It's not about what we need, it is about pure greed. The greed of corporations that want to push consumption of these metals, and a higher level of greed which is investment...If we think of the world as just material matter we will plunder, we will grab, we will fight for ownership...When we think of The Earth as the very condition of our life, if we have a creative unity with her, we will find joy in lowering our consumption.Vandana Shiva, taken from Gaia Evening Talk in May 2011.

Each year the average industrialised person consumes up to 18 tons of materials from the Earth in order to sustain their lifestyle. In extracting these fossil fuels, minerals and metals, mining is not only destroying ecosystems and cultures but also contributing to climate change and mass extinction of species.

Since the economic crash in 2008, there has been a rush for "real things" - land, minerals, metals, fossil fuels - in the desperation for endless economic growth and hence promoting endless consumption. This has given rise to a massive increase in exploration, investments, licences and mining across the planet. Now all of Gaia's partners and their communities are being confronted by mining threats in their territories - from the Colombian Amazon to India to African countries and the Altai in Russia. Decades of work in regenerating ecosystems and communities are now threatened by this chaotic land grab.

What is more, governments are allowing mining in UNESCO Heritage Sites, Nature Parks and indigenous territories and critical ecosystems like rainforests. Literally nothing is sacred in the hungry eyes of the mining industry. Our fragile Earth is already at tipping point after 200 intense years of industrialisation of the planet. This mining bonanza threatens to tip the balance.

This is why there is a growing movement calling for:

1. A global moratorium on all new mining so that the world can take stock.
2. Designated areas such as UNESCO sites, indigenous lands, Nature Parks, archeological sites, sacred natural sites, must be No Go zones for any form of land grabbing.

But the communities need people to be alert. With the growth of communications and green technologies, a greater distance is being created between "consumers" and the Earth processes which sustain our lives. Who can tell the story behind their mobile phone? What metals does it contain? Where have they come from? What ecological and social impacts has this extraction caused? This distance allows us to remain unaware of the consequences of our purchases; the extinction of species, the permanent destruction of ecosystems and increasing violent conflict, particularly when communities are displaced from their ancestral lands.

As Gandhi would have said, our first task is not to participate in systems of violence. This is why we need to insist on knowing the story behind these products and challenge planned obsolescence. Above all we need to make some serious choices: do we really need that latest model or it is more important for us to ensure that our children, the future generations of all species, are bequeathed a healthy future?

Find out about some of the mining activities currently threatening communities and ecosystems with which we work. You can support the groups by visiting their websites and finding out more.

Colombian Amazon - Gold Mining in a Sacred Site

Australia - Uranium Mining in Aboriginal Territories

Canada's Tar Sands - The Dirtiest Fuel on the Planet

Colombian Amazon - Gold Mining in a Sacred Site

The communities of the Colombian Amazon, and our local partner Gaia Amazonas, are currently being threatened by onslaught of mining in the region. The challenges facing the communitues of the north west Amazon as the mining jugonaut encroaches, echoes the story depicted in the 2009 film Avatar. The north west Colombian Amazon is one of the planets most "vital organs". The Amazon as a whole, is repsonsible for the rainfall in the USA grain belt in the North, and the countries spanning western South American. In the most severe climate change scenarios, it is likely that the north west Amazon will be the only part of the Amazon to survive if the rest dries up. This is because it is in the rainshadow of the Andes and is therefore the expanse of forest most likely to retain its moisture. This area of the Amazon rainforest will become a vital refuge of Amazonian biodiversity and rainfall for North and South America. It's protection against the onslaught of mining is critical and should be non-negotiable.

The lower Apaporis River, an area of pristine tropical forest in the eastern Colombian Amazon, is home to some of Colombia's most traditional indigenous groups. In July 2007 a concession was granted over 10,000 hectares for the extraction of gold and now the floodgates have opened for mining requests even within legally recognised indigenous territory, and over a sacred site known as Yuisi. In response, the indigenous people sought to establish a national park to protect their territories, and in 2010, Yaigojé Apaporis Park was created. But the story doesn't end there.

Cosigo Resources, a Canadian gold-mining company, is now attempting to revoke the national park status. The case is in the hands of the Constitutional Court and could set an alarming precedent - the dissolution of a National Park, orchestrated by a mining company. It threatens a bleak future for the indigenous communities and their rich shamanistic traditions, it would be a fatal blow to the principles and achievements in Colombia over the last 20 years; it would dramatically increase the vulnerability of the planet as its critical rainforest belt is forever destroyed.

Help us to support Fundación Gaia Amazonas and the indigenous people of the lower Apaporis River region. Find out more by visiting www.gaiaamazonas.org

Australia - Uranium Mining in Aboriginal Territories

Australia is home to a vast proportion of the world's minerals, including 40% of all known uranium deposits. Much of this lies under Aboriginal lands which are protected under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act.

Today, in the Northern Territory, where many Aboriginal people still live on their traditional lands, the Australian government are taking archaic measures to displace indigenous communities; centralising Aboriginal people into urban settlements, and banning Indigenous languages from school education. Cultural genocide and ecocide are taking place, hidden from the eyes of the world. A groundbreaking new documentary Our Generation exposes the struggle of Aboriginal Australia. Watch the trailer and find more at www.ourgeneration.org.au

Canada's Tar Sands - the Dirtiest Fuel on the Planet

Canada's Tar Sands are the biggest energy project in the world, currently producing 1.3 million barrels of oil a day. The Tar Sands deposits are distributed over an area of 140,000 km2 of Canadian forest - an area larger than England. Canada has the second largest oil reserves in the world and is the biggest supplier of oil to the US.

Already, millions of barrels of Tar Sands oil have been extracted from under the Canadian wilderness. The Tar Sands development is permanently destroying entire ecosystems and has created toxic tailing ponds so huge they are visible from space, leaking poisons into the local water supply. Communities on land where Tar Sands extraction has been imposed are experiencing problems with their health, and indigenous Rights are being violated.

The UK Tar Sands Network campaigns in partnership with Indigenous communities affected by the Tar Sands oil developments in Canada to target governments, UK companies, banks and investors operating in the Alberta Tar Sands. To find out more visit www.no-tar-sands.org.