The Weda Bay on Halmahera Island has become one of the world’s largest nickel producers. - The Jakarta Post
JAKARTA: More than 700,000 hectares of forest in Indonesia have been cleared for mining since 2001, including large tracts of primary forest, a new analysis using satellite data has found. The TreeMap, a conservation start-up, used high-resolution imagery from several satellites and two decades of data from the long-running Landsat programme to map mines and related infrastructure and track deforestation.
It estimates that mining – including pits, processing facilities, tailings areas and roads – resulted in the clearing of 721,000ha (7,210sq km) of forest between 2001 and 2023. An estimated 150,000ha of that was primary forest, areas with high carbon stock and tall trees that include intact old growth, according to the analysis released this week.
