Activists and scientists are criticizing a British company’s choice to restart gold exploration in Indonesia’s Batang Toru forest. They believe this action puts the Tapanuli orangutan, the world’s most endangered great ape, at risk.
Jardine Matheson Holdings controls Astra International, an Indonesian conglomerate, which operates the Martabe gold mine in northern Sumatra through its subsidiary, Agincourt Resources. The mine is situated in the only known habitat of the Tapanuli orangutan, which was identified as a distinct species in 2017. There are fewer than 800 of these great apes left in the wild.
The Martabe gold mine cleared about 100 hectares (about 250 acres) of forest between 2016 and 2020.
In 2019, Jardines said they wouldn’t expand further into Tapanuli orangutan habitat after pressure from the U.S.-based group Mighty Earth. But in 2021, Mighty Earth found 13 hectares (32 acres) of forest were cleared in the mining area, and in 2022, another 15 hectares (37 acres) were lost.
The clearing recently stopped because the company canceled plans for a second waste facility and changed the location for exploration.
However, Agincourt announced they will explore a new site north of the current mine, covering around 1 hectare (2.5 acres). They say this exploration is necessary to understand the area’s minerals before deciding on future development.
The new exploration site is in an area known as Tor Ulu Ala (TUA), which the Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) recognizes as a crucial biodiversity spot. These sites are important because they have a lot of species at risk of extinction, like the Tapanuli orangutan.
People are wondering why Agincourt chose to explore in the TUA area instead of somewhere else in its large concession. Amanda Hurowitz from Mighty Earth says it’s a problem because the Martabe gold mine is moving into a sensitive area. This area, designated as an AZE site, was set up to protect the critically endangered Tapanuli orangutan and other vulnerable species.
The Tapanuli orangutan has lost most of its home due to hunting, conflicts, and farming. Now, mining, building roads, and creating power plants add to the problem. This means the orangutan is even closer to disappearing forever. Researchers say if things keep going this way, the orangutan will vanish.
A group called the ARRC Task Force, which is part of the Primate Specialist Group under the IUCN, told Jardines to avoid the northern part of the Martabe concession because it’s important for the orangutan. They suggested Agincourt expand the mine south instead of north, where it might harm the orangutan’s habitat.
What’s the potential impact?
In response to concerns, Agincourt said they’re trying to minimize the impact of the new exploration on the environment. They reduced the drilling area from 3.1 hectares to just 1 hectare.
Agincourt also mentioned they got approval from a group of orangutan and conservation experts they hired, called the Biodiversity Advisory Panel (BAP). They formed the panel in 2020, and they say they let the panel work independently to identify and fix any risks to biodiversity at Martabe.
The ARRC Task Force doesn’t see the Biodiversity Advisory Panel (BAP) as independent because its members are paid by the mining company. This creates a conflict of interest. Also, the panel members review their own data, which isn’t ideal, according to the task force.
One panel member, Rondang Siregar from the University of Indonesia, said there’s a misunderstanding that Agincourt is expanding its operations blindly, putting the Tapanuli orangutan at risk.
“After talking with Agincourt, that’s not entirely true. The mining area and time frame are limited,” she told Mongabay. “Agincourt is trying hard to follow sustainability principles, especially in reducing risks to biodiversity. They’re doing more than what the law requires, and the BAP appreciates that.”
Rondang explained that the BAP looked into the TUA area to see if it could be explored. They found that Agincourt’s plan shouldn’t harm the orangutans much “because of Agincourt’s experience and procedures” and because they’re not clearing a lot of land.
Most of the proposed activities will happen in places that were already developed or explored before. Out of the 16 spots in the 1-hectare exploration site, 13 were already explored in the past, said BAP member Onrizal from the University of North Sumatra. He added that the TUA area has mostly degraded secondary forest.
Agincourt also hired an independent forestry and sustainability consulting firm to check the concession using satellite images. The assessment showed that the planned exploration and development work wouldn’t have much long-term impact, according to Jardines.
Mighty Earth disagreed with this conclusion. They said it only covered the planned exploration in the TUA area, not the impact on high carbon stock (HCS) forests in most of the KBA areas near the mine. This was based on a big map of HCS forests in Indonesia published in 2021 by ETH Zurich’s EcoVision Lab.
“So, this statement doesn’t consider the long-term impact of Agincourt’s expansion plans on HCS forests inside and outside the KBA,” Mighty Earth explained.
Limited impact?
Andi from Satya Bumi expressed doubt that the exploration will be limited to the 1-hectare area specified by Agincourt. Phil Aikman, campaign director at Mighty Earth, added that creating a new mining pit in the TUA area could have a bigger environmental impact beyond the 1-hectare footprint. This might involve building an access road from the existing pit in Ramba Joring to the TUA site.
“The expansion of the Ramba Joring pit, constructing the access road to the TUA pit, and setting up the TUA pit will need a lot of infrastructure and blasting,” Aikman explained.
Mighty Earth also pointed out that the 1-hectare figure includes all the drilling sites within the 30-hectare TUA site. This means the entire 30 hectares could be affected by the drilling and subsequent fragmentation due to infrastructure development, according to Mighty Earth.
Rondang mentioned that helicopters will be used for logistical activities during the exploration to reduce the impact. Agincourt also stated that the exploration area is located outside a protected forest area.
However, Phil Aikman pointed out that just because the area isn’t formally protected doesn’t mean it’s not crucial for biodiversity and the survival of the Tapanuli orangutan.
“Their statement is just using the term ‘protected area’ to make it seem like they’re not doing anything illegal in protected areas. It’s just PR language!” he remarked.
Jardines stated that although the presence of a Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) doesn’t prevent mining within its boundaries, it’s recommended to follow best practices for environmental stewardship. They also mentioned that Martabe has implemented leading biodiversity practices and rehabilitation procedures.
Jardines also mentioned that the boundary of the Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) was changed in January 2023, and part of Agincourt’s operational area was included. They stated that the change was made without consulting Agincourt or other affected stakeholders.
“We have contacted the KBA Secretariat to understand why the boundary was changed, and we are committed to having an open discussion with them on how we can continue to protect this important area,” Jardines said.
Andrew J. Plumptre, the head of the KBA Secretariat, clarified that the secretariat doesn’t alter boundaries.
“We review proposals for new or re-assessed KBAs, and if they meet the criteria, we approve the KBA,” he explained. “A proposal was made to adjust the boundary by people in Indonesia because they wanted to include the entire habitat of the Tapanuli Orangutan in the KBA. Forest that was left out was considered important for the ape.”
Plumptre added that being a KBA doesn’t prevent activity by private companies.
“But we encourage them to aim for a net positive impact on the species or ecosystems that trigger KBA status when they have an impact,” he said.
Regarding the ARRC Task Force’s suggestion for the mine operator to explore to the south instead of the north, Jardines stated that the gold deposits south of Martabe are near a residential area with a dense population.
“So the risk of negative community impact is too high,” Jardines said. “Additionally, these areas are not within the government-approved environmental impact assessment boundary and have not passed the government feasibility test.”
Agincourt’s last two annual reports indicate that the company has been exploring multiple areas south of the Martabe region.
Rehabilitation and clearing
Agincourt has a progressive rehabilitation plan, according to Rondang, a science panel member hired by Jardines. This was one reason why the panel supported the exploration plan, she said.
Onrizal mentioned that the panel suggested Agincourt should plant native tree species, especially those that are rare and are food sources for the Tapanuli orangutan, as part of the rehabilitation process.
Jardines stated that the new exploration areas would be rehabilitated immediately after exploration by planting local trees grown at the mine’s nursery. This aims to allow the forest to grow back as quickly and naturally as possible.
Apart from the new explorations, Agincourt plans to build a new facility for its dry mining waste, covering 78 hectares for the existing mine. This is necessary because the current wet tailings storage facility is almost full. An additional 20 hectares will be cleared mostly around the existing mining pits to ensure proper slope stability and drainage.
This means Agincourt plans to clear nearly 100 hectares of land, including secondary forest.
The location of the new tailings facility is also concerning as it sits next to the TUA, according to Mighty Earth.
“It is hard to see how the survival of this orangutan population can be ensured if Agincourt proceeds with developing the TUA pit next to the new tailings facility,” Mighty Earth commented.
Dutch biologist Erik Meijaard, part of the team that identified the Tapanuli orangutan as a new species in 2017, emphasized that the survival of the great ape is in danger.
“Anyone who cares about wildlife and biodiversity conservation should strongly oppose any further loss of the Tapanuli orangutan habitat, especially considering that the species has only about 5% left of its historic range,” he said. “There is a lot of gold in the world, but there is only one place where this species exists.”
