{"id":105190,"date":"2022-11-16T12:31:50","date_gmt":"2022-11-16T11:31:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iucn.nl\/no-category\/nikkelmijnbouw-in-indonesie-economische-voorspoed-en-ecologische-rampspoed\/"},"modified":"2022-11-30T17:29:43","modified_gmt":"2022-11-30T16:29:43","slug":"nickel-mining-in-indonesia-economic-prosperity-and-ecological-disaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iucn.nl\/en\/blog\/nickel-mining-in-indonesia-economic-prosperity-and-ecological-disaster\/","title":{"rendered":"Nickel mining in Indonesia: economic prosperity and ecological disaster"},"content":{"rendered":"
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On November 15th and 16th, the G20 summit took place on the Indonesian island of Bali. An important moment for the Indonesian government to communicate its ambitions and potential as an economic superpower to an international audience. In doing so, the country is betting heavily on nickel, a key component of electric car batteries.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Header photo:<\/em> <\/mark>In the formerly green, forested hills behind the village of Mandiodo, nickel mining is in full swing<\/mark><\/em> \u00a9 Galen Priest \/ AlTO<\/em><\/mark><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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As the world’s largest nickel producer and the country with the largest nickel reserves, Indonesia is aware of the economic opportunities presented by the energy transition and is trying to attract more and more investors. Indonesia’s largest nickel reserves are in Sulawesi. The Tompotika peninsula was recently selected by the government for at least eight new nickel mines.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Nickel mining on land goes hand in hand with deforestation, and to meet climate goals, we desperately need to conserve our forests. The only way to extract nickel is to bulldoze the whole area and scrape off the top soil layers<\/a>, along with everything that lives on it. In practice, this means bulldozers razing the rainforest to the ground. Nickel is expected to replace palm oil as the biggest driver of deforestation in Eastern Indonesia. Moreover, processing nickel ore requires huge amounts of energy provided by coal-fired power plants in the region.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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“By now, in Sulawesi alone, half a million hectares of primary forest have been cleared for the nickel mining industry, an area the size of Bali.”<\/p>\n<\/div><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Of great importance to over 100 communities<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Tompotika rainforest (83,000 ha) on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi is of great importance to 107 communities, with a total of 75,000 people ,living in the area.The forest stores CO2, purifies water, prevents floods and provides timber, rattan and damar resin. The coral reefs off the coast also depend on healthy forests on land. Deforestation for mining, and the mining activities themselves, would lead to large-scale pollution of coastal waters, the death of coral reefs and the death of fish, which would bring an end to fishing in the area.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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“From Dreams to Dust”, the short film that won this year’s Yale Environment 360 Film Contest, tells the story of 36-year-old Lapola who works as a truck driver in the mines near the Tapunggaeya community.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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