News mentions, interviews, webinars, and presentations regarding my research and investigations.
Kompas
Kompas.id featured Riski Saputra from AEER in its coverage of mining pressure on Kutai National Park, East Kalimantan. In the article, Riski explained AEER’s findings on overlapping mining concessions within the conservation area, including approximately **488.34 hectares** of BUMNU’s concession located inside Kutai National Park. The findings support AEER’s advocacy for a moratorium and comprehensive evaluation of mining activities around conservation areas.
Kompas
Kompas.id cited Riski Saputra from AEER in its coverage of floods and forest fires across Kalimantan in early 2026. Riski highlighted that flooding in East Kutai is closely linked to the degraded condition of the **Bengalon watershed**, where green areas have been opened for plantations and mining. He emphasized that the priority should shift from further extraction to **land rehabilitation, reclamation, and watershed restoration**, connecting disaster risk with broader issues of industrial permits and environmental governance.
Kompas
Kompas.id featured Riski Saputra from AEER in its coverage of environmental issues surrounding BUMNU’s mining concession in East Kutai, East Kalimantan. Riski presented AEER’s satellite-based analysis identifying at least **14 unreclaimed mining pits** covering around **361 hectares**, including one pit spanning **179.56 hectares**. He also highlighted the concession’s overlap with **Kutai National Park** and its location within the restoration-priority **Bengalon watershed**, underscoring the need for stronger accountability, concession evaluation, and ecological restoration.
Kompas
Kompas.id cited Riski Saputra from AEER in its coverage of long-standing ecological pressure on Kutai National Park, East Kalimantan. Riski highlighted AEER’s finding that a coal mining concession covering **24,391 hectares** overlaps with the national park, with **19,131 hectares**, or around **80 percent**, located inside the conservation area. The article connects illegal extraction, overlapping permits, biodiversity protection, and community livelihoods, underscoring the need for stronger evaluation of mining concessions and stricter protection of Kutai National Park.
Kompas
Kompas.id featured Riski Saputra from AEER in its coverage of East Kalimantan’s coal dependence and structural challenges in Indonesia’s energy transition. Riski emphasized the need to shift environmental governance from reactive enforcement toward preventive policy to protect forests, communities, and biodiversity. AEER’s analysis also highlighted more than **500,000 hectares** of mining permits from **156 companies** located in forest areas without PPKH, as well as concession overlaps in sensitive areas such as **Kutai National Park**.
Indonesia Business Post
Indonesia Business Post featured research findings presented by Riski Saputra from AEER during COP30-related civil society discussions on Indonesia’s coal and forest governance. AEER found that East Kalimantan had **310 coal mining concessions** covering **1.51 million hectares**, including **667,565 hectares** inside forest zones and around **507,610 hectares** of coal concessions reportedly lacking PPKH permits. The coverage highlights Riski’s advocacy for preventive regulation, forest protection, and stronger alignment between Indonesia’s domestic extractive policies and its international climate commitments.
Indonesia Business Post
Indonesia Business Post featured AEER’s research on the environmental and social risks of BTIIG’s industrial expansion in Morowali, Central Sulawesi. Riski Saputra highlighted how nickel industry activities have caused coastal sedimentation, disrupted traditional fishing grounds, and forced local fishers to travel farther offshore. AEER also found that around **3,900 hectares** of high conservation value areas are included in BTIIG’s industrial plan, raising concerns over ecological loss, local livelihoods, and the protection of the Wallacea ecosystem.
Indonesia Business Post
Indonesia Business Post featured Riski Saputra from AEER in its coverage of calls to end the nickel industry’s dependence on coal-fired captive power plants. Speaking at AIGIS 2025, Riski urged the government to halt new captive coal projects and prepare a clear phase-out roadmap for nickel smelters. The article highlights AEER’s concerns over rising nickel-sector emissions, stranded-asset risks, limited renewable energy planning in Sulawesi, and the overlap between nickel mining and around **1.2 million hectares** of natural forest.
Kompas
Kompas.id featured research by Riski Saputra from AEER on the economic valuation of forests in Morowali, Central Sulawesi. AEER’s study found that Morowali’s forests generate a total economic value of **IDR 2.81 trillion per year**, exceeding the regional government’s 2023 revenue of **IDR 1.94 trillion**. The research also showed that **IDR 1.07 trillion per year** of this forest value lies within nickel mining concessions and is at risk of being lost, challenging the narrative that nickel mining delivers greater economic benefits than forest-based livelihoods and ecosystem services.
The Business and Human Rights Centre
Business & Human Rights Resource Centre published AEER’s research by Riski Saputra and Meity Ferdiana Paskual on the threats of nickel mining to Morowali’s biodiversity and forest-based economic potential. AEER’s study identified **70 nickel mining licenses** and found that up to **133,256.84 hectares** of forest cover could be at risk. The publication highlights risks to endemic Sulawesi species, ecosystem services, water-resource protection areas, and long-term regional economic planning, while recommending a moratorium on mining in primary forests and high-biodiversity areas.