Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Mining · Indonesia · 2018–2026

Halmahera nickel complex (IWIP, Weda Bay) and the Hongana Manyawa

Nature's voice · report
At least 5,331 hectares of my tropical forest in the Halmahera nickel licence areas had been cleared by the end of 2023.
Did nature suffer? Yes. Harm is on record. Disputed
Recorded
  • Chromium and nickel in my Sagea and Ake Jira rivers were measured above the limit. China Global South
  • Arsenic in the fish of the gulf was found to be 20 times higher than in 2007. China Global South
  • The coal plants that power the complex can emit about 28.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year when running at full capacity.
  • At least 5,331 hectares of my forest were lost.
    Tropical forest cleared in Halmahera nickel licence areas by end-2023 (CRI).
  • At least 75,000 hectares of my forest were lost.
    Forest cleared for nickel in Indonesia as a whole (Mighty Earth); a further 500,000 ha lies within concessions.
People
  • 1,726 people were displaced or listed for relocation.
    Displaced by floods in July 2024; 1 death recorded.
What the record lacks: 2 none on record · 1 insufficient · 1 self-reported only · 3 disputed See the gaps
Accounts of the harm differ
Who is responsible for the pollution of the Sagea river?
  • Researchers CELIOS, via China Global South: Chromium and nickel were measured above limits in the Sagea and Ake Jira rivers, and arsenic in gulf fish was about 20 times higher than in 2007. China Global South
  • Company or project IWIP and Weda Bay Nickel: Say they are not responsible for the pollution at Sagea.

Nickel mines and smelters on the Indonesian island of Halmahera overlap the territory of the Hongana Manyawa, some of whom live without contact with the outside world. Climate Rights International and other groups report forest clearance, river pollution and health effects; companies dispute parts of the account.

5,331 haTropical forest cleared in Halmahera nickel licence areas by end-2023 (at least)
Figure from Climate Rights International, as reported by BHRRC and Mongabay.

Status As of October 2026: the state seizure of 148 ha of Weda Bay Nickel's area (September 2025) is the only enforcement action in the sources reviewed; Survival International and Eramet still differ over whether uncontacted people live in the licence area.

What?
A nickel mining and processing complex on Halmahera, powered by captive coal, overlaps the territory of the Hongana Manyawa; groups report forest clearance, river and fish contamination and health effects, and companies dispute parts of this account. China Global South
Where?
Halmahera island, North Maluku, Indonesia (IWIP, Weda Bay). Climate Rights International
When?
From 2018 to 2026 in the record; seizure in September 2025. Indonesia Business Post
Who?
Gained
Lost
  • Hongana Manyawa — More than three quarters of the Weda Bay Nickel licence area overlaps their territory (Survival International). Survival International
Harmed
  • Tropical forest — At least 5,331 ha cleared by end-2023. Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
  • Sagea and Ake Jira rivers and gulf fish — Chromium, nickel and arsenic reported above limits or earlier levels. China Global South
  • Residents of Lelilef — Respiratory infection cases at the village clinic rose from 434 (2020) to 10,579 (2023).
Why?
Indonesia banned raw nickel exports in 2020 and promotes domestic processing for an electric-vehicle battery industry. China Global South
How?
Through nickel mining and refining powered by captive coal plants, under a 'national strategic project' exception to the ban on new coal plants.
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

The Indonesia Weda Bay Industrial Park (IWIP) on Halmahera island is a nickel processing complex. IWIP's partners are Tsingshan, Huayou and Zhenshi. The Weda Bay Nickel mining company is owned by Tsingshan (51%), Eramet (39%) and Antam (10%). Its licence area is about 45,000 hectares. Indonesia banned raw nickel exports in 2020 and presents domestic processing as the basis of an electric-vehicle battery industry.

The complex runs on coal. IWIP relies on 14 captive coal plants, not connected to the grid, with a capacity of 4.54 gigawatts and annual emissions of about 28.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide at full operation. Across Indonesia, captive coal capacity reached 19.3 gigawatts in July 2025, and all new additions were tied to nickel, made possible by a 'national strategic project' exception to Presidential Regulation 112/2022, which otherwise bans new coal plants. According to the energy research group CREA, 83% of Indonesia's 2025 nickel output went to stainless steel and 17% to batteries.

Climate Rights International (CRI) reported that at least 5,331 hectares of tropical forest were cleared in Halmahera nickel licence areas by the end of 2023. Other records cited in the sources reviewed include a rise in acute respiratory infection cases at the Lelilef village clinic from 434 in 2020 to 10,579 in 2023, at least 13 serious floods since IWIP was established, chromium and nickel above limits in the Sagea and Ake Jira rivers, and arsenic in gulf fish about 20 times higher than in 2007. IWIP and Weda Bay Nickel say they are not responsible for the pollution at Sagea.

Survival International says the Hongana Manyawa number about 3,500, that about 500 of them live without contact with the outside world, and that at least 19 companies mine on their land. It says more than three quarters of the Weda Bay Nickel licence area overlaps this territory and cites leaked reports it says show the company has known of uncontacted people since 2013. Eramet says it has found no evidence of uncontacted people. In November 2025 Ngigoro protested at Eramet's Paris headquarters. Most of the figures on the Hongana Manyawa come from an advocacy organisation; no independent count exists.

In September 2025 an Indonesian forest task force seized 148 hectares of Weda Bay Nickel's area, which it said was an unpermitted area of 444 hectares, and set a penalty of 6.5 billion rupiah per hectare for nickel; 71 companies were fined a total of 38.9 trillion rupiah. In June 2024 BASF withdrew from a planned US$ 2.6 billion project with Eramet on Halmahera; the sources reviewed do not give BASF's reason.

  1. 2013Year from which, according to Survival International citing leaked reports, Eramet knew of uncontacted people in the area
  2. 2018Start of the ownership record for IWIP and Weda Bay Nickel
  3. 2020Indonesia bans raw nickel exports; Lelilef clinic records 434 acute respiratory infection cases
  4. 2023By end-2023 at least 5,331 ha of forest cleared in Halmahera nickel licence areas (CRI); Lelilef clinic records 10,579 acute respiratory infection cases
  5. 2024July: floods displace 1,726 people (1 death recorded); June: BASF withdraws from the Sonic Bay project with Eramet; Survival International publishes its Hongana Manyawa figures
  6. 2025June: groundbreaking of a battery plant partnered with CATL; July: captive coal capacity 19.3 GW; September: forest task force seizes 148 ha of Weda Bay Nickel's area; 27 November: Ngigoro protests at Eramet's Paris headquarters
  7. 2026China Global South publishes CELIOS analysis of the Weda Bay expansion (9 October); Weda Bay 2026 quota reduced to 12 from 32 million wet metric tonnes (as reported)

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

Do uncontacted Hongana Manyawa live in the Weda Bay licence area?
Communities and civil society
Survival International

About 500 of the roughly 3,500 Hongana Manyawa live without contact; more than three quarters of the Weda Bay Nickel licence overlaps their land; leaked reports show the company has known since 2013.

Survival International
Company or project
Eramet

Found no evidence that uncontacted people live in the area.

Who is responsible for the pollution of the Sagea river?
Researchers
CELIOS, via China Global South

Chromium and nickel were measured above limits in the Sagea and Ake Jira rivers, and arsenic in gulf fish was about 20 times higher than in 2007.

China Global South
Company or project
IWIP and Weda Bay Nickel

Say they are not responsible for the pollution at Sagea.

Has the government acted equally on nickel permits elsewhere?
Communities and civil society
Survival International

Noted that the government revoked nickel permits in Raja Ampat to protect tourism but did not take the same step for the Hongana Manyawa.

Government and regulators
Forest task force

Seized 148 hectares of Weda Bay Nickel's 444-hectare unpermitted area in September 2025.

Indonesia Business Post

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • A groundbreaking in June 2025 for a US$ 6 to 7 billion battery plant partnered with CATL, promoted as the 'world's first integrated mine-to-battery ecosystem'.
    As promoted at the June 2025 groundbreaking (promoter not named in the sources reviewed)
  • Launch of 11 industrial projects worth US$ 10.2 billion on Halmahera.
    President Prabowo Subianto · China Global South

Recorded

  • At least 5,331 hectares of tropical forest cleared in Halmahera nickel licence areas by the end of 2023.
    Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
  • Captive coal plants at IWIP: 14 plants, 4.54 GW, about 28.6 million tonnes of CO₂ a year at full operation.
  • Chromium and nickel above limits in the Sagea and Ake Jira rivers; arsenic in gulf fish about 20 times higher than in 2007.
    China Global South
  • Forest task force seized 148 ha of Weda Bay Nickel's area in September 2025, of an unpermitted area of 444 ha.
    Indonesia Business Post

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
No figure published.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
Currency: USD · Window: . All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

  • eramet (2024): Said it has found no evidence of uncontacted people in its licence area.
  • iwip (2025-2026): IWIP and Weda Bay Nickel said they are not responsible for the pollution at Sagea.
  • weda-bay-nickel (2025-2026): Said, with IWIP, that it is not responsible for the pollution at Sagea.

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

Insurers

No insurer decision on record.

What nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

Forest cleared in licence areas
At least 5,331 ha
By end-2023 (Climate Rights International)
Arsenic in gulf fish
About 20 times the 2007 level
As reported by CELIOS via China Global South
Captive coal power at IWIP
14 plants, 4.54 GW
About 28.6 million tonnes of CO₂ a year at full operation

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

Nature

  • Disputed Who is responsible for the pollution of the Sagea river?

Accounts

  • Disputed Do uncontacted Hongana Manyawa live in the Weda Bay licence area?
  • Disputed Has the government acted equally on nickel permits elsewhere?

Record

  • None on record The exact site of the CATL-partnered battery plant is not known; one record places the groundbreaking within 12 miles of where an uncontacted group was filmed.
  • None on record Eramet's full-year 2025 results are not available in the sources reviewed.
  • Self-reported only No independent count of the Hongana Manyawa exists; population, uncontacted numbers and the licence overlap come from Survival International.
  • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: the account of Eramet's knowledge of uncontacted people since 2013 rests on reports Survival International says were leaked.

Did the harm stop?

The sources reviewed record no end to the clearance or discharges. In September 2025 the state seized 148 hectares of Weda Bay Nickel's area for unpermitted forest use; the licence area is about 45,000 hectares.

Who paid?

Not established in the sources reviewed. The reports cited describe the forest, the Sagea and Ake Jira rivers, gulf fish, Lelilef residents and the Hongana Manyawa as affected.

Sources

Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society— Researchers

Press and investigations

Communities and civil society

Connected cases

Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
Terms used on this page

Science and environment

Hectare (ha)
A unit of area equal to 10,000 square metres, about 2.5 acres. 100 hectares make one square kilometre.

Insurance

Captive insurer, self-insurance
A company covering its own risks, either directly or through an insurance company it owns.

Institutions

OECD complaint
A complaint filed with a government's National Contact Point under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises; the process is mediation, not a court.
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