Biodiversity

Merdeka Copper Gold preserves biodiversity in the areas where mining operations take place through reclamation, rehabilitation, and the protection of flora and fauna. In order to operate mines in forest areas, Merdeka holds a Borrow to Use Forest Permit (PPKH) issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry.

Within the PPKH areas, the Merdeka Group only clears land that is required for mining operations, leaving quite a lot of forest areas to serve as a habitat for existing flora and fauna. These areas are consistently monitored and protected through the involvement of independent parties.

In the PPKH areas used for mining operations, the Merdeka Group restores land conditions by implementing progressive reclamation—reclamation that is carried out once a site has been used, without waiting for the completion of the entire operation.

The Merdeka Group carries out reforestation which PPKH holders must carry out. For Java Island, where the forest cover is less than 30% of the land area, the PPKH holder must provide compensatory land at least twice the size of the land opening. Meanwhile, for Merdeka operations outside of Java, where the forest cover is still above 30%, the rehabilitated area is critical land determined by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry.

Reclamation and reforestation plans for forest areas by each Merdeka Group mining operation are presented, approved, and reported annually in the Work Plan and Budget (RKAB). Reclamation activities are regulated by the Environmental Impact Analysis documents (AMDAL), Reclamation Plans (RR), Mine Closure Plans (RPT), and Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Decree No. 1827/2018 on the Guidelines for Implementing Good Mining Technical Practices.

Delimukan Wetar (Gallicolumba hoedtii) in the Wetar Copper Mine (Photo: Aksenta).

In 2022, the Tujuh Bukit Gold Mine planted 8,233 tree seedlings and reclaimed an area of 4.19 hectares, bringing the total reclaimed land by the end of 2022 to 67.54 hectares. In the same year, the Wetar Copper Mine planted 1,944 tree seedlings and reclaimed an area of 3.11 hectares, making the total reclaimed land by the end of 2022: 18.18 hectares.

The Merdeka Group’s operations that are required to carry out reforestation are the Tujuh Bukit Gold Mine in Banyuwangi, East Java; Wetar Copper Mine on Wetar Island, Southwest Maluku; and the Pani Gold Project in Pohuwato, Gorontalo, Sulawesi.

Tujuh Bukit Gold Mine’s Compensation Land Rehabilitation
According to the East Java Province regulation, the Tujuh Bukit Gold Mine, which utilizes a production forest area of 992.86 hectares, must compensate twice the size of the utilized area or 1,985.72 hectares. The land compensation for the Tujuh Bukit Gold Mine comprises two locations: Bondowoso, East Java, covering 630.96 hectares, and Sukabumi, West Java, covering 1,354.76 hectares.

By the end of 2022, the compensation land in Bondowoso has been fully reforested and officially handed over to the government in early 2023. Meanwhile, since 2021, 1,362.97 hectares of the Sukabumi compensation land have been reforested and handed over, and the remaining 68.41 hectares will be handed over to the government in 2023.
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Tujuh Bukit Gold Mine compensation land.

Wetar Copper Mine’s Watershed Rehabilitation
According to the regulations, the Wetar Copper Mine is required to rehabilitate Watershed Areas (Daerah Aliran Sungai or DAS). Rehabilitation is to be carried out for the Lurang River Watershed covering 154.5 hectares, with a density of 625 tree seedlings per hectare. By 2022, the Wetar Copper Mine has rehabilitated 3.11 hectares and planted 1,944 tree seedlings, resulting in a total DAS rehabilitation of 18.18 hectares by the end of 2022.*

Planting seeds by throwing them in the Lerokis Watershed on Wetar Island.

Pani Gold Project’s Watershed Rehabilitation
The Pani Gold Project has three PPKH areas from three companies: Gorontalo Sejahtera Mining (GSM), Pani Sejahtera Emas Peak (PETS), and Pani Bersama Tambang (PBT). The rehabilitation that needs to be carried out by the Emas Pani Project is the rehabilitation of a watershed area (DAS) covering 110 percent of the area of each PPKH.

GSM has the first PPKH (2017) covering 999.90 hectares and the second PPKH (2019) covering 787.67 hectares. The rehabilitation obligation for the first PPKH was carried out by rehabilitating the Randangan Watershed in Iloheluma Village (Pohuwato District), the Limboto Watershed in Dunggala Village, Bua Village, Huntu Village, and Pilobuhuta Village (Gorontalo District), and the Upper Wanggarasi Watershed in Central Wanggarasi Village (Pohuwato District). The rehabilitation of the three watersheds was carried out in two phases, namely 500 hectares by planting 550,000 seeds in 2016 and 600 hectares by planting 660,000 seedlings in 2022, so that the total area is slightly larger than the 1,089 hectares required by the government (110 percent of the area of GSM’s first PPKH). For GSM’s second PPKH, the rehabilitation location has been determined.

In addition, PETS has a PPKH permit covering an area of 93.90 hectares with an obligation to rehabilitate a watershed area of 104 hectares, which is planned to be carried out in the Randangan Watershed in Pancakarsa 1 Village, Taluditi District, Pohuwato Regency.

PBT, which only has a PPKH of 289.08 hectares in 2022, has not yet determined a location for watershed rehabilitation.

Both Merdeka Group’s operations are adjacent to protected forest areas. The forest area within the Tujuh Bukit Gold Mine‘s PPKH is approximately 8.8 km from a nature conservation area, while the PPKH area of the Wetar Copper Mine is about 3.5 km away from a protected forest area. Both mine operations, with the involvement of independent parties, regularly monitor the flora and fauna living in the open land within the PPKH areas that are not used for mining operations. PT Bumi Suksesindo, the operator of the Tujuh Bukit Gold Mine, has published the book Flora Tujuh Bukit and Satwa Liar di Operasi Tujuh Bukit (Wildlife in the Tujuh Bukit Operation) as the company’s effort to document and distribute knowledge obtained from routine observations of flora and fauna.

In the forest areas managed by both mine operations, there are several protected species occupying the highest conservation status in The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Some of these animals are endemic species legally protected in Indonesia. These wildlife species can continue to thrive safely within the well-preserved PPKH areas.