Indonesian farmers fight for their land in nickel mining boom

This aerial picture taken on February 11, 2023 shows a boat next to a mangrove area amid contaminated seawater in Pomalaa in southeast Sulawesi. The dig site is part of a huge rush to Indonesia, the world's largest nickel producer, by domestic and foreign enterprises to mine the critical component used in electric vehicle batteries. — AFP

WAWONII: Three women with machetes stood guard at their farm hilltop on Indonesia's Wawonii Island, directing their blades towards the nickel miners working in the forest clearing below.

"I pointed the machete at their faces. I told them: 'If you scratch this land, heads will fly, we will defend this land to the death'," said 42-year-old villager Royani, recounting a recent encounter with some of the miners.