How South American Salt Flats and Shorebird Habitats are Linked to Smartphones, Laptops, and Electric Vehicles
By Arne Lesterhuis and Marcela Castellino
Lithium is probably one of the most underappreciated metals–whether we are consciously aware of its presence in our lives or not, it powers the batteries that enable some of our most valued modern technologies: smartphones and laptops. It’s also essential for electric car batteries, which is why in recent years the demand for lithium is skyrocketing. But because of the way lithium is mined, every lithium-based battery takes a bit away from critical habitats used by shorebirds and other species.
Up to 80 percent of the world’s lithium reserves are found in salt flats within the high Andean wetlands of Argentina, Bolivia and Chile, in an area known as the Altiplano. This region, nicknamed “the lithium triangle,” is estimated to contain more than 100 salt flats rich with lithium brine, a salinated groundwater filled with dissolved lithium. From this brine, lithium carbonate is extracted as a salt. As the demand for lithium-based batteries swells, the mining sector is becoming more interested in developing operations inside the lithium triangle. The demand will likely increase even faster as carmakers ramp up their production of electric cars.
Lithium-based batteries are thought of as “green” or “renewable” energy storage, and it’s true that lithium batteries result in less hazardous waste than other types of batteries. But lithium mining has ecological and environmental costs, impacting many habitats and species. Shorebirds, which rely on the habitats of the Altiplano’s salt flats, are among the species most vulnerable to the impact of lithium mining.
During their southbound migrations and nonbreeding seasons, many species of migratory shorebirds find refuge, food, and rest in wetlands associated with the salt flats. These include Wilson’s Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor), Baird’s Sandpiper (Calidris bairdii), Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) and American Golden Plover (Pluvialis dominica). Recent fieldwork conducted by Manomet and partners has revealed that at least 50% of the global population of Wilson’s Phalarope use the Altiplano wetlands. The same wetlands also support a suite of resident shorebird species, including virtually the entire global populations of Puna Plover (Charadrius alticola) and Andean Avocet (Recurvirostra andina), both believed to number less than 10,000 birds. Peatlands and bogs within the same watersheds are home to the enigmatic Diademed Sandpiper-Plover (Phegornis mitchellii), a species of global conservation concern, with a population that may be as low as 3000 birds. The Altiplano wetlands are also the one place in the world where three species of flamingo regularly breed.
Diademed Sandpiper-Plover. Photo: Diego Luna Quevedo.
To produce just one ton of lithium carbonate requires the evaporation of 500,000 gallons of lithium brine collected from underneath the salt flats. And lithium demand is expected to reach 1.79 million tons by 2030. The reduction of groundwater and subsequent loss of surface-level waters would degrade the habitat and disrupt the wetlands, affecting feeding and breeding areas used by local and migratory shorebirds alike. Chemical pollutants used during the lithium mining process could enter the groundwater and become more concentrated over time, polluting the ecosystem.
Projection of total worldwide lithium demand till 2030 (in 1,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate equivalent). ©Statista 2022
For these reasons, the WHSRN Executive Office and Manomet, together with the High Andean Flamingo Conservation Group (GCFA) and Wetlands International, are prioritizing actions to promote the sustainability of lithium mining in the Altiplano. As a first step, in early 2020, over 80 fieldworkers undertook shorebird and waterbird surveys at 251 sites throughout the Altiplano. The survey data and complementary information are being analyzed to identify priority sites for conservation and the key stakeholders at those sites. As a next step, information on priority sites will be combined with maps of mining concessions, to better inform the potential impacts of lithium mining on wetland biodiversity and local communities, at site and watershed scales. The priority site data will also be fed into the processes and tools (e.g. Key Biodiversity Areas, KBAs) that inform the environmental safeguards of major financial institutions.
Left: Wilson’s Phalaropes with Lesser Yellowlegs and White-backed Stilts. Photo: Arne Lesterhuis. Right: Baird’s Sandpiper in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Photo: Shiloh Schulte.
Critical to the development of low-impact lithium mining will be raising awareness regarding existing and potential impacts on biodiversity and the local (human) communities. To achieve this, Manomet, the GCFA and Wetlands International will implement a communications strategy to raise regional and global awareness about the near-term and future impacts of lithium mining on Altiplano wetlands, and the link that our smartphones, laptops, and electric vehicles have with shorebird survival.
Cover Photo: Lithium mining at Chile. Photo: Andrew O’brien.
