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View all search resultsUnchecked nickel mining fuels environmental, social crises
A new report has once again highlighted the heavy toll of Indonesia’s nickel industry, where decades of poorly regulated extraction have scarred landscapes, choked coral reefs and eroded local livelihoods, while companies face little accountability.
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This aerial handout picture taken on December 21, 2024, and released on January 31, 2025 by Auriga Nusantara shows a general view of deforestation at an area on Kawei Island in Raja Ampat, Southwest Papua province. (AFP/Handout)
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new report has once again highlighted the heavy toll of Indonesia’s nickel industry, where decades of poorly regulated extraction have scarred landscapes, choked coral reefs and eroded local livelihoods, while companies face little accountability.
Environmental groups Auriga Nusantara and Earth Insight documented massive deforestation and coral destruction in Raja Ampat, Southwest Papua, where sediments from nickel mining have smothered reefs and turned once-crystal waters into murky red, with little to no restoration carried out.
“Some companies have stopped for more than a decade, but the coral reefs have been destroyed by unremoved sediments. Natural recovery will take much longer,” Auriga marine researcher Parid Ridwanuddin said at the report launch in Jakarta last Thursday.
Until earlier this year, mining concessions in Raja Ampat covered about 22,000 hectares, encroaching on a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Global Geopark and endangering 2,400 ha of coral reefs, along with the livelihoods of some 64,000 residents who depend on tourism.
“Who really benefits from mining? Only the companies. Local residents are left poorer as their natural resources are destroyed,” Parid said.
Read also: Tension and grievances in Raja Ampat
Auriga argued that systematic problems lie in the country’s mining permits and environmental impact assessments (AMDAL), which often rubber-stamp operations instead of curbing damage.
