1 May 2024
Indonesia: Nickel concessions result to deforestation & adverse human rights impacts, Mighty Earth report finds
Summary
Date Reported: 1 May 2024
Location: Indonesia
Companies
PT. QMB New Energy Materials - Operation , GEM Co. Ltd. - Investor , Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) - Investor , Hanwa Co., Ltd - InvestorProjects
PT. QMB New Energy Materials nickel smelter in Morowali Indonesia - OperationAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Indigenous peoples: ( Number unknown - Indonesia , Mining , Gender not reported ) , Ecosystem: ( Number unknown - Indonesia , Mining , Gender not reported ) , Community: ( Number unknown - Indonesia , Mining , Gender not reported )Issues
Deforestation , Clean, Healthy & Sustainable Environment , Impacts on Livelihoods , Free, prior & informed consent , Access to WaterResponse
Response sought: Yes, by BHRC
Source type: NGO
Summary
Date Reported: 1 May 2024
Location: Indonesia
Companies
Tsingshan Group - Investor , Chengtun Mining Group Co Ltd - Investor , Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co. Ltd. - Investor , PT Youshan Nickel Indonesia - OperationProjects
PT Youshan Nickel Indonesia's nickel smelter in Weda Bay, Indonesia - OperationAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Ecosystem: ( Number unknown - Indonesia , Mining , Gender not reported ) , Indigenous peoples: ( Number unknown - Indonesia , Mining , Gender not reported ) , Community: ( Number unknown - Indonesia , Mining , Gender not reported )Issues
Deforestation , Free, prior & informed consent , Impacts on Livelihoods , Access to WaterResponse
Response sought: Yes, by BHRC
Source type: NGO
Summary
Date Reported: 1 May 2024
Location: Indonesia
Companies
PT Huayue Nickel Cobalt - Operation , Tsingshan Group - Investor , Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co. Ltd. - Investor , CMOC Group Limited (formerly China Molybdenum) - InvestorProjects
Huayue Nickel Cobalt HPAL smelter - OperationAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Community: ( Number unknown - Indonesia , Mining , Gender not reported ) , Indigenous peoples: ( Number unknown - Indonesia , Mining , Gender not reported ) , Ecosystem: ( Number unknown - Indonesia , Mining , Gender not reported )Issues
Deforestation , Free, prior & informed consent , Access to Water , Impacts on LivelihoodsResponse
Response sought: Yes, by BHRC
Source type: NGO
Summary
Date Reported: 1 May 2026
Location: Indonesia
Companies
PT Halmahera Persada Lygend - Operation , Lygend Resources - Investor , Harita Nickel - InvestorProjects
PT Halmahera Persada Lygend high-pressure acid leaching (HPAL) smelter - OperationAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Ecosystem: ( Number unknown - Location unknown , Mining , Gender not reported ) , Indigenous peoples: ( Number unknown - Indonesia , Mining , Gender not reported ) , Community: ( Number unknown - Indonesia , Mining , Gender not reported )Issues
Deforestation , Free, prior & informed consent , Impacts on Livelihoods , Access to WaterResponse
Response sought: Yes, by BHRC
Source type: NGO
Summary
Date Reported: 1 May 2024
Location: Indonesia
Companies
PT Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP) - Operation , Bintang Delapan - Other Value Chain Entity , Tsingshan Group - InvestorProjects
Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP) - OperationAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Indigenous peoples: ( Number unknown - Indonesia , Mining , Gender not reported ) , Community: ( Number unknown - Indonesia , Mining , Gender not reported ) , Ecosystem: ( Number unknown - Indonesia , Mining , Gender not reported )Issues
Deforestation , Access to Water , Impacts on Livelihoods , Free, prior & informed consentResponse
Response sought: Yes, by BHRC
Source type: NGO
Summary
Date Reported: 1 May 2024
Location: Indonesia
Companies
Dongfeng Motor - Other Value Chain Entity , SGMW - Other Value Chain Entity , Zhejiang CRRC - Other Value Chain Entity , Xiamen Kinglong - Other Value Chain Entity , Weltmeister - Other Value Chain Entity , Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) - Other Value Chain Entity , Shanghai Decent Investment - Other Value Chain EntityAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Indigenous peoples: ( Number unknown - Indonesia , Mining , Gender not reported ) , Community: ( Number unknown - Indonesia , Mining , Gender not reported ) , Ecosystem: ( Number unknown - Indonesia , Mining , Gender not reported )Issues
Deforestation , Access to Water , Impacts on Livelihoods , Free, prior & informed consentResponse
Response sought: Yes, by BHRC
Source type: NGO
"From Forests to Electric Vehicles: Quantifying and Addressing the Environmental Toll of Indonesian Nickel", 1 May 2024
...
Mighty Earth investigated the 329 nickel concessions that are acknowledged by Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources as the basis for this report, and we have highlighted the 25 nickel concessions in which the highest amounts of deforestation are taking place. We also examined some of the human and environmental impacts of nickel mining operations on a small island off the coast of Sulawesi.
- Conservatively, Indonesia’s nickel mines have cleared more than 75,000 hectares of forest to extract nickel.
- More than half a million additional hectares of Indonesian forest are within nickel concessions, putting them at risk for deforestation.
- The rate of deforestation is likely accelerating; RADD (radar) alerts show more than twice as much forest clearance in 2023 than in 2020.
- Of the 25 concessions we looked at in detail, six are 75% High Carbon Stock (HCS) forest or higher meaning these concessions contain significant amounts of intact forests. Fourteen are about 50% or less High Carbon Stock Forest meaning that they main contain substantial amounts of degraded land.
- Six of the 25 concessions contain forests classified by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as “Key Biodiversity Areas,” important habitats for critical species protection and unique ecosystems.
- The investigation uncovered potential illegality in some of these concessions.
- At least three of these concessions have cleared Protection Forests (which are setaside to protect life and ecosystems) without the prior exemptions that would have allowed them to do so legally.
- More than a quarter of the mines examined have strip-mined within 100 meters of the ocean, which is, at best, a legally contested practice.
- Five of the top 25 deforesting nickel mines have cleared Production Forests (which are set aside for forestry uses) without the legally required Borrow and Use Permit (more recently known as a Forest Area Use Permit). 2,654 hectares of production forest have been illegally cleared by these mines.
- A survey and photo documentation of Kabaena island found that nickel mining companies have illegally cleared Protection Forests and Production Forests and did not seek the FPIC (Free, Prior and Informed Consent) of local communities. Most inhabitants of these communities, many of whom are Bajau seafarers, have experienced health, environmental, and economic impacts from mining-contaminated freshwater and seawater, and have not been adequately compensated.
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