Venezuela experienced devastating earthquakes over a month ago, and to this day the nation is rebuilding while coping with a multitude of developing environmental and health risks.
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
African nations have secured $900 million in new financial commitments to expand access to clean cooking technologies. The International Energy Agency (IEA) made the announcement last week that these technologies will be replacing polluting fuels with cleaner alternatives.
This new commitment adds onto the $2.2 billion pledge that was announced at the inaugural Africa Clean Cooking Summit in Paris in 2024, bringing the total commitments to over $3.1 billion. All of the money will be used to expand access to cleaner cooking fuels, stoves, and other infrastructure across Africa.
The funding was announced during a virtual meeting on clean cooking in Africa convened by IEA and Kenya. Leaders also looked back at the progress they made last summit and outlined their upcoming priorities before another gathering later this year.
About 1 billion people across Africa lack access to clean cooking, and typically rely on charcoal, firewood, and other polluting fuels that the IEA says contribute to an estimated 850,000 premature deaths annually.
Kenyan President William Ruto, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright, African Union commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy Lerato Mataboge, and IEA executive director Fatih Birol were some of the leaders that attended the meeting.
Clean cooking in general refers to the use of low-emission fuels and technologies. For example, tools and techniques that use ethanol, biogas, and electricity instead of traditional fuels. Cleaner options reduce air pollution and improve health outcomes for millions of households in Africa.
“Access to clean cooking is one of the most impactful yet overlooked challenges of our time,” said US Energy Secretary Wright, who also emphasized that it directly affects the lives of billions of people, “particularly women and children.”
President Ruto said that financing remained the biggest obstacle to achieving universal access to clean cooking technologies across Africa.
“Ambition alone is not enough. It must be backed by investment.”
IEA executive director Birol stated that the IEA’s latest reports show that $740 million has already been deployed across 22 African countries, which accounts for about one-third of the commitments initially announced in Paris.
“The additional $900 million in commitments demonstrates growing momentum, with more expected before the next summit,” Birol said.
The IEA also released a report that showed governments have introduced 121 new clean cooking policies across over 30 African countries since the Paris summit. Those nations account for around 80% of Africans without access to clean cooking.
The agency will also be working with the African Union to help strengthen clean cooking policies and enact a more widespread continent-wide strategy.
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
In the digital age, most of us have the experience of our old devices piling up in bins and drawers as we upgrade them over the years. While electronics can be recycled, it can feel difficult to figure out the specifics of how to properly dispose of each individual item, but it’s important that we do.
According to the United Nations’ most recent estimates, the world generates millions of tons of electronic waste (e-waste) annually. In 2022, for example, people around the world produced 137 billion pounds of e-waste with only 22% of it being properly recycled.
The Environmental Protection Agency echoed those estimates, claiming that less than a quarter of e-waste is recycled in the US every year.
When e-waste goes to regular landfills, the devices can emit harmful materials that can hurt our environment. They also contain metals that are hard to source, so recycling is the best option to maintain sustainability.
Rick Neitzel, an environmental health sciences professor, said:
“The way that we’re creating and using and disposing of these devices has generated this completely unsustainable waste stream, and there’s no signs of that abating at all. In fact, the trend continues to accelerate.”
If more electronics were properly recycled, it could also drive down to costs of some newer electronics.
Electronics have such a wide range of materials and types, making recycling seem daunting. Recyclers need to be able to extract each component and material efficiently, which can be a complex, energy-intensive, and expensive process, Neitzel said.
Components such as steel, aluminum, copper, gold, silver, plastics and even glass, can be recovered and reused, said John Shegerian, founder of Electronic Recyclers International, to AP.
“These electronics — which could and have historically ended up in our landfills or in other inappropriate places — can leak all the stuff that’s contained there within: Mercury, lead, cadmium, beryllium, arsenic. All these things are horrible if they get into our environmental ecosystem,” Shegerian said.
If one of your devices is newer and still in working condition, manufacturers can potentially refurbish and resell it. There are organizations that will also refresh and reset these devices to give them to those in need or community-type centers to be utilized for free by many.
If you think your device can no longer be refurbished, checking in with a manufacturer is still a great place to start when it comes to being guided in the right direction on properly disposing your device.
“The manufacturers are where we want this stuff to end up because they know their products, they know best and most efficiently how to recycle them,” Neitzel said.
There are major retailers that also offer recycling services. Stores like Best Buy and Staples often accept big and small devices for recycling, and can even help with larger items like refrigerators and televisions.
Many local governments also have information regarding where to drop off certain electronics in your specific area, so make sure to check out your community websites and local offices for information as well.
“Typically, if you’re dropping them off at a government-run electronic waste collection station, you can be confident in that,” Neitzel said.
There are many online resources that you can also use to mail-in your old devices to have them properly disposed of. Many websites such as Waste Management, Amazon, Best Buy, and others will send you boxes directly to your door to fill up and mail out for disposal.
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
Los Angeles, California will be hosting the 2028 Summer Olympic Games. In the most recent Summer Games, hosted in Paris, there were major strides made in sustainability and protecting the environment while holding the world’s most anticipated athletic competition.
Throughout the Paris Olympics, the total CO2 emissions equated to 1.59 million tons, which is less than half of the average emissions at both the London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro 2016 Games, according to reports from Forbes Magazine.
Becky Dale, the Vice President of Sustainability for Los Angeles 2028 said that they’re ready and willing to try to become even more green than the Paris Games, which have become the new standard for sustainability.
“It’s the great thing about the sports industry: everyone wants to win, including sustainability. Every time you host, you want to up the ante.”
Dale cited the 2028 Game’s Impact and Sustainability Plan, which outlines how the city is committed to reducing waste, utilizing materials that can be put back into the community.
Nurit Katz, UCLA’s Chief Sustainability Officer, collaborated with Dale to give a presentation on how they plan on making the Games greener than ever. The two presented the plan at the Energy Innovation Conference at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management.
LA 2028 also released an Impact and Sustainability Plan, “a structured document laying out how organizers plan to maximize the Olympic’s sustainability potential,” Blythe Lawrence for Forbes wrote.
One of the biggest aspects of this plan is that LA is not planning to build any new venues for hosting the event. This is major because the last time the Olympics took place without any new construction being built beforehand was London in 1948.
The sustainability plan wrote: “[LA was] built for large, live-scale events, from the Grammys and the Academy Awards to the FIFA World Cup and the Super Bowl. With the region’s abundance of existing world-class stadiums and arenas ready to host the Games today, athletes at the 2028 Games will have access to exceptional fields of play and fans will enjoy unbeatable spectating.”
This automatically sets LA up for being much greener than previous Olympic Games. Not only will there be a reduction of carbon emissions from the lack of construction, but it entails that every competition venue will take place within a 35-mile radius of downtown LA, so transport around from the Olympic village to each venue won’t take as much energy/emissions.
Dale went on to explain that almost all of the materials used for the Games will be reused in some way after the Olympics are over.
“The target is to have 90% of materials used for temporary infrastructure reused or recycled. LA will rely on a combination of rentals, buybacks, and donations to ensure reuse of as much material as possible,” she stated.
The plan also noted that the electricity used to power venues will be fully renewable by using the grid to reduce the Games’s carbon emissions.
Dale stated that the organizers will be enhancing public transit to motivate fans to to take it from one venue to another.
“Our big challenge is how do we make public transportation the most attractive option for people coming to the Games? Ultimately people are creatures of free will, but there are ways to create incentives and smooth the path so we can make it a more desirable option,” she said.
Katz also discussed at the conference that the Olympics going green doesn’t necessarily mean that the planning and implementation of the new sustainable measures will be more expensive than the average cost of putting on the Games.
“There’s very much a myth that going green or being sustainable always has to cost more. Some of our initiatives, especially around energy efficiency or around reducing waste, really have operational savings.”
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
Planning the perfect vacation is dependent on a lot of specific factors. Besides the location, one must take into consideration the time of year, tourist opportunities, and weather conditions. Many people research the “best time to visit” their destination to ensure they get the most out of their travel experience.
However, in today’s world, many people are facing climate-driven disruptions when it comes to planning their vacations. Summers are extremely hot, winters are extremely cold, and the seasons in between are just as unpredictable when it comes to weather events and how it will impact a multitude of destinations.
Australia, for example, recorded the hottest March on record this year and Japan’s famous cherry blossom season saw the beautiful trees blooming earlier than ever this year.
“The planet’s warming since around 1980 is making heatwaves, droughts and floods more frequent and severe. All three of these are most common during summer, when travel peaks,” said Jonathan Erdman, senior meteorologist at The Weather Company‘s weather.com, to the BBC.
“Extremely wet and dry periods can happen any time of year – including shoulder season – if the weather pattern gets stuck for a while.”
One of the most traditional ways that travelers plan their trips is looking into the “best time to visit” their destination. The term refers to the peak travel seasons of particular locations, and often will be the times where the weather is nice, there’s easy access to tourist experiences, and fewer crowds in more popular destinations.
Travel agents have stated their struggle to help their clientele find these ideal times because of how unpredictable the world is now. For example, Juliana Shrestha, co-founder of Duluwa Outdoors, a female-led Nepal-based company that provides educational outdoor experiences, said inconsistency in weather is a major challenge.
“Earlier, when clients asked for a snow trek in December, we could suggest options like Annapurna Base Camp, but now, it’s harder to say confidently whether conditions will be right. We just don’t know anymore,” she said to the BBC.
Reports also show that even short-term weather predictions are less dependable due to the current state of climate change, according to Stanford research.
“When it comes to critical details like current weather conditions, or even basic advice like ‘bring a mask because of the pollution’, they either don’t know or don’t think it’s necessary to share,” Sherestha said.
Shrestha also discussed how within the industry, a lot of agencies omit climate realities which leave their clients unprepared for potential weather events and can ruin a lot of experiences.
“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to make money, but are you treating customers like numbers, or are you guiding them into a thoughtfully curated experience, with transparency?”
“[Some agencies] don’t build an idea of a place based on reality, but an idealized version, and it doesn’t get updated,” said Laura Hall, a travel writer and journalist.
Hall continued to explain that some of the “idealized versions” stem from an avoidance to accept that there are now travel experiences that aren’t the same as they used to be. Social media creates an even greater unrealistic picture of many of the world’s most famous sites, and since most people book their trips months, or even years, in advance, timing can also make it difficult.
“It’s unlikely you’ll be scrolling through news articles while booking and stumble upon a warning that it’s going to be over 40C,” Hall said.
Shrestha said that the industry needs to adopt empathy and the ability to adapt in order to give their clients the best vacation possible. Tour operators should prepare travelers of potential disruptions on their trips by recommending what to pack for unpredictable weather.
Additionally, they need to set realistic expectations and encourage the purchase of travel insurance with backup plans should itineraries fall through. Shrestha also said that for Duluwa Outdoors specifically, they rely on the local’s expertise and ensure all of their guides have visited the sites they recommend at a recent time.
“While we can’t predict exact conditions at the time of booking, this helps us give real-time updates closer to the trip. We don’t believe in blanket answers like, ‘September is the best time,'” says Shrestha.
Susanne Etti, a global environmental impact manager at Inrepid Travel, told the BBC that with extreme weather on the rise more travelers are utilizing what’s known as “shoulder season trips.”
“We’re seeing this trend really take off in Europe, with global bookings for some of our top summer spots, like Italy, Spain and Portugal, shifting to spring and autumn.”
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, extreme weather disruptions are only going to get worse as time goes on, even if “global warming stays within 1.5C.”
“This reality gives us a real chance to rethink how we design trips, stay agile and build a future for tourism that’s genuinely better,” Etti says.
“A future where destinations can grow sustainably and actually offer travellers a richer, more meaningful experience than they do now.”
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
New Zealand announced its plans to start charging international tourists fees in order to visit some of their countries most famous natural sites. With these transactions, New Zealand is hoping to make it easier for local businesses to operate on conservation land and allow room for ecological, cultural, and economic growth.
Reports indicate the government is planning to charge visiting tourists NZ$20-40 ($12-24) per person in order to gain access to their famous sites. These sites will include spots such as Cathedral Cove/Te Whanganui-a-Hei, Tongariro Crossing, Milford Track and Aoraki Mount Cook.
According to the plans, the fees will likely be implemented in 2027.
Tama Potaka, the conservation minister, estimated that the new fees could generate up to NZ$62 million annually, “so we can keep investing in the sites that underpin so much of our tourism sector.”
The implementation of these new fees is a part of a larger-scale plan to shift the nation’s conservation law regarding selling or exchanging conservation land so more activities can occur in these places without needing a permit.
“In the spirit of saying yes to more jobs, more growth and higher wages, the government would unleash a fresh wave of concessions including in tourism, agriculture and infrastructure at some locations,” prime minister Christopher Luxon said on Saturday, according to the Guardian.
Conservation land makes up one third of New Zealand territory and it is protected and publicly owned. It’s known for its biodiversity, historic, and cultural value.
“Some businesses such as ski fields and grazing already operated on conservation land but many other businesses struggled to gain the same permission,” Luxon said. This is just one of many newer policies in New Zealand that is seeking to loosen regulation on natural sites in the name of economic growth.
Last year, the government passed a law that will potentially allow for contentious mining and infrastructure projects to be fast-tracked for approval. There have also been proposed law changes to make it easier for companies to kill protected wildlife for infrastructure projects.
Conservation and climate initiatives are also experiencing budget cuts.
Critics are speaking out against these new policies, stating its irresponsible to risk harming not only the environment but vulnerable and protected species. New Zealand is known for their biodiversity, but like the rest of the world, many species are threatened by endangerment and on the brink of extinction.
Green party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick said “Luxon was putting profit above the protection of nature,” according to the Guardian.
“That tells us everything we need to know about who he thinks he works for. It’s not regular people, future generations or a healthy environment,” she said in a statement to the Guardian.
“[The latest reforms] represent the most significant weakening of conservation law in a generation and would increase pressure on vulnerable species,” said Nicola Toki, the chief executive of New Zealand’s largest conservation organisation, Forest & Bird.
“They shift the focus from protection to exploitation, dismantling the very purpose of our national parks and conservation lands.”
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
This summer, dozens of biodegradable pods containing about 1,000 mosquitos each were dropped by drone in the forests of Hawaii. While releasing a high population of mosquitos into a natural environment may seem like a questionable choice, it’s all in the name of conservation and wildlife protection.
The mosquitos themselves are non-biting male mosquitos that carry a common bacterium that will ensure new eggs don’t hatch when the males mate with wild females, according to reports from CNN.
The main goal for this is to help control the archipelago’s invasive mosquito population which is greatly impacting the native bird population, particularly among rare Hawaiian honeycreepers.
The birds play a central role in Hawaiian culture, as they are key pollinators and seed dispersers. Reports indicate that at one time, there were more than 50 known species of honeycreepers in Hawaii, and now there are only 17 left, and they are mainly endangered.
Just last year, the ‘akikiki, a small gray bird, was practically extinct in the wild, and less than 100 of the yellow-green ‘akeke’e are estimated to still be alive. According to Dr. Chris Farmer, Hawaii program director for the American Bird Conservancy (ABC), one of the biggest “existential threats” is avian malaria, which is spread by mosquitoes.
Mosquitos themselves are not actually native to Hawaii, and were initially reported on the islands in 1826. It’s believed that they were unintentionally carried over to the islands by whaling vessels and “caused waves of extinction,” according to Farmer. Many native birds have no resistance to malaria, including the honeycreepers.
Mosquitos are also known to thrive in warmer tropical habitats, so the low elevations of Hawaii’s islands are a perfect breeding ground. Farmer stated that the higher mountains of the islands offer refuge for honeycreepers and other avian species.
“With climate change, we are seeing warmer temperatures and we’re watching the mosquitoes move up the mountains. [In places like Kauai] we’re watching the populations of birds there just completely plummet.”
“It’s a constant march of mosquitoes moving up as the temperatures allow them and the birds getting pushed further and further up until there’s no habitat left that they can survive in. If we don’t break that cycle, we’re going to lose our honeycreepers,” Farmer emphasized.
Conservationists have long been looking for a way to maintain and protect the honeycreeper population by controlling mosquitos. Farmer stated that this has been no easy feat, as mosquitos are far spread throughout the large landscape of the islands.
Pesticides have been one solution, however, they also damage other native insect populations that are integral to the multiple ecosystems throughout Hawaii.
Mosquitos in general are also a major threat to human health, as they spread diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, the zika virus, and more. The recent move to drop drones among Hawaii is a part of a solution known as the Incompatible Insect Technique (IIT).
The IIT involves releasing male mosquitos that contain a strain of bacteria that causes non-viable eggs to be laid when they mate with females. Over time, with repeated releases, the wild population should decline.
In 2016, ABC teamed up with Birds, Not Mosquitos, a multi-agency partnership dedicated to protecting Hawaiian honeycreepers. The agencies decided that IIT would have the greatest success rate when it came to helping protect the bird population while investigating how to combat avian malaria.
“The mosquito that transmits avian malaria is different from the one that transmits human malaria,” explained Farmer.
Due to this difference, Farmer and his team began testing various strains of Wolbachia, the naturally occurring bacteria in the male mosquitos, to determine which would provide the greatest success rate.
The process was extensive and took many years due to a “combination of the science, community engagement and the regulatory process. Naturally, whenever you say, ‘I want to release millions of mosquitoes in the forest,’ people have a lot of very legitimate questions.”
“We have a rough estimate for how many mosquitoes there are in the wild, and we try to release 10 times as many of these Wolbachia mosquitoes, so (that they) find these females and are able to mate with them, and then their eggs don’t hatch. Right now, we’re releasing 500,000 mosquitoes a week on Maui and 500,000 mosquitoes a week on Kauai,” says Farmer.
“[This is] the first known instance of specialized mosquito pods being dropped by drones. We have more flexibility with deployment timing in areas that generally have very unpredictable weather and it’s safer because no humans need to ride in the aircraft to deploy the mosquitoes,” says Adam Knox, project manager for ABC’s aerial deployment of mosquitoes.
“[It also] reduces costs, team flight times, emissions and noise, which in turn means cheaper, more sustainable deployments,” he stated.
Farmer is predicting it will be about a year before they see real results of the most recent deployment, and they’re hoping that will buy them enough time for the bird population to recover. He’s confident that they’ll see at least some improvement, which could mean amazing things for the future of conservation.
“We have the ability to save these species. If we don’t save these birds in this decade, then they probably won’t be here for the future. And so the ability to make a difference in the world, make a difference in the future, motivates us all.”
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
Blue sharks are known for their glorious shimmer and glow with one of the rarest colors found in nature. Scientists have now discovered how the shark’s bodies are able to pull this off, and it involves microscopic crystals and pigments hidden within their skin.
A new study on the blue shark has shown that intricate nanostructures within their skin created the animal’s blue hue and allows for its subtle shifts in color, according to Sci Tech Daily.
“Blue is one of the rarest colors in the animal kingdom, and animals have developed a variety of unique strategies through evolution to produce it, making these processes especially fascinating,” says Dr. Viktoriia Kamska, a post-doctoral researcher in the lab of Professor Mason Dean at City University of Hong Kong.
More specifically, the researchers found that the vivid blue appearance is from structures located inside the pulp cavities of dermal denticles, which are tiny, tooth-like scales that form a layer of protection over the shark’s skin.
The cavities contain what are known as guanine crystals which reflect blue light. They also have melanin-filled vesicles called melanosomes that absorb other wavelengths.
“These components are packed into separate cells, reminiscent of bags filled with mirrors and bags with black absorbers, but kept in close association so they work together,” explains Dr. Kamska.
“When you combine these materials together, you also create a powerful ability to produce and change color,” says Professor Dean.
“What’s fascinating is that we can observe tiny changes in the cells containing the crystals and see and model how they influence the color of the whole organism.”
“We started looking at color at the organismal level, on the scale of meters and centimeters, but structural color is achieved at the nanometer scale, so we have to use a range of different approaches,” he stated.
Dr. Kamska and her collaborators used simulations to confirm which architectural parameters the nanostructures within the sharks are credited for the specific wavelengths.
“It’s challenging to manually manipulate structures at such a small scale, so these simulations are incredibly useful for understanding what color palette is available,” says Dr. Kamska, who added that certain environmental conditions can also impact how the shark shifts its color.
“In this way, very fine scale alterations resulting from something as simple as humidity or water pressure changes could alter body color, which then shapes how the animal camouflages or counter-shades in its natural environment,” says Professor Dean.
Dr. Kamska added that as the sharks swim deeper, the increase in pressure causes the guanine crystals to get tighter and closer together, so the color darkens to better suit their surroundings.
“The next step is to see how this mechanism really functions in sharks living in their natural environment,” says Dr. Kamska.
“Not only do these denticles provide sharks with hydrodynamic and antifouling benefits, but we’ve now found that they also have a role in producing and maybe changing color too,” says Professor Dean.
“Such a multi-functional structural design —a marine surface combining features for high-speed hydrodynamics and camouflaging optics— as far as we know, hasn’t been seen before.”
“A major benefit of structural coloration over chemical coloration is that it reduces the toxicity of materials and reduces environmental pollution,” says Dr. Kamska.
“Structural color is a tool that could help a lot, especially in marine environments, where dynamic blue camouflage would be useful.”
“As nanofabrication tools get better, this creates a playground to study how structures lead to new functions. We know a lot about how other fishes make colors, but sharks and rays diverged from bony fishes hundreds of millions of years ago – so this represents a completely different evolutionary path for making color,” said Professor Dean.
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
Groups of environmental activists, Native Americans advocating for their homeland, and protestors have joined together in the Florida Everglades to voice their objection to the construction of an immigrant detention center being referred to as “Alligator Alcatraz.”
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
Environmental campaigners recently shared images showing how nickel mining has stripped forests and polluted waters in the Raja Ampat archipelago, one of the most biodiverse marine habitats on Earth. The photographers shared the images with the BBC of what is referred to as the “Amazon of the Seas.”
According to the organization Global Witness, mining for nickel has increased in the archipelago, located in Indonesia’s Southwest Papua Province, in recent years. Nickel is mined and used to create electric vehicles.
Papuans hold placards reading “revoke all nickel mining permits in Raja Ampat immediately” during a protest on June 10, 2025
To combat this issue, the Indonesian government revoked permits for four out of five mining companies that are operating in the area this month. Indonesia’s Ministry for the Environment recently released a statement in which they said:
“Raja Ampat’s biodiversity is a world heritage that must be protected. We pay great attention to mining activities that occur in the area.”
The recent photos showed environmental damage already done to the archipelago, showing forest loss and sediment run-off into the waters which are home to a largely biodiverse coral reef ecosystem.
Global Witness told the BBC that between 2020 and 2024 the land that’s been used for mining has increased greatly, and is equivalent to around 700 football pitches.
While conversationists are happy about the government’s recent decision to protect the islands and reefs, they’re concerned that the mining companies will pursue legal action to reverse it. One company that operates on Gag Island has been able to continue its mining with the government ordering the “restoration of the ecological impacts that occur there.”
Dr. Mark Erdmann, a coral reef conservationist and ecologist told the BBC that he was “blown away and so happy” about the government ceasing operations on the archipelago.
“This is the global epicenter of marine biodiversity.”
Papuans hold placards, reading “mining must fall”, “stop destroying our beloved homeland”, and “Resist all forms of state policies that exploit Papua’s natural resources and people”
Dr. Erdmann has been working in Raja Ampat for over 20 years and has worked hard to protect the marine environment and forests there. When it comes to the recent protections put into place, Dr. Erdmann credits the population in Indonesia for the decision.
“It was a voice of outrage from the Indonesian people that made the government pay attention.”
Indonesia is responsible for more than half of the world’s nickel mine production, according to reports from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. A 2024 study by Forest Watch Indonesia reported a connection between the loss of forests associated with mining activity, flooding, and landslides.
The demand for critical minerals is greatly impacting the economic decisions being made around the world. Dr. Erdmann stated that balancing economic growth with environmental protection is a major issue in Indonesia. “It has a lot of nickel – one way or the other, some of it’s going to come out of the ground,” he said.
Dr. Michaela Guo Ying Lo from the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology led a study in 2024 regarding the impact of mining on local communities in Sulawesi, a large Indonesian island that contains most of the nation’s nickel deposits.
“Indonesia is positioning itself globally in the nickel market, but it’s important not to forget what’s happening locally,” Dr Lo said.
“They say nickel is a solution to the climate crisis, but it’s causing deforestation and destroying farmland,” Imam Shofwan, an environmental campaigner, stated.
“The nickel dilemma is a horrible one. Mining is always going to be environmentally impactful and we all tend to think that electrification is a good idea. But what is the acceptable damage that we’re willing to see,” Dr. Erdmann said.
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.