A recent study by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), a think-tank in London, suggests that Indonesia should not overlook its 110,000-odd wildcat miners. They account for only a small fraction of the $100 billion generated annually by mining, but they deserve attention, not least for environmental reasons. They tend to be forgotten by the government, which is distracted by its relations with high-revenue foreign-owned firms.Small-scale mining should be credited as a legitimate part of the mining industry, says Sarah Best, a researcher at the IIED, if its pollution and noxious working conditions are to be improved. Indonesia needs to start “creating incentives for small-scale miners to make their operations legal”, so that they can get training and finance to make their operations safer and cleaner.
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