Giving Compass' Take:

• Hans Nicholas Jong reports how indigenous groups and local officials from Borneo have successfully argued that a powerful coal-mining firm should not have been issued a permit without a full environmental impact assessment.

• Similar land conflicts have occurred throughout Indonesia, but this one is unique as local officials have stood alongside indigenous residents in their unwavering opposition to mining projects on their land. How can donors and environmentalists do their part to support?

• Learn about this man who has helped people in India secure their land, labor, and human rights against exploitation for precious minerals. 

Indigenous activists in Indonesian Borneo have scored a big win in a lawsuit against a coal mining firm that sought to operate on their land.

After a two-year court battle, Indonesia’s Supreme Court ruled in favour of a lawsuit that claims the permit for the mining firm, Indian-owned PT Mantimin Coal Mining (MCM) should be revoked.

The national government granted the firm a permit in December 2017 to operate in the district of Central Hulu Sungai in South Kalimantan province. The issuance of the permit surprised local activists as well as local government officials, who had for decades opposed mining and plantation projects in the district. Central Hulu Sungai is the sole district in the province that remains free of both coal mining and oil palm plantations.

With help from Walhi, Indonesia’s largest environmental NGO, local residents took MCM and the minister of energy and mineral resources to court, arguing the permit bypassed a critical step: the environmental impact assessment, which requires local approval.

In parallel to the lawsuit, opponents of the mine mobilised a movement, operating online with the hashtag #SaveMeratus in honour of the region’s rainforested Meratus Mountains, and organising the delivery of more than 1,000 handwritten letters to President Joko Widodo.

“The Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of Walhi’s claim is a win for and with the people, and now almost everyone supports the #SaveMeratus movement,” said Kisworo Dwi Cahyono, the head of Walhi’s South Kalimantan chapter.

Read the full article about barring coal in Borneo by Hans Nicholas Jong at Eco-Business.