Wagina’s people have become the largest exporters of seaweed in the Pacific. Photo Credit:

EnvironmentSociety Solomon Islands12. June 2021

Small Island Fights Big Against Mining – and Wins

The people of the little island of Wagina, one of the Solomon Islands in the Pacific, fought tooth and nail to prevent a mining company from digging for rocks and minerals and destroying their land, economy, and way of life – and it was all worth the fight!

In 2013, Hong Kong-based mining company Solomon Bauxite Limited was granted a permit to mine 48 km2, or 60 %, of Wagina – home to the largest seaweed farmers in the Pacific – in search of bauxite, a rock high in aluminum content. The activity would excavate some 150 truckloads of bauxite every day for 20 years.

“A mining tenement covering 60% of a small island will have tremendous environmental impacts on water quality, air quality, the ecology, and the marine environment,” said Solomon Islands’ environmental advisory committee, who overturned the mining license. “It will also have a dramatic and likely irreversible impact on the more than 2,000 residents of the island who rely on the sea and land for their livelihood.”

The islanders fought the case in court for years to ensure their right to live peacefully, believing this strongly outweighs the promise of economic and development growth.

Source:
The Guardian

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