The mountain on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi was once covered in thousands of pepper trees planted by her family, but all that’s left is exposed red soil.
The 54-year-old said she didn’t know her family was about to lose their livelihood — her daughter phoned her at the market where she used to sell their harvest and said the trees had been destroyed.
“I climbed up to the hill and together my neighbors and I tried to stop the heavy equipment,” recalled Masita, who like many Indonesians only goes by one name. When she tried to climb onto the machinery, she said the men tried to stop her and called the police.
She said she kept shouting, “How could you, why did you do this to us, how can we live, how will we feed our families, should we eat stones?”
As of 2022, South Sulawesi has lost 11% of its tree cover since 2000 with the greatest loss seen in East Luwu regency, according to Global Forest Watch, an initiative of the World Resources Institute.
“What the government never conveys is the impact of social and environmental damage that occurs around the industry,” Al Amin told CNN. “There are hundreds of families who are living in misery, living in poverty, due to the loss of their farms after being evicted by mining companies.”
And it’s not just the loss of income. Masita says she and her family — including her children and young grandchildren — suffer from dust and noise pollution from the nickel mines. “Often, we have to wear masks and glasses for protection,” she said.
Nurhasiyah said residents in Loeha, which can only be accessed by ferry or through challenging rugged terrain, fear that environmental pollution from nickel mines will also leave them more vulnerable to sickness with limited to no access to medical centers.
CNN reached out to PT Vale Indonesia and the Indonesian government regarding these claims, but has not received a response from the government.
In its email to CNN, PT Vale Indonesia said it conducts environmental impact assessments and “[we] ensure all decisions are well-communicated to stakeholders and community groups.”
On its global website, Vale says it recognizes its activities worldwide may cause “significant environmental impacts” and that it invests in ways to “manage risks and minimize the socio-environmental impacts of our operations in the locations where we operate,” as well as reduce pollutant emissions.
As the world moves toward electric vehicles to cut carbon pollution, the environmental group WALHI hopes consumers will be more aware of where the materials to make their cars come from and how they can play a role in pressuring companies and the Indonesian government to solve the conflicts.
“Green energy needs to be redefined. If green energy is obtained from activities that displace people’s lands, displace people’s farms, I don’t think that’s a green industry,” Al Amin told CNN.
“We don’t want the electric cars used every day to be made based on the suffering and cries of women in this village, built on the hunger and suffering of children in this village, and as a result of eviction.”
This story has been updated with a response from PT Vale Indonesia.
