Snapshot: In April 2023, an Indigenous community of Wawonii Island in Indonesia filed an administrative lawsuit in the Jakarta State Administrative Court challenging a forest-use permit (IPPKH) granted to the nickel mining company PT Gema Kreasi Perdana (part of the Harita Group). They argued the permit violated Indonesian laws prohibiting mining on small islands and threatened local ecosystems and livelihoods. After successive appeals, the Supreme Court ruled in their favour on 7 October 2024, revoking the company’s permit in a final and binding judgment. The case is closed.

In April 2023, residents of Wawonii Island, an Indigenous community in Southeast Sulawesi in Indonesia, filed an administrative lawsuit in the Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN Jakarta) challenging the legality of a forest-use permit (IPPKH) issued on 18 June 2014 to nickel company PT Gema Kreasi Perdana (part of the Harita Group). The IPPKH permit, contained in the Minister of Forestry’s decree No. SK.576/Menhut-II/2014, authorised the company to clear and use 707.10 hectares of forest on Wawonii for nickel ore extraction and related infrastructure. The plaintiffs filed their claim under case No. 167/G/TF/2023/PTUN.JKT, represented by the Coastal and Small Islands Rescue Advocacy Team (TAPaK), a coalition including YLBHI, WALHI, Trend Asia, JATAM, KIARA and local legal aid groups.

The Wawonii community argued that the permit was unlawful because it contravened Indonesia’s statutory protections for small islands, particularly Article 35(k) of Law No. 1/2014 concerning the Management of Coastal Areas and Small Islands (PWP3K), read with Article 143(2) of Law No. 3/2020 concerning Mineral and Coal Mining. These provisions prohibit mining activities on small islands unless strict ecological, technical, cultural and social conditions are met. They maintained that Wawonii Island, with an area of approximately 715 km², fell squarely within this legislative protection and that the Ministry’s 2014 decision was incompatible with the provincial Coastal and Small Islands Zoning Plan (RZWP3K), which did not designate any mining space on Wawonii. The plaintiffs also relied on two earlier Supreme Court material review cases, delivered on 22 December 2022 (case no. 57 P/HUM/2022) and 11 July 2023 (case no. 14 P/HUM/2023), which had struck down regional spatial provisions that had previously opened parts of Konawe Kepulauan Regency, including Wawonii, to mining activities, leaving the island with zero lawful mining allocation.

In their submissions, the plaintiffs contended that nickel mining posed severe risks to Wawonii’s coastal ecosystems, forests, and small-island water systems and jeopardised the livelihoods of Indigenous coastal communities reliant on farming, fishing and forest products. They sought revocation of the IPPKH, suspension of all mining activities pending judgment, and a judicial declaration confirming that the permit had been issued in violation of national law.

Separately, on 26 April 2023, PT GKP initiated a judicial review before the Constitutional Court seeking to challenge the scope of the small-island mining prohibition, but the Constitutional Court rejected that challenge (case No. 35/PUU-XXI/2023), leaving the statutory ban intact.

On 12 September 2023, PTUN Jakarta granted the community’s claim in full. The court annulled the 2014 permit and ordered the Minister of Environment and Forestry to revoke the decree authorising PT GKP’s operations. The company appealed, and on 25 January 2024, the Jakarta High Administrative Court (PTTUN Jakarta) overturned the first instance ruling and reinstated the permit, accepting the company’s argument that the forest-use permit had been lawfully issued under the regulatory framework in force at the time and that small-island mining restrictions were not absolute (decision no. 367/B/2023/PT.TUN.JKT)

The Wawonii community then lodged an appeal before the Supreme Court (case No. 403 K/TUN/TF/2024). On 7 October 2024, the Supreme Court granted the community’s appeal, overturned the appellate decision, and reinstated the PTUN Jakarta judgment in full. The Court held that the Ministry had acted unlawfully by issuing the IPPKH in contravention of legal prohibitions governing small islands, the mineral and coal mining regime and the applicable regional spatial plans. It confirmed that Wawonii Island could not be lawfully mined under Indonesia’s statutory framework and ordered that the permit be revoked with immediate effect.

Following the ruling, TAPaK and community leaders called on the government to enforce the judgment and remove the company from the island. Advocates noted that the decision had national implications because it reaffirmed the statutory prohibition on mining in small islands and aligned with earlier rulings, including the Constitutional Court’s decision in case No. 35/PUU-XXI/2023, which upheld the constitutionality of the small-island mining ban. In June 2025, the Ministry of Forestry officially revoked the contested decree. The Supreme Court judgment is final and binding. The case is closed.