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[00:00.41] Indonesia has the world’s largest known supply of nickel and major supplies of valuable minerals, including cobalt and bauxite.

[00:12.90] However, the mining industry there is being criticized for not protecting the environment and some Indonesian island people.

[00:25.12] The Southeast Asian country is involved in mining that produces materials important to the manufacture of stainless steel and electric vehicle batteries, among other things.

[00:42.12] Indonesia is aiming to expand its mining and processing industries.

[00:49.02] But the development could face opposition from international and local groups.

[00:56.46] Nickel processing centers are becoming more common in parts of Indonesia.

[01:04.43] Sometimes, the plants are near the sea where many boats line up to carry ore, a mineral combination that contains nickel.

[01:16.12] Sometimes, these plants are near schools or places where local people fish or farm.

[01:26.48] The World Resources Institute, based in Washington D.C., says from 2001 to 2020, 1.4 million hectares of trees were cut down around the world.

[01:44.80] Indonesia is estimated to have had the highest loss.

[01:51.71] Amanda Hurowitz is a director with Mighty Earth.

[01:57.29] The environmental group is also based in Washington, D.C. Hurowitz said that, on the island of Kabaena, mining companies have cleared 3,700 hectares of forest in the last 22 years.

[02:19.07] Fishermen who used to fish off the island have said the waters are filled with sediment from the mines.

[02:29.42] People in farming communities also say they are affected.

[02:35.80] They say sugar cane, sugar palms and clove trees do not grow well anymore.

[02:44.84] Amal Susanto is a sugar palm farmer.

[02:49.34] He said: “That’s the effect: The growth of the sugar palm trees will not be as good because of the influence of mining.”

[03:01.04] Susanto lives in an area where permits have been approved but mining has not yet begun.