Regency plots green path despite sitting on rich veins of gold

Indonesia’s southern paradise’ is focusing on environmentally friendly projects

- Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja

TRENGGALEK, East Java - Indonesia's so-called southern paradise, the hilly Trenggalek regency filled with lush green trees and vegetation, is fighting to retain its identity, as an unwelcome mining giant from Australia eyes massive gold deposits buried underneath the land.

Nine of the 14 sub-regencies in Trenggalek's total land area of 126,000ha nearly double the size of Singapore sit on rich veins of gold, with the previous regent issuing in 2005 a gold mining exploration permit to a little-known local company, which then tied up with Australia's publicly listed Far East Gold.

But the current regent of Trenggalek, Mr Mochamad Nur Arifin, is determined not to exploit this natural resource and has pivoted from his predecessor's direction to focus on environmentally friendly projects and policies.

The majority of the regency's 756,000 population rely on their natural surroundings of forest and sea to earn a living, planting hundreds of thousands of durian, clove and mangosteen trees, and offering back-to-nature tourism.

Natural forests make up about a half of the total area of the regency, which is located on the southern coast of Indonesia's main island of Java.

Far East Gold drilled a number of holes to obtain samples, but has been blocked by the local government from conducting further mapping and exploration works since several years ago, Mr Arifin said. Far East Gold did not reply to The Straits Times' request for comments.

Mining for gold would destroy the regency's natural environment, said Mr Arifin, who became regent when his predecessor left office in 2017. He was re-elected in 2020.

Mr Arifin emphasised that any long-term economic strategy that the regency undertakes should be environmentally friendly to ensure the benefits are sustainable, arguing that a gold mine would benefit only one generation.