Indonesia takes action against mining firms after floods devastate population of world’s rarest ape

The floods and landslides that tore through Indonesia’s fragile Batang Toru ecosystem in November 2024 – killing up to 11% of the world’s Tapanuli orangutan population – prompted widespread scrutiny of the extractive companies operating in the area at the time of the ecological catastrophe.For weeks, investigators searched for evidence that the companies may have damaged the Batang Toru and Garoga watersheds before the disaster, which washed torrents of mud and logs into villages, claiming the lives of more than 1,100 people.Now, the government is taking action. Over the past week, Indonesia’s president, Prabowo Subianto, has announced a number of measures to hold companies accountable over what scientists say was an “extinction-level disturbance” for the world’s rarest ape.“This is the news we have been waiting for, and the deep breath the Batang Toru ecosystem desperately needed,” said Amanda Hurowitz, the forest commodities lead at conservation nonprofit Mighty Earth, which has long been fighting threats to the Tapanuli.A search and rescue worker among the destruction and debris left by November’s flash floods in Batang Toru district, North Sumatra. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty ImagesOn Tuesday, the Indonesian government said it would revoke the permits of 28 companies, halting their operations in the area. This includes the permits for mining company PT Agincourt Resources, behind the Martabe goldmine, as well as the permit for PT North Sumatera Hydro Energy, the developer of a large hydropower project being built along the Batang Toru River. The other permits were largely focused on timber harvesting and oil palm plantations.The decision follows the results of an investigation by the country’s Forest Area Regulation Task Force.Earlier this week, the country’s environment ministry also sued six companies – identified only by their initials – for 4.8tn rupiah (£211m) over alleged links to the environmental damages in the Batang Toru ecosystem.The ministry said the six companies were responsible for unspecified damages spanning 2,500 hectares (6,200 acres) in the region’s watersheds.PT Agincourt Resources said it had only learned about the revocation of its permit from media reports. “We are following up with the regulators,” the company said in a statement to the Guardian. “The company respects every government decision and maintains its rights in accordance with applicable regulations.” Operations at the mine have been paused since 6 December.Scientists and environmental advocates have long urged the government to strengthen protections for the Batang Toru region, considering that the critically endangered Tapanuli orangutan can be found only in this patch of forest.Preliminary findings after the Sumatra floods suggest that between 6.2% and 10.5% of the Tapanuli orangutan population – which numbered about 800 – probably perished in just a few days.The Martabe mine, operated by PT Agincourt Resources, in Batang Toru, North Sumatra province, Indonesia. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty ImagesBiological anthropologist Erik Meijaard said a team would soon visit the area to fully assess effects on the orangutans in the area. But he noted that most of the landslides that had occurred in the western portion of the ecosystem, known as West Block, had little to do with the six companies that were being sued.“As far as we can see, these were primarily caused by extreme rainfall that affected forests on steep slopes in the interior of the West Block.“Of course, the hydro dam and goldmine have impacted Tapanuli orangutan habitat, but the relationship with the landslides is tentative,” he added.Still, environmental campaigners took the government’s actions as a win for the Tapanuli.“The Indonesian government must now act to permanently end any further deforestation,” Hurowitz said. “And to begin work, as it has indicated, to restore the damage that has been done, prevent any further loss of human life and offer a future for the Tapanuli orangutan.”Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow the biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield in the Guardian app for more nature coverage