Indonesia’s abundant nickel reserves are crucial for a low carbon world. But extracting them is ruining local peoples’ lives and causing rampant deforestation

Mining companies have been granted access to vast swathes of Kabaena, with licenses awarded to mine around three-quarters of the island’s territory. Only a few mining concessions are currently operating – but their impact is already being felt deeply.

Indonesia is the world’s biggest nickel producer, and has the largest reserves on earth, most of which are in Sulawesi and Halmahera islands. In the so-called ‘nickel provinces’ of these islands,