Here is why current best practice is insufficient to manage...

Here is why current best practice is insufficient to manage biodiversity impacts of nickel laterite mining in the tropics.Current best practice is to assess and manage impacts on a site-by-site basis. This approach has worked for decades, at a time when laterite nickel mines occupied only a fraction of the ultramafic rainforests. Impacts on the unique ultramafic ecosystem were temporary and limited to just a part of the system. Wildlife could move away from a mining area because there was plenty of other similar ultramafic rainforest nearby.This approach is no longer sufficient.Over 60% of the world nickel supply comes from the tropical ultramafic rainforest. The world's largest ultramafic outcrops, in Sulawesi and Halmahera, are also the world's largest nickel producing regions. Over 30% of these ultramafic rainforests are or will be impacted by habitat loss by nickel mining, while the remainder will likely be subject to habitat loss for agriculture as well as habitat fragmentation or habitat avoidance. The entire ecosystem is at risk.A site-by-site approach will no longer work. While it is possible to rehabilitate mined out regions, the wildlife no longer has the ability to move to other ultramafic rainforests during the temporary disturbance.The scale and coverage of nickel mining can no longer be considered on an individual project basis. A regional approach is needed, where cumulative impacts of the nickel industry (and other activities) are taken into account.There is a lot at stake here. For more information on why the ultramafic rainforests are a conservation priority, see my previous post: https://lnkd.in/gxGAYtu2This is a complex problem. Placing blame on local miners is not the answer. The problem has arisen as a result of the collective failure of the broader nickel industry to respond to the demand growth. It has been left to Indonesia alone to respond and carry the burden of the industry.We need collaboration between public and private sectors, and need the support of the entire battery supply chain. But all of this amounts to a Sisyphean task. What's really needed is another source of nickel. The market needs a choice, and Indonesia should not be the only place to supply the world's nickel needs.