Nickel mine exploitation threats to Sulawesi’s natural environment
14 November, 2024
Wednesday 13 september 2023
Header photo: Nickel mining on Sulawesi © Fachrudin Jabrig Indonesia Nature Film Society
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. Between 2014 and 2022, nickel production in the country increased fourteenfold. Indonesia’s largest nickel reserves are in Sulawesi. The Tompotika peninsula was recently selected by the government for at least eighteen new nickel mines.
The video “Tompotika: Forests, Nickel, and Critical Choices” tells the story of Tompotika and what would be lost if nickel mining is carried out on the peninsula. Our colleagues from AlTo share how they are working with the peninsula’s residents to protect their wildlife and livelihoods.
The video is a co-production of AlTo and IUCN NL. Together, we are fighting to protect the Tompotika forest.
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.
The Tompotika forest is home to an enormous wealth of biodiversity. Nine endemic species live here, including a special bird: the maleo bird. For the islanders, this bird is a symbol of cultural pride. The bird’s population has declined by more than 90% due to habitat loss and poaching. As a result, the maleo has the status of Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The Tompotika forest is its main habitat and this is threatened by nickel ore mining. Local people’s successful efforts to protect this special bird are now at risk.
The energy transition is fuelling a growing global demand for minerals and metals and therefore a mining boom of unprecedented proportions. The World Bank expects the energy transition to increase demand for metals and minerals very rapidly: for nickel, cobalt, lithium and manganese, for example, by more than 500% by 2050.
To minimize the effects of climate change and minimise warming, we need to switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources and our energy consumption. IUCN NL is working towards a fair energy transition that minimises the negative impact on people and nature. We do this in our projects Forests for a Just Future and Bottom Line!.