Budiarti Putri – It's been seven months since the Indonesian government announced the revocation of four active mining licences in Raja Ampat, West Papua, following widespread public criticism catalysed by the #SaveRajaAmpat campaign.
On June 10, 2025, following a public outcry over nickel mining activities in Raja Ampat, the government announced the revocation of the licences of PT Kawei Sejahtera Mining, PT Anugerah Surya Pratama, PT Mulia Raymond Perkasa, and PT Nurham.
But while taking these initial critical steps, it failed to permanently shut down PT Gag Nikel, a state-run mining company, and the largest operating in the area.
Moreover, the public has not seen any official revocation letters to support the announced bans, despite the Energy Ministry's claims and Greenpeace Indonesia's attempts to request information.
There is also no evidence that the government plans to enforce (or carry out) environmental restoration of the areas affected by mining and exploration. In December 2025, Greenpeace conducted an aerial survey and found no evidence of restoration efforts on the mined islands.
What's more, some members of the Indigenous communities in Raja Ampat have their own concerns. The presence of nickel mining has torn apart the community, and even individual families. Extractive industries have damaged the fragile social fabric by favouring some community members and excluding others.
This makes it difficult to believe that the mining companies have complied meaningfully with their obligation to obtain free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) from the communities close to their mining operations.
It appears that the government may be only waiting for the controversy to subside before allowing companies to resume mining operations. One Raja Ampat islander told Greenpeace he had already heard rumours that a nickel mining company is exploring ways to resume operations this year.
Performative governance
There is a pattern here: the government moves to appease public outcry by annulling problematic policies, including those related to the environment, only to restore them when no one is looking.
Iza Ding, the author of The Performative State: Public Scrutiny and Environmental Governance in China, defines 'performative governance' as the state's theatrical deployment of visual, verbal, and gestural symbols to foster an impression of good governance before an audience of citizens.
She argues that when state capacity – in terms of logistical ability and political authority – is low and scrutiny is intense, we are likely to see performative governance delivered to appease public opinion.
When the #SaveRajaAmpat campaign was at its height, the general wish of the public was to stop the nickel mining operation. Drone Emprit, which monitors social media conversation, has offered an analysis of the keywords' Raja Ampat' and '#SaveRajaAmpat'.
It found there were 4,016 articles and 14,506 mentions on this matter during June 1 to 9, 2025. Of the 23,631 mentions on social media, 95% were negative towards government policy. Social media users were concerned that nickel mining would harm the Raja Ampat ecosystem and urged Prabowo to stop the entire nickel mining operation in the archipelago.
On June 10, 2025, four ministers announced that the President had decided to revoke four mining licences of companies operating in the area. The question is: would they have done so if there had not been public protests against the mining operation there?
The media have long put a spotlight on the environmental destruction caused by nickel mining activities in Raja Ampat. In 2022, Kompas published articles exposing PT Gag Nikel's operations. Not long after, an article published in The Jakarta Post also expressed the concerns of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) about the potentially adverse impacts of the nickel project on Gag Island for the tourism industry.
Moreover, public protests have been carried out locally by the Raja Ampat Nature Protection Alliance (Aliansi Jaga Alam Raja Ampat) in response to a new nickel mining licence issued for PT Mulia Raymond Perkasa in Batang Pele and Manyaifun. These are islands near the Wayag and Piaynemo archipelagos, two renowned tourist attractions popular for their karst hill scenery and marine biodiversity.
But although public scrutiny was clearly high, and the Indonesian government has the logistical ability and political authority to ensure protection for Raja Ampat, it seem to lack the political will to do so.
Environmental destruction still ongoing
Greenpeace Indonesia's analysis found that nickel mining operations in Raja Ampat have deforested more than 500 hectares of forest on these small islands. Forests have been destroyed, and rainwater runoff now carries sediment from the cleared areas, causing reef-smothering elevated turbidity in the sea. When Greenpeace observed Kawe Island in December 2025, we saw the same water discolouration on the shore that we had seen six months earlier.
Nickel mining threatens not only the ecosystem but also Indigenous peoples and local communities in Raja Ampat, who depend on the ocean for their livelihoods through fishing and tourism.
Sacrificing ecosystems and people for projected growth in demand for nickel driven by energy transition is unjustifiable. The government must, therefore, provide full and permanent protection for Raja Ampat, as well as for other vulnerable and significant ecosystems, such as small islands.
Indigenous peoples' territories must also be safe from unwanted development, and sites designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Global Geoparks, or Global Biosphere Reserves must be protected.
Raja Ampat has been designated a UNESCO Global Geopark since 2023, and in September 2025, it was announced as a UNESCO biosphere reserve. Without full and permanent legal protection, nickel mining companies may soon resume operation there. While it is the government's responsibility to protect Raja Ampat, the public – especially civil society organisations – must also unite to oversee and ensure its implementation.
Safeguarding our environment requires strong political will, not mere rhetoric to appease the people. In this critical period of twin climate and biodiversity crises, we cannot afford to lose more forests, corals, and other living species – the glue that holds our planet together.