CHAPTER 9 LOCAL COMMUNITIES AND MINES

1 CHAPTER 9 LOCAL COMMUNITIES AND MINES198 sustainable development at the Community Level200 Gains and Losses at the LOCAL Level201An Economic Perspective202A Social Perspective206A Cultural and Political Perspective207An Environmental Perspective208 Maximizing Mining s Contribution to Communities209 Revenue Distribution and Use212 Gender Disparities213 Projects, Funds, and Foundations214 Supporting Small LOCAL Businesses215 Employment and Skills Development216 Retrenchment216 Conflict and Dispute Resolution217 Community Health Initiatives220 Mine Closure221 Fly-in, Fly-out Operations222 Community Participation in Decision-making224 Improved Social Impact Assessment226 The Way Forward226 Company-Community Engagement227 Integrated Impact Assessment for sustainable Development227 Community sustainable development Plans228 Roles and Responsibilities229 EndnotesMineral development can create new COMMUNITIES andbring wealth to those already in existence, but it canalso cause considerable disruption.

2 New projects canbring jobs, business activities, roads, schools, and healthclinics to remote and previously impoverished areas,but the benefits may be unevenly shared, and for somethey may be poor recompense for the loss of existinglivelihoods and the damage to their environment andculture. If COMMUNITIES feel they are being unfairlytreated or inadequately compensated, mining can leadto social tension and sometimes to violent conflict.(See CHAPTER 8.) Mining s interaction with LOCAL COMMUNITIES haschanged over the dramatic decline in thecosts of transporting bulk materials and the emergenceof multinational companies as major players, MINES cannow be located far from where the ores are the same time, they have become larger and moretechnically complex, bringing a decrease inemployment and an increase in the skill levels requiredof workers. In many countries, MINES have tended tobecome specialist enclaves, isolated from other sectorsof the premier example of this is fly-in,fly-out operations based on long-distance invariably means that the COMMUNITIES livingnearby gain less in terms of jobs, businessopportunities, and the multiplier increasingly occurs in remote regions withlittle or no development .

3 By nature of theirremoteness, the areas to be explored are frequentlyones where the title to land is disputed orunacknowledged and where LOCAL government lacksthe capacity to provide essential services or to mediatebetween mining companies and LOCAL consequence is the potential for mining companies towield too much power in the LOCAL may have difficulty coping with vast industrialoperations and the influx of outsiders. A growingappreciation of the intrinsic value of traditionalcultures has heightened awareness of these these trends have significantly changed the balanceof costs and benefits at the community level and havecontributed to a rethinking of addition, all MINES have a finite life span, and it isdifficult to sustain the direct benefits they bring tocommunities in terms of wages and improved welfareafter mine infrastructure that developswith a mine may be scaled down or neglected whenthe mine closes unless provision has been made formaintenance and upkeep well in are particularly vulnerable wherelinkages with other sectors of the economy are is an inherent tension between LOCAL andnational rights to mineral wealth and the other benefitsbrought about by people living nearmines or adversely affected by them should becompensated for any inconvenience, hardship, or loss of opportunity suffered is generally not question is.

4 Should they receive a larger share ofthe benefits? If so, how should that share bedetermined? The rationale for LOCAL COMMUNITIES toreceive a greater share of the benefits is clear: first, forcommunities to accept mining on their doorstep, theymust see some realizable benefits over and above beingcompensated for loss or other impacts. Second, formining to contribute to the goals of sustainabledevelopment at the community level, it must provide anet benefit to the affected community. Sustainabledevelopment requires an equitable sharing of benefits;if there is obvious inequity, there will be strife, whichimpedes the development question istherefore more appropriately, how should the share ofbenefits received by COMMUNITIES be decided? This isdiscussed later in the development at the Community LevelAt the LOCAL level, sustainable development is aboutmeeting locally defined social, environmental, andeconomic goals over the long term. Interactionsbetween the mine and community should add to thephysical, financial, human, and information resourcesavailable not detract from them.

5 (See Table 9 1.) The challenge is to ensure that the effect of interactionsare regarded as positive by those affected locally as wellas by the promoters of the project, and thatcommunities develop in ways that are consistent withtheir own may be realized through, forexample, the provision of social services, income, orskills development . Enhancing community valuespresents a particular challenge, given the often intensesocial change brought about by mining and thepotential influx of NEW GROUNDTHE MINING, MINERALS AND sustainable development PROJECT MMSD198 LOCAL COMMUNITIES AND MINES CHAPTER 9 MMSDTHE MINING, MINERALS AND sustainable development PROJECT199 Power differentials can leave a sense of helplessnesswhen COMMUNITIES confront the potential for changeinduced by large, powerful external problems are most acute where LOCAL governmentcapacity or other forms of LOCAL representation arelacking and where community rights are not enforcedby the central government.

6 Ensuring that mechanismsare in place to enable LOCAL COMMUNITIES to playeffective roles in decision-making is one of the greatestchallenges in mining s ability to contribute tosustainable development at the LOCAL is agreed to (or not, as the case may be),minerals activities must ensure that the basic rights ofthe individual and COMMUNITIES affected are upheldand not infringed may include the rightto control and use land; to clean water, a safeenvironment, and a livelihood; to be free fromintimidation and violence; and to be fairlycompensated for loss. Such rights may be enshrined inthe national law or based on and expressed through a range of international human rights instruments andagreements. (See CHAPTER 8). Moreover, all groups havea right to development , and the interests of the mostvulnerable groups the poor and the marginalized need to be identified and protected. Reconciling thevarious rights and responsibilities in differentgovernance environments to the satisfaction of thoseconcerned is perhaps one of the most quantity, quality, access to them, and realizablevaluePhysical resources Land, natural resources, and environmental services Productive equipment to make use of these services Infrastructure (especially safe and secure shelter, watersupply and sanitation, education, energy, transport,communications)

7 Financial resources Income Savings, investments, and creditHuman resources Health, safety, and security Skills, knowledge, and qualifications Jobs and other economic strategies such asmigration/remittances and subsistence activitiesInformation Information about technical/policy/market opportunities andobligations Information about changeCommunity values and knowledge Shared values, norms, goals, and aspirations for sustainabledevelopment Community knowledge of society, environment, and economyand their interaction Associated social traditions (history, culture, religion)Community institutions Community governance institutions, mechanisms, rules, andsanctions for participation in problem and opportunityassessment/ debate/ communication/ consensus/ conflictmanagement/ decisions/ self-help/ joint work/ learning andinnovation/ social security/ cost-benefit sharing/ vigilance andmonitoring/ accountability Legitimacy and reputation of the community and its institutions Trust, leadership, membership, management of communitygroups, federations, networks Internal relations/partnerships within the community, such asgender/ethnic relations Relations/partnerships with other COMMUNITIES , actors, andservice providers Other means to seize opportunities, manage risk, and improveresilienceTable 9 1.

8 Means for sustainable development at theCommunity LevelIndividual and community powers To negotiate with bureaucracy and private sector To influence politics, policy, laws, and instruments To influence market conditions To plan/control developments and activities in the vicinity To express community needs, ideas, and choicesIndividual and community rights To claim, receive, defend, transform, and trade material andfinancial assets To information To representation and engagement in processes (political,policy, legal, market) To development and self-determinationKey factors: Community coherence, diversity, equity, stability,resilience, options, paceHaving the right processes in place to reach outcomesacceptable to as broad a range of community membersand other stakeholders as possible is the way processes have to be within the confines ofavailable resources and capacity as communitiesthemselves work towards sustainable and Losses at the LOCAL LevelIt is important to acknowledge the different categoriesof community involved in or affected by miningoperations: Occupational COMMUNITIES households or familieswho derive all or most of their income frommining.

9 Residential COMMUNITIES households or families wholive within the geographical area affected by may live in close proximity or many milesaway,such as on a river polluted by mine COMMUNITIES fall into two types: those inexistence before the mine was built and those thathave developed as a result of the mining operations. Indigenous COMMUNITIES households or families withan ancient and cultural attachment to the landwhere mining occurs or has an three categories are not mutually exclusive, ofcourse. Indigenous COMMUNITIES may work in a mine,and therefore be occupational COMMUNITIES too, whilelong-distance commuting, as is the case in fly-in,fly-out operations and operations that rely on migrantlabour, may mean that occupational COMMUNITIES donot live near the mine. (This CHAPTER does not dealwith occupational COMMUNITIES formed by artisanal orsmall-scale miners.)In occupational COMMUNITIES , people must have themeans to survive and prosper, either in the same placeor elsewhere, once mining ceases.

10 Issues such as thetransfer of skills and future employment must thereforebe addressed. In residential COMMUNITIES , minimizingthe environmental footprint of mining will be apriority, and thus access to information about potentialimpacts as well as the power to influence decisions willbe people present a special case of well as having specific social needs, in manycountries they are the poorest and most marginalizedin COMMUNITIES have traditionallybeen based on very distinct systems of decision-making, social and political institutions, and systems ofwealth generation and distribution. Additionally,indigenous culture, whose value has commonly goneunacknowledged, is often closely associated withnatural resources that have social, economic, andspiritual significance. Many of the differences betweenindigenous cultures and wider society have beenpoorly understood. Moreover, development involvingminerals and other natural resources has been the causeof displacement and victimization, made easier by poorprotection of indigenous peoples rights to their injustices of the past and present have engendereda deep mistrust of outsiders in this case, governmentsand mining goals of sustainable development will differ amongindigenous COMMUNITIES .