Mining should never be banned in protected forest

Mining should never be banned in protected forest

Julia Kalmirah, Indonesian Biodiversity Foundation (Kehati) and
Igor O'Neill, Mineral Policy Institute, Jakarta

Biodiversity in Indonesia is threatened by a mining industry
that is pushing the government to grant exemptions to Forestry
Law No. 41/1999, which prohibits opencast mining in protected
areas. On July 18, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources
director general for geology and mineral resources Wimpy S.
Tjetjep publicly admitted that the total number of mining
companies seeking permission for opencast mining in protected
forest areas was 158.

Mining is encroaching into many fragile ecosystems, and what
is at stake is a healthy environment and local livelihoods. The
opinion piece by Indonesian Mining Association (IMA) executive
director P.L. Coutrier, published by The Jakarta Post on July 30,
presented a shortsighted perspective encouraging exploitation of
natural resources as a vehicle for economic development.

Forest protection, biodiversity conservation and prevention of
devastating floods in Indonesia rely heavily on the protected
forest and conservation area system. Indonesian protected forest
areas are few but are sites of rich biodiversity with profuse
endemic flora and fauna species, as well as the homelands of
indigenous communities. Biodiversity underpins the environmental
services necessary to maintaining productivity and a healthy and
stable environment, upon which local, regional and global
communities depend -- services such as biodegradation, soil
aeration, fertilization and carbon sequestration.

The mining industry, without needing to enter protected areas,
already has a vast area under leases covering 66.89 million
hectares, which is equal to 35 percent of Indonesia's land area.
Not satisfied, the mining industry has been relentlessly lobbying
the government to open up new protected areas for mining. The
governments of Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom are also
lobbying on behalf of their multinational mining company giants,
BHP Billiton, Newcrest, Placer Dome and Rio Tinto, on the matter
of mining in protected areas.

Multibillion-dollar mining giants are portraying themselves as
hapless victims of an arbitrary bureaucratic decision to restrict
mining development through unfair environmental regulations. In
fact, many of the 158 leases are in areas that have been
classified as protected forest for many years. It was always the
case that these areas were not appropriate for mining, and it was
in 1999 that the government clarified the situation and banned
opencast mining in protected areas.

The push to grant exemptions to companies that seek to mine in
protected areas has been met with strong opposition from local
governments, civil society, indigenous communities and concerned
citizens. South Kalimantan Legislative Council (DPRD) has called
on the government to reject the application by Placer Dome to
mine in the Meratus Mountain forest area. The Meratus Dayak and
Samihim council has also objected to the mine, as it will
encroach on their sources of water, sacred sites and livelihoods.

In Maluku, 38 village heads from Halmahera regency, and the
Kao and Malifut Indigenous Community Council, have expressed
outrage at the current resource management scheme, and
specifically the potential granting of a mining permit for
Newcrest in the Toguraci protected forest.

The claim by the Indonesian Mining Association that "there
will be no threat to any area of biodiversity" is a flagrant lie.
BHP Billiton's project to mine Gag Island, a protected forest
west of Papua, will dump dangerous mine waste into the ocean,
employing the controversial submarine tailings disposal
technique.

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) sent a letter to the House of Representatives in June
identifying Gag Island's world heritage potential because of its
high biodiversity: 505 species of coral, which is an
extraordinary 64 percent of all known coral species in the world,
and 1,065 fish species, amongst the highest fish diversity in the
world. UNESCO warned the government of "possible environmental
impacts of mining operations and related submarine tailing
disposal on Gag Island in the Raja Empat Archipelago."

The IMA assertion that mine pits only encompass a small land
area ignores the fact that the 'ecological footprint' of mining
extends well beyond the mine site. Extensive offsite impacts
occur due to erosion, water contamination, release of toxic waste
and access for illegal logging. Not only do company attempts at
revegetation often fail, as in the Indo Muro Kencana mine in
Central Kalimantan, but even the best programs can never recreate
lost biodiversity. The international conservation agreements
ratified by Indonesia recognize that environments that are
biodiversity-poor are vulnerable to change triggered by
environmental, social or economic factors.

Indonesia has committed to the global conservation of
protected areas by ratifying the Convention on Biological
Diversity (CBD) and agreed to the Statement of Forest Principles.
It is part of the United Nations Forest Forum (UNFF). We
therefore must honor these international treaties by prohibiting
activities, such as mining in protected areas, that threaten
biodiversity and forests.

The environmental impact analysis (Amdal) is often dismissed
as a sham. There is no mechanism for public consultation or
participation by impacted communities. Private environment
consultants, hired by mining companies to conduct impact studies,
are not independent.

The statement of a high official at the Office of the State
Minister of the Environment that mining companies were left out
of the 2002 environmental audit process (PROPER) highlights the
lack of government capacity to regulate mining impacts.

The IMA claims that the prohibition on mining in protected
areas came from the "euphoria of democracy and reform." This
trivializes legislation drafted in the best interests of the
public, which is the mandate of a democratically elected
government. Preserving protected forest areas via a prohibition
on opencast mining promotes a sustainable future for all
Indonesians.