A local gold trader shows a piece of gold after he purchased it from a gold miner at the mine site in Poboya in Indonesia, Central Sulawesi province April 12, 2012. Photo by Reuters
Indonesia is launching a large-scale campaign to destroy about 1,400 illegal gold mines in the Mount Halimun Salak National Park area in Sukabumi district, West Java province.
In November alone, local authorities have closed nearly 300 mining sites.
Rudianto Saragih Napitu, the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry’s director for forestry crime enforcement, said that the illegal mining activities are only beneficial for investors, not for the local people working in the mines.
The government is supporting positive partnerships but not the destruction and exploitation of nature, he added.
Illegal gold mining is common in Indonesia, causing deforestation, river pollution, and loss of national resources. Hotspots for illegal gold mining are concentrated in Jambi, West Sumatra, West Kalimantan, Central Sulawesi, some areas in Maluku, and some national parks such as Halimun Salak.
