MINING AND NATURAL HAZARD VULNERABILITY IN THE PHILIPPINES

The Philippines is a nation highly prone to a variety of natural hazards such as earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, typhoons, and El Niño-induced droughts. These various natural hazards have a high potential to adversely interact with the potential for environmental degradation inherent in mining. Earthquakes can destabilize tailings storage facilities, typhoons can flood tailings ponds, and mine-pit dewatering can enhance the competition for groundwater resources during droughts. This study shows how natural disasters can amplify the environmental harm prevalent in mining and pose a substantial threat to the livelihoods of archipelagos poor, who depend upon subsistence agriculture and subsistence aquaculture._,