Indonesian farmers fear for livelihoods as major nickel mining operation plans expansion near pristine lake towuti

In the lush rainforests of South Sulawesi, Indonesia, a growing conflict is brewing between traditional agriculture and industrial mining. The Loeha Raya region, home to five villages along the shores of Lake Towuti—Indonesia’s second-largest freshwater lake—sits at the center of this environmental and economic tension.

Rahman, a farmer of Torajan and Padoe heritage, represents generations of ancestral landholders who have cultivated valuable crops like white peppercorns in these biodiverse forests. The area surrounding Lake Towuti harbors unique wildlife found nowhere else on Earth, including the critically endangered spectral tarsier, crested hornbills, and the distinctive babirusa “deer-pig.” However, this pristine ecosystem also sits within Indonesia’s oldest nickel mining concession, the Sorowako Block, operated by PT Vale Indonesia since 1968.

The mining operation already spans 174,000 acres of rainforest and farmland, processing nickel through facilities that have operated for over five decades. With Indonesia recently extending PT Vale’s license through 2035, the company is now planning to expand its operations further into the concession area, raising serious concerns among local farming communities about their future livelihoods and the preservation of their ancestral lands.

This expansion plan highlights the broader challenge facing Indonesia as it balances economic development through resource extraction with environmental conservation and the rights of indigenous communities who have sustainably managed these lands for generations.