Earth Insight, Earth Insight and Auriga Nusantara, Auriga Nusantara (2025) Red alert: Nickel mining threats to Raja Ampat: Protection, prevention and restoration: Threat report 2025. p. 14.
Full text not available from this repository. (Request a copy)Abstract
Raja Ampat lies within the Coral Triangle, known as the global epicenter of marine species richness, endemism, and a diver’s paradise. But without permanent protection and removal of nickel concessions, Raja Ampat could become a red-alert casualty of an energy transition built on critical minerals. Field investigations by Auriga Nusantara reveal the enduring environmental toll of nickel mining in Raja Ampat. Photographs from the affected islands capture stark evidence: once-vibrant coral reefs struck by ships left pale and lifeless; others smothered by sediment from deforested hillsides. Driven by the transition’s nickel demand, Indonesia, now dubbed the “OPEC of nickel,”1 gave permits to extract nickel across more than 25,000 hectares of the archipelago.2 However, high-profile protests this year prompted the government to revoke four of five permits for “several violations in the environmental context.”3 Yet Raja Ampat’s marine biodiversity and communities are still at risk from remaining nickel concessions and the possibility that companies will win back their permits in court. Nickel mining on any island in Raja Ampat could trigger a cascade of coral erosion: A recent meta-analysis of the impact of sediments on coral reefs found a far lower threshold for coral death than previously estimated.4 Given the current uncertainty, this threat assessment analyzes how nickel mining could still impact 2,470 hectares of coral reefs and 7,200 hectares of forest cover, as well as the well-being and livelihoods of 64,141 Indigenous and local communities across the 3.66-million hectare Raja Ampat UNESCO Geopark area.
| Item Type: | Articles |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | Nickel, Mining, Indigenous Communities, Local Communities, Coral Reefs, Coral Erosion, Marine Species, Marine Biodiversity, Natural Resources, Resources Managements, Indonesia |
| Subjects: | Biodiversity |
| Depositing User: | Kokila ICSF Krish |
| Date Deposited: | 20 Feb 2026 06:40 |
| Last Modified: | 20 Feb 2026 06:40 |
| URI: | http://icsfarchives.net/id/eprint/22592 |
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |
