The price of progress - 12th April 2023

Indonesia's the world's largest producer of nickel and demand for this crucial metal used in electric vehicle batteries has seen nickel mining replace traditional farming areas. This has polluted the surrounding seawater, turning the sea red.

The boom in nickel mining has left many villages facing the prospect of losing their land and, consequently, their source of income. For instance, Royani and her family depend on selling cloves grown on their land.

Royani: "Clove trees are all we have. I want to send my child to college but now where can I get the money from? In Mosolo, most of the parents, who sent their children to universities, earned the money from clove farming. Nickel is only for the miners. We don't get the benefit. We'll suffer losses instead."

Many local people feel there's no option but to physically defend their land, but they're up against powerful opponents. Major economies like China and South Korea alongside car giant Tesla and Brazilian mining company Vale are mining and setting up nickel processing plants across Sulawesi. Guntur can see the impact on the village and on their way of life.

Guntur: "This is all because of the mining. To be honest, it's the mine. In the past when there were no mines, the waters were not like this. It was so clean. We could bathe and fish, now we can't. When we throw bait into the sea, then pull it out, the bait is covered in red. Before, when we threw the bait into the sea, it would stay clean."

The Pacific Ocean around the villages has turned red as contaminated water from the mines has been washed down the hills by rain. It's killing the fish which local people rely on as a source of protein.

A solution to the conflict isn't forthcoming; Indonesian President Joko Widodo announcing that the country would 'keep moving' with the aim of reaching developed nation status.