii) gold has been mined in a disorganized manner (Meaza
et al., 2015). Four mining sites were randomly selected for this study (Table 1).
We selected gold pits (n = 80) randomly to estimate soil loss (Table 1). To obtain insights
about soil loss between mined and unmined sites, 10 sample plots were also selected from
each treatment. Moreover, we selected sample plots from mined (n = 40) and unmined
(n = 40) sites to assess the parameter of woody vegetation species. These sample plots were
randomly located across the gold mining sites. We purposively selected local farmers,
artisanal gold miners and key informants to collect qualitative data for this study.

Data collection tools. The study area comprises of remote and inaccessible landscape for
researchers. To measure the volume of soil lost by artisanal gold mining pits, gold pits
(underground excavation of soil to get gold) were considered (n = 80). In this study, a gold
pit refers to the wells/holes created by artisanal gold miners. The width, length, and depth
of the gold pits were measured using metric tape (Figure 2C). The gold pits with any shape
were measured at the upper, medium, and lower parts to estimate the volume of soil loss.
We noted that some soil was piled in heaps near the gold pits. However, these
sediments were subjected to outwash by the runoff after rainstorm leading to debris flow
to riverbanks. Thus, we assumed that all soils excavated from the pits were lost to
downstream flow (Figure 3). Gold miners took soils from the open surface to rivers for
gold panning, and this exposed the landscape to water erosion (Figure 2D).
Consequently, the land was excessively outcropped. Thus, we calculated soil loss by
measuring the approximate dimensions of cavities notably soil pipes and holes (n = 10)
from gold mining sites. Equally for comparison purposes, we estimated the soil loss from
unmined sites (n = 10) at an adjacent distance of 5 km. In this regard, the sample plots
390 Hailemariam Meaza, Mushir Ali, Zbelo Tesfamariam et al.

Figure 2. Partial view of artisanal gold mining sites: pit dimension (A), gold rich soil transport system (B),
pit measurement (C), disturbed farmland (D), two years (E) and three years (F) abandoned inactive gold
mining sites.
Source: Authors’ field work. Photographs by Hailemariam Meaza.

Figure 3. Comparison of the average soil loss among the mining sites.
Source: Authors’ field work.
Artisanal gold mining and land resources 391

from unmined areas were kept at a minimum, as it was difficult for us to get
representative plots.
Assessment of gully erosion rates through interviews and measurements is robust
and acceptable by experienced researchers (e.g. Nyssen et al., 2006). Accordingly, we
organized three independent group discussions (n = 8) composed of farmers (between
35 to 58 years) to get accurate information about the conversion of pits into the sheet,
rill, and ephemeral gully erosion over time. Moreover, we carried out a participatory
transect study in 2012 to characterize the extent of the sheet, rill, and gully development
amid the mined sites (Figure 2). The transect study extends 20 km trending northeast to
southwest along the study areas. We repeated the transect study in 2013 to evaluate the
geomorphic processes over time.
To understand the differences of woody species between mined and unmined sites,
40 sample plots of 10 m x 10 m were taken from gold mining areas (Meaza &
Gebresamuel, 2013). For comparative analysis, 40 sample plots of 10 m x 10 m were also
randomly considered at the adjacent unmined landscape positions. Woody species (trees
and shrubs) were listed, named and quantified with the help of local farmers. In the
sample plots, occurrences of root exposure and dead trees were counted both at the gold
mining sites and at adjacent unmined sites. We also observed the extent of canopy cover,
height, and diameter at breast height of woody vegetation (100 m2) to compare the
vegetation structure in space scale. As there were disturbances from the gold mining
operations at the artisanal gold mining sites, practical observations were investigated to
characterize the herbaceous species between mined and unmined sites.
We carefully selected key informants (n = 10) from the rural development and
agricultural bureau to discuss the effects artisanal gold mining on vegetation status.
The respondents (whose ages were between 27 and 52 years) had first-hand knowledge
about the effects of artisanal gold mining on the environment (Meaza & Demssie, 2015).
To improve sustainable artisanal gold mining practices in northern Ethiopia, we
carried out an in-depth literature review of the good practices of traditional gold mining
across the world. We extracted the required information from Web of Science.
Moreover, federal, regional and district offices were visited and consulted to obtain
documents and reports (such as National Report on Mining and Artisanal Mining
Activities) on gold mining policies and strategies in Ethiopia.

Data analysis techniques. We summarized the soil loss across the landscapes. We quantified
the volume of soil loss from each pit as follows:

CA
D ¼ VL (1)

where, CA = the average of the cross-sectional area of the pits, D = pit depth and
VL = Volume of soil lost from gold pits.
Moreover, soil removed from the open surface for gold mining and soil eroded by
runoff was calculated (Nasri et al., 2008). One-way ANOVA and paired t-tests were used
to compare the average volume of soil loss among the gold mining sites, and between the
mined and unmined sites respectively.
We compared the number of individuals, density, richness, occurences of root tree
exposure and dead trees of the woody species between mined and unmined sites to
understand the impacts of gold mining on vegetation status. We calculated density (D)
of each woody species by converting the total number of trees (N) encountered to a
hectare (ha):
392 Hailemariam Meaza, Mushir Ali, Zbelo Tesfamariam et al.

N
D (2)
ha

We calculated the frequency (F) of each woody species (trees and shrubs) for mined
and unmined plots as a key indicator of species abundance:

n
F (3)
N

where n = the number of plots the woody species present and N = the total plots
considered for this study.
We roughly estimated species richness as a measure of the number of species
encountered in the sample plots. Moreover, we employed descriptive statistics to
summarize the average diameter, height class, and canopy cover of woody species of
mined and unmined sites. We run paired t-tests to investigate the difference in the
number of tree/shrub individuals encountered between mined and unmined sites.
We collated the non-metric data obtained from local farmers, gold miners, key
informants and observations. To design interventions required to improve sustainable
artisanal gold mining, we categorized the research articles and reports into legislation,
education and technology classes. Eventually, we carried out content analysis of the
current knowledge. QQ plots and box plots were used to check the normality
distributions of the observations on soil loss and woody vegetation for all tests using
Minitab (Version 17) and SPSS Statistical Package (Version 23). We considered a
significance level of 5 per cent (α = 0.05) for all tests in the entire study.

Results

Extent of soil loss by extensive rush of artesian gold mining

Artisanal gold mining is an ancient production system in the study area (Figure 1). Gold
miners used both the surface and deep soil for mining. ‘Dig-carry-wash on rivers’ has
been a dominant technique to get gold. Pitting using shovels, hammers, plowshares, axes
and metal bars has been practised to extract gold-rich soil across farmlands, hillsides, and
riverbanks (Figure 2). Artisanal gold miners excavated soil until the gold-rich layer was
reached.
A local panning material, dolla, has been used as a tool to separate gold from the silt,
sand, and gravel. As a result, small sizes of soil piles emerged after panning along the
streams and rivers. Moreover, we observed varied depths of open pits for gold extraction
across the study areas. The average pit depth of May Siye is 3.980 ± 0.218 m (Table 2).
These ranges of pit depths result in massive soil loss mainly during the rainy season.
Artisanal gold miners removed massive volumes of top soil recklessly until they got to
that gold-rich layer by “trial-and-error” method.

Table 2. Summary of gold pit dimensions (M ± SD) and pit volume across the study areas.
3
Sites Width (m) Length (m) Depth (m) Pit volume (m )

May Siye (n = 20) 3.2 ± 0.59 1.87 ± 0.25 3.98 ± 0.22 23.82 ± 0.03
Hitsats (n = 20) 4.52 ± 0.54 3.71 ± 0.52 3.22 ± 0.78 45.56 ± 0.22
Edaga Hibret (n = 20) 5.22 ± 0.78 4.13 ± 0.38 2.46 ± 0.22 53.03 ± 0.07
Adi Mohameday (n = 20) 5.69 ± 0.99 4.25 ± 0.58 3.24 ± 0.22 78.35 ± 0.13

Source: Authors’ analysis.

Artisanal gold mining and land resources 393

There was extensive soil removal due to artisanal gold mining in the study area. Our
aggregate pit analysis revealed that, for example, 104 443 ton/ha soil materials were lost
due to artisanal gold mining from Adi Mohameday during the survey year (Figure 3).
We also compared the average soil loss of the study sites. Accordingly, the ANOVA model
shows that there was a significant difference in average soil loss among the study sites
(P = 0.00). This variation was due to considerable differences in the dimensions of the
gold pits, the status of vegetation cover and the depths of tree rooting systems in the
study area (Figures 2A, 2B, and 2C).
The t-tests show that surface erosion results in about 4663 ± 239 ton/ha of soil loss
mainly due to water erosion triggered by open surface gold mining (Table 3). However,
1437 ± 62 ton/ha of soil was lost at the unmined sites due to water erosion. We found a
significant difference in soil loss between mined and unmined sites in the study area
(P = 0.00). The results revealed that soil loss arising other than from the gold pits in
the gold mining areas was higher in the mined sites than in the unmined sites
(Figure 2D).
Hydrogeomorphic processes converted massive dense gold pits into sheet-rill-gully
erosion. Firstly, pits were connected to sheet erosion that carries soil after recent rainfall
(Figure 2D). Secondly, sheet erosion gave birth to severe rill erosion due to an intensive
storm event. Most of the rill erosion were aligned perpendicular to the slope in a series of
parallel lines whenever open pits for gold mines were developed. The geographical
location of the rills further aggravated the rate of conversion from sheet to rill erosion.
Ultimately, the heavy flood storms altered channels of the rill erosion into depressions,
which further deepen over time to form gullies. Importantly, vertical incision facilitated
the conversion of ephemeral gullies to the bigger gullies. Additional geomorphic
processes mainly local landslide, mudflow, bank fall and lateral erosion caused
horizontal spread of the ephemeral gully and vertical changes within the original gully.
Artisanal gold mining resulted in discontinued gullies. Repeated observations (2012
to 2013) confirmed that many gullies were rapidly growing at the gold mining sites as
compared to the unmined sites. Furthermore, we found buried panning material which
we deduced to be a factual surrogate that the gullies were previously mining sites on
farmlands. Most of the gullies were found at the bottom of the artesian gold mining sites
with gully heads developing towards and at the expense of farmlands and hillsides. The
rapid gully development rate brought widespread soil erosion at the mining sites as
compared to the unmined ones.
Artisanal gold mining resulted in extensive farmland loss in the study area
(Figure 2D). Artisanal gold miners converted farmlands into active gold mining sites
during the summer season (i.e. June, July, and August) (Figure 2). This led to a
considerable loss of arable land in the study areas. Following the interviews with the
local farmers and transect walks, we discovered that the present artisanal gold mining
affected 10 000 ha of cultivable land in the whole district, leading to massive soil loss.

Table 3. Comparison of average soil loss (ton/ha), numbers of individuals (NI), exposed roots
(Re) and dead trees (Td) in mined versus unmined sites.

Management Soil loss NI Re Td

Mined sites 4663 ± 239 30.5 ± 3 8±4 18 ± 6

Unmined sites 437 ± 62 73.0 ± 9.9 2±1 1.77 ± 0.2
P-value 0.00 0.01 0.00 0.00

Source: Authors’ analysis.

394 Hailemariam Meaza, Mushir Ali, Zbelo Tesfamariam et al.

Comparison of vegetation covers between mined and unmined sites

Artisanal gold mining was intimately associated with deforestation across the study sites.
It modified the vegetation composition. When gold miners had established new gold
mining sites, they aggressively cleared woody and herb species (Figure 4). Devegetation
for artisanal gold mining induced variation in dominance of tree species between mined
and unmined areas (Table 4). Acacia etbaica, Dodonaea angustifolia, and Acacia Abyssinia
were the dominant tree species in unmined sites whereas Maytenus senegalensis, Dodonaea
angustifolia, and Ziziphus Spina-Christi were the abundant woody species that dominated
the mining sites. Such differences in vegetation dominance reveals that artisanal gold
mining systems resulted in a change in vegetation composition.
We found abundant woody species at the unmined sites as compared to the mined
landscape due to excessive removal of trees, shrubs, and herbs during the process of
searching for gold rich soil and rocks (Figure 4 A–D). Unsurprisingly, the number of
woody species encountered in mined and unmined sample plots were 396 and 949
counts respectively (Table 4). The tree densities of mined and unmined sites were also
about 990 and 2373 counts per ha, respectively. The number of woody species
significantly decreased at the mining sites (P = 0.00). Moreover, the richness of woody
species in mined and unmined areas was 9 and 13 respectively, indicating that some tree
species were not found in the mined areas.
There was a significant difference in the occurrences of dead plants and exposed tree
roots between mined and unmined sites (P = 0.00). The number of dead trees in the
mined and unmined areas were 231 and 23 respectively therefore showing a significant
disparity between mined and unmined sites (P = 0.01). The number of trees with
exposed roots found at the mined and unmined sites were 201 and 22 respectively
(Table 4).

Figure 4. Partial view of damaged vegetation at the abandoned and active gold mining sites.
Source: Authors’ analysis. Photographs by Hailemariam Meaza.
Artisanal gold mining and land resources 395

Table 4. Numbers of individual (NI), relative frequency (RF), exposed roots (Re) and dead trees
2 2
(Td) in mined (40*100 m ) versus unmined (40*100 m ) sites.

Scientific name Mined site Unmined site

NI RF Re Td NI RF Re Td

Acacia abyssinica 60 0.12 11 18 98 0.13 1 0

D. angustifolia 84 0.17 18 81 152 0.14 3 6
Faiderherbia albida 32 0.06 5 14 136 0.11 0 2
Euphorbia abyssinica 16 0.03 4 9 67 0.09 0 0
Calpurnia aurea 0 0 12 2 23 0.03 3 0
Ficus carica 8 0.02 3 0 18 0.02 1 0
Capparis tomentosa 0 0 7 6 50 0.07 0 2
Ziziphus spina-christi 52 0.10 12 69 39 0.05 5 0
M.senegalensis 84 0.17 0 4 56 0.07 9 0
Olea africa 0 0 8 3 40 0.05 0 8
Cordia Africana 24 0.05 3 0 16 0.02 0 3
Dichrostachyscinerea 0 0 18 13 42 0.06 1 0
Acacia etbaica 36 0.27 0 12 212 0.15 0 2
Total 396 1 201 231 949 1 22 23

Source: Authors’ analysis.

Random removal of seedlings, saplings, and trees for gold mining interrupted the
continuous replacement of the species in the gold mining area. Based on the expert
analysis, trees and shrubs were randomly located and evenly distributed at the unmined
sites whereas woody species were rarely observed in the mined areas.
The structure of vegetation along the mined sites was heavily disturbed. Woody
vegetation cover changed between mined and unmined sites due to artisanal gold
mining. Woody species with an average diameter of 0.57 ± 0.24 m, height class of
8.4 ± 4.5 m, and canopy cover of 6.3 ± 2.8 m were observed at the unmined sites.
However, the average diameter (0.27 ± 0.2 m), height class (3.2 ± 1.4 m), and canopy
cover (5.8 ± 0.6 m) were significantly lower at the mined sites (P = 0.00). This indicates
that gold miners heavily damaged woody species (Figure 4). We observed better survival
of seedlings and saplings in the unmined as compared to mined sites due to
anthropogenic disturbances.
Local farmers perceived that the main driver of deforestation was gold mining as a
result of increasing artisanal gold miners. According to the respondents, vegetation cover
has reduced due to gold mining at their villages. They noted that benefit streams from
vegetation reduced.

Towards improving sustainable artisanal gold mining

Solid literature elsewhere in the world, and present studies reveal that gold extraction
disturbs the environment. The mining operation system puts much strain on soil and
vegetation resources. Accordingly, soil erosion and deforestation have become a
common consequence of artisanal gold mining (Figure 4). Growing forms of land
degradation such as soil erosion and devegetation caused by artisanal gold mining appear
to be an enormous trend observed across developing tropical countries (Table 5). Many
of the abandoned mining sites become unproductive areas. With the increasing prospects
of artisanal gold mining (Schueler et al., 2011), soil erosion and vegetation degradation
could be escalated and propagated in the near future. Consequently, the aftermath of
artisanal gold mining on soil and vegetation resources challenge sustainable rural
development (Hilson, 2016).
396 Hailemariam Meaza, Mushir Ali, Zbelo Tesfamariam et al.

Table 5. Major shared successful stories on sustainable artisanal gold mining across the world.

Shared study Country Reference

A new means of governing artisanal and Tanzania Childs, 2014

small-scale mining
Rural development policies for sustainable Colombia García et al., 2015
gold mining
Technology, managerial, and policy initiatives for Developing Hilson &
environmental performance countries Van Der Vorst, 2002
Clean artisanal gold mining: a utopian approach World Hinton et al., 2003
Sustainability and artisanal gold mining World Kumah, 2006
Overcoming environmental problems in the gold Zimbabwe Maponga &
panning sector through legislation and education Ngorima, 2003
Environmental sustainability in the artisanal gold mining Catalan Vintró et al., 2014
Planning safeguards against mining and resettlement risks World Owen & Kemp, 2016

Source: Authors’ analysis.

The scenario of increasing gold mining practices could result in severe

environmental challenges. Alarmingly, government officials prospected that the mining
industry will increase enormously. Key informants added that the number of artisanal
gold miners will increase due to poverty and soaring market prices of gold in the
region. Encouraged by new Ethiopian mining policies to raise gold production, giant
and modern gold miners contracted to explore extensive gold potential areas within
the same district (MoM, 2012).
After the repeated transect studies, however, we barely found any remedy against
gully erosion and deforestation across the gold mining sites. Moreover, the development
agents supported that catchment reclamation had not been undertaken yet due to their
remoteness.

Discussion

Gold miners extracted massive soil materials that removed substantial volumes of soil.
Abandoned gold pits were exposed to soil pipings, and became hotspots of soil erosion.
In these micro-environments, a higher quantity of soil was lost in the mining sites as
compared to in adjacent unmined sites. With temporal scale, these soil structures
collapsed due to active water seepages and leaks during the summer. Analogous to our
findings, Adeoye (2015) and Hilson and Van Der Vorst (2002) reported that soil piping
was widespread after the abandonment of artisanal gold mining. We agreed with the
findings of Aragón and Rud (2013). The researchers found that soil and rock pitting
for gold mining was a dominant driver for fertile soil loss in Peru. Also similar to our
findings, a recent study highlights that eroded soil materials transported to downstream
rivers could bring off-site impacts on the riverine ecosystem (Demissie et al., 2017).
The transect study shows that artisanal gold miners modified the original micro-
landforms. In this regard, the gold mining system exacerbated rates of soil erosion forms
—mainly sheet, rill, and gully erosion (Figure 3). After the passage of time, the rate of
conversion of soil erosion forms from sheet to rill, rill to the ephemeral, and ephemeral
to large gullies was much faster at the unmined sites than at the mined areas. In
agreement with Frankl et al. (2012), the study shows that anthropogenic disturbances
(artisanal gold mining in our case) quicken conversion of croplands into badlands, barren
and unproductive landscape (Figure 2F).
Gullying is a widespread process in the northern highlands of Ethiopia (Nyssen et al.,
2006). Artisanal gold mining contributed to the present magnitude of gully erosion that
Artisanal gold mining and land resources 397

threatened soil resources. Similarly, other studies in rural Ghana indicate that artisanal
gold mining severely reduced agricultural land productivity (Darimani et al., 2013;
Schueler et al., 2011). Indeed, these studies report that vast tracts of croplands were
changed into wastelands. Consequently, uncontrolled gold mining practices reduced
the supply of environmental services to the farmers who depend on land resources
(Aryee et al., 2003).
Though it is essential for sustainable land management (Lobo et al., 2016), our study
does not address the impacts of artisanal gold mining on salinization, soil crusting and
sediment load of nearby streams in the study area.
We found that the status of woody vegetation across mined and unmined areas was
vastly contrasting. In this regard, artisanal gold mining operations affected the woody
vegetation (Figure 4). The density and the number of woody vegetation in mined sites
was different from the density of woody vegetation in unmined sites. The results show
that the tree density in the unmined sites was higher than the tree density in the mined
sites by a factor of 2.4. In line with these results, previous studies demonstrated that
increasing demand for gold is an acute threat to tropical forests (Alpan, 1986; Bugnosen,
1998; Dondeyne & Ndunguru, 2014; Hilson, 2016).
There was contrasting vegetation cover between mined and unmined sites as a result
of artisanal gold miners. Previous studies elsewhere in the world reported that greater
portions of the vegetation cover lost their abundance, richness, and diversity (e.g.
Heemskerk, 2002). Deforestation resulted in lower probabilities of regeneration and
recruitment of woody vegetation due to the removal of soil that serves as seed storage
(Aynekulu et al., 2016).
We found that artisanal gold mining modified both the composition and structure of
vegetation. The vegetation cover was transformed into intensive gold mining areas
(Peterson & Heemskerk, 2002). Similarly, other studies highlight that artisanal gold
mining altered the availability of keystone species in the mined sites (Heemskerk,
2002; Hilson & Nyame, 2006; Hirons, 2011). Furthermore, artisanal gold mining
destroyed biodiversity and their ecosystem services. This, in turn, shrunk the livelihood
strategies of the poor farmers located at the gold mining sites (Mol & Ouboter, 2004).
Similarly, artisanal gold mining operations cleared large tracts of vegetation that caused
serious forest degradation. This could affect the majority of local farmers who rely on
forest income (Babulo et al., 2009). Local farmers were denied benefits of forests such
as timber and non-timber forest products due to deforestation. To conclude, we found
a reciprocally functional relationship between artisanal gold mining and the status of
land resources.
Gold mining operations could result in more long-term effects on the sustainable
livelihoods of the local community (Table 5). As a response to the mounting impacts of
gold mining, various forms of intervention are required to mitigate the negative impacts
of gold mining in the study area. Agricultural development agents require better
environmental knowledge to mitigate the devastating impacts of artisanal gold mining
on the sustainability of land resources. Equally, Owen and Kemp (2016) added that
scientific information is essential for effective policy responses to the major
environmental impacts associated with artisanal gold mining operations.

Conclusion and recommendations

The study showed that artisanal gold mining sites were hotspots of soil erosion in the
study area. Soil erosion from artisanal gold mining was enormous. Gold pitting triggered
398 Hailemariam Meaza, Mushir Ali, Zbelo Tesfamariam et al.

by a hydrogeomorphic processes accelerated the magnitude of sheet, rill and gully

development. A higher volume of soil was lost at the gold mining sites than at adjacent
unmined sites. Accordingly, extensive gold mining sites were converted into
dysfunctional landforms that threatened sustainable livelihoods of marginal farmers.
Furthermore, intensive gold mining activities modified vegetation status, structure and
composition. Importantly, the number of individuals and frequency of woody species
encountered were higher at the unmined sites than in the mining areas. Consequently,
disturbance of uppermost soil suppressed the regeneration and recruitment of woody
vegetation in the gold mining areas. Despite the rapidly increasing gold mining areas,
land restoration efforts were absent in the study area. The environmental consequences
of gold mining were invisible to natural resource managers in the study area.
Having conducted this study, our recommendation is to work towards poverty
reduction, enhancing environmental awareness and introducing catchment
rehabilitation policies. Poverty is the driving force for artisanal gold mining in the study
area (Meaza et al., 2015). Thus, increasing livelihood opportunities such as small-scale
agricultural industries at the villages could reduce land disturbances induced by gold
mining. Providing environmental education to artisanal gold miners could optimize
sustainable gold mining. The implementation and integration of best practices for
environmentally responsible extraction of gold from mining sites could also reduce the
adverse effects of artesian gold mining on natural resources. Moreover, rendering on-site
training on proper gold mining practices for miners will help to improve sustainable
utilization of natural resources, and thereby this ensures benefits of environmental
stewardship.
Disorganized artisanal gold miners contributed to accelerated soil loss. Hence, the
introduction of regulatory systems such as licensing of gold mining sites for short and
long term could reduce soil erosion and vegetation thinning. With increasing prospects
of gold mining investment, the impact of gold mining on natural resources could be
manifold. Therefore, various forms of land rehabilitation intervention at the abandoned
gold mining sites are required to enhance sustainable development in the gold mining
belts of northern Ethiopia.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Mekelle University (Ethiopia) and Norwegian University of Life Science (MU-
UMB NORAD project) for providing financial assistance. Our special thanks also go to Ghent
University (Belgium), key informants and farmers for their invaluable support. Constructive
comments by the two anonymous reviewers and Nura Aziz are gratefully acknowledged.

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