Strengthening Local Residents’ Capacity for Community-Based Environmental Monitoring in the Mining Area of Mimika, Central Papua

Authors

  • Obed Patiung Politeknik Amamapare, Indonesia
  • Frederik Irsan Delu Politeknik Amamapare, Indonesia
  • Abd. Rahim Politeknik Amamapare, Indonesia
  • Nilam Sry Putri Politeknik Amamapare, Indonesia
  • Mapuay Menasye Theo Afasedanya Politeknik Amamapare, Indonesia
  • Oktavianty Batto Politeknik Amamapare, Indonesia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.61255/vokatekjpm.v4i2.1409

Keywords:

Community-Based Monitoring, Community Service, Environmental Literacy, Mimika, Mining.

Abstract

Mimika Regency, Central Papua, is a socially and ecologically significant area due to its strong connection with mineral mining activities, which require local communities to have adequate environmental literacy and basic monitoring capacity. This community service program aimed to strengthen local residents’ understanding of mining-related environmental risks and improve their ability to conduct simple community-based environmental monitoring. The program was conducted in Atuka Village, Mimika Tengah District, Mimika Regency, Central Papua, involving 10 participants consisting of local residents, community leaders, youth representatives, and local community groups. A participatory-educational approach was applied through four stages: needs assessment, environmental literacy education, simple environmental monitoring training, and evaluation followed by action planning. The training materials covered mining-related environmental impacts, reclamation and post-mining concepts, simple water quality observation, dust and noise identification, and community-based environmental reporting. The results showed that participants’ understanding increased from an average pre-test score of 49.4 to an average post-test score of 79.8, indicating an improvement of 30.4 points. The program also produced a simple environmental monitoring sheet and an initial plan to establish a community-based environmental monitoring group. These findings indicate that practical environmental literacy training can serve as an initial empowerment model for promoting community participation, transparent communication, and sustainable environmental governance in mining-related areas.

Abstract views: 49 , PDF downloads: 30

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Akbar, D., Rolfe, J., Lechner, A. M., Everingham, J.-A., & Kinnear, S. (2021). Workshop processes to generate stakeholder consensus about post-mining land uses: An Australian case study. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 64(2), 334–358. https://doi.org/10.1080/09640568.2020.1764341

Albagli, S., & Iwama, A. Y. (2022). Citizen science and the right to research: Building local knowledge of climate change impacts. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 9(1), 39. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-022-01040-8

Anindhita, T. A., Zielinski, S., Milanes, C. B., & Ahn, Y. (2024). The protection of natural and cultural landscapes through community-based tourism: The case of the Indigenous Kamoro Tribe in West Papua, Indonesia. Land, 13(8). https://doi.org/10.3390/land13081237

Atienza, M., Lufin, M., & Soto, J. (2021). Mining linkages in the Chilean copper supply network and regional economic development. Resources Policy, 70, 101154. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2018.02.013

Azubuike, S. I., Nakanwagi, S., & Pinto, J. (2023). Mining resource corridor development in Nigeria: Critical considerations and actions for a diversified and sustainable economic future. Mineral Economics, 36(1), 59–75. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13563-022-00307-5

Ballard, H. L., Lindell, A. J., & Jadallah, C. C. (2024). Environmental education outcomes of community and citizen science: A systematic review of empirical research. Environmental Education Research, 30(6), 1007–1040. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2024.2348702

Bănăduc, D., Simić, V., Cianfaglione, K., Barinova, S., Afanasyev, S., Öktener, A., McCall, G., Simić, S., & Curtean-Bănăduc, A. (2022). Freshwater as a sustainable resource and generator of secondary resources in the 21st century: Stressors, threats, risks, management and protection strategies, and conservation approaches. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(24). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192416570

Berigüete, F. E., Santos, J. S., & Cantalapiedra, I. R. (2024). Digital revolution: Emerging technologies for enhancing citizen engagement in urban and environmental management. Land, 13(11). https://doi.org/10.3390/land13111921

Blesia, J. U., Wild, S., Dixon, K., & Lord, B. R. (2021). Corporate community relations and development: Engagement with Indigenous peoples. Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 12(4), 811–845. https://doi.org/10.1108/SAMPJ-10-2018-0278

Bonney, P. R., Hansen, B. D., & Baldwin, C. (2023). Citizen science and natural resource management: A social network analysis of two community-based water monitoring programs. Society & Natural Resources, 36(6), 600–621. https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920.2023.2183445

Boullier, H., & Henry, E. (2022). Toxic ignorance: How regulatory procedures and industrial knowledge jeopardise the risk assessment of chemicals. Science as Culture, 31(4), 480–503. https://doi.org/10.1080/09505431.2022.2062319

Brondízio, E. S., Aumeeruddy-Thomas, Y., Bates, P., Carino, J., Fernández-Llamazares, Á., Ferrari, M. F., Galvin, K., Reyes-García, V., McElwee, P., Molnár, Z., Samakov, A., & Shrestha, U. B. (2021). Locally based, regionally manifested, and globally relevant: Indigenous and local knowledge, values, and practices for nature. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 46, 481–509. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-012220-012127

Cendejas, J. C., Ramírez, L. M., Zierold, J. R., Valenzuela, J. D., Ibarra, M. M., Tagle, S. M. S. de, & Téllez, A. C. (2021). Evaluation of the impacts of land use in water quality and the role of nature-based solutions: A citizen science-based study. Sustainability, 13(19). https://doi.org/10.3390/su131910519

Chaudary, M. S. A. (2025). Lithium dreams, local struggles: Navigating the geopolitics and socio-ecological costs of a low-carbon future. Energy Research & Social Science, 121, 103952. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2025.103952

Cooke, S. J., Cook, C. N., Nguyen, V. M., Walsh, J. C., Young, N., Cvitanovic, C., Grainger, M. J., Randall, N. P., Muir, M., Kadykalo, A. N., Monk, K. A., & Pullin, A. S. (2023). Environmental evidence in action: On the science and practice of evidence synthesis and evidence-based decision-making. Environmental Evidence, 12(1), 10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13750-023-00302-5

Danielsen, F., Eicken, H., Funder, M., Johnson, N., Lee, O., Theilade, I., Argyriou, D., & Burgess, N. D. (2022). Community monitoring of natural resource systems and the environment. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 47, 637–670. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-012220-022325

Domingo, J. P. T., Jenkin, G. R. T., Quick, L., Williams, R. D., Hudson-Edwards, K. A., Tortajada, C., Byrne, P., Coulthard, T. J., Padrones, J. T., Crane, R., Gibaga, C. R. L., Vasilopoulos, G., Tungpalan, K., Samaniego, J. O., Biles, E., Tanciongco, A. M., Chambers, J. E., Quimado, M. O., Bautista, A. T., … Arcilla, C. A. (2024). Sustainable mining in tropical, biodiverse landscapes: Environmental challenges and opportunities in the archipelagic Philippines. Journal of Cleaner Production, 468. https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/117685/

Dominguez-Rendón, E., Villada-Canela, M., & Muñoz-Pizza, D. M. (2024). Community strengthening through citizen monitoring of water quality: A systematic review. PLOS ONE, 19(7), e0305723. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0305723

Ewunetu, A., Simane, B., Teferi, E., & Zaitchik, B. F. (2021). Land cover change in the Blue Nile River headwaters: Farmers’ perceptions, pressures, and satellite-based mapping. Land, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.3390/land10010068

Florkowska, L., & Bryt-Nitarska, I. (2026). Social responsibility of science in the sustainable development of mining and post-mining areas. Applied Sciences, 16(2). https://doi.org/10.3390/app16020776

Freschi, G., Menegatto, M., & Zamperini, A. (2024). Conceptualising the link between citizen science and climate governance: A systematic review. Climate, 12(5). https://doi.org/10.3390/cli12050060

Giljum, S., Maus, V., Sonter, L., Luckeneder, S., Werner, T., Lutter, S., Gershenzon, J., Cole, M. J., Siqueira-Gay, J., & Bebbington, A. (2025). Metal mining is a global driver of environmental change. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, 6(7), 441–455. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-025-00683-w

Guerrero, G., & Sjöström, J. (2025). Critical scientific and environmental literacies: A systematic and critical review. Studies in Science Education, 61(1), 41–87. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057267.2024.2344988

Gupta, S., Carroll, J. M., & Tsai, C. (2025). Distance matters in citizen-based water quality monitoring. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 9(CSCW7), CSCW289:1–CSCW289:25. https://doi.org/10.1145/3757470

Haroon, M., & Hayyat, M. (2025). Assessing the dual impact of gold mining on local communities: Socio-economic benefits and environmental challenges. Resources Policy, 103, 105559. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105559

Jose, S. A., Calhoun, J., Renteria, O. B., Mercado, P., Nakajima, S., Hope, C. N., Sotelo, M., & Menezes, P. L. (2024). Promoting a circular economy in mining practices. Sustainability, 16(24). https://doi.org/10.3390/su162411016

Kourouma, J. M., Monde, C., Phiri, D., & Syampungani, S. (2023). Community-centred approach for assessing social sustainability in mining regions: A case study of Chingola district, Zambia. Sustainable Development, 31(4), 3102–3127. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.2572

Kumi, S., Adu-Poku, D., & Attiogbe, F. (2023). Dynamics of land cover changes and condition of soil and surface water quality in a mining-altered landscape, Ghana. Heliyon, 9(7). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e17859

Li, T., Desta, F., & Buxton, M. (2026). Recent advancements in digital management and monitoring of mine waste: Sensors, characterization, and predictive modeling—A review. Sensors, 26(11). https://doi.org/10.3390/s26113553

Ma, H., Zhang, D., Xiao, L., Wang, Y., Zhang, L., Thompson, C., Chen, J., Dowell, S. D., Axmacher, J. C., Lü, Z., & Turvey, S. T. (2022). Integrating biodiversity conservation and local community perspectives in China through human dimensions research. People and Nature, 4(6), 1461–1474. https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10408

McEwen, L., Roberts, L., Holmes, A., Blake, J., Liguori, A., & Taylor, T. (2022). Building local capacity for managing environmental risk: A transferable framework for participatory, place-based, narrative-science knowledge exchange. Sustainability Science, 17(6), 2489–2511. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-022-01169-0

Michalec, O., Milyaeva, S., & Rashid, A. (2022). Reconfiguring governance: How cyber security regulations are reconfiguring water governance. Regulation & Governance, 16(4), 1325–1342. https://doi.org/10.1111/rego.12423

Miklian, J., & Katsos, J. (2025). Unlocking the peace premium: An evidence-based review of the potentials and pitfalls of private sector finance for conflict transformation. Social Science Research Network. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5922662

Mina, R., Ruslan, A., Saleng, A., Wahid, A. M. Y., & Niroula, B. (2026). Enhancing mining supervision to protect the environment through collaborative community-based monitoring. Journal of Law, Environmental and Justice, 4(1), 1–28. https://doi.org/10.62264/jlej.v4i1.227

Mokodompit, L., Kasnawi, M. T., Abdullah, S., & Radjab, M. (2024). The interaction of tradition and modernity in the leadership of Papuan Indigenous peoples: The case of the Comorian Mimika Tribe, Indonesia. International Journal of Qualitative Research, 4(1), 44–56. https://doi.org/10.47540/ijqr.v4i1.1418

Nath, S., & Kirschke, S. (2023). Groundwater monitoring through citizen science: A review of project designs and results. Groundwater, 61(4), 481–493. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwat.13298

Pagouni, C., Pavloudakis, F., Kapageridis, I., & Yiannakou, A. (2024). Transitional and post-mining land uses: A global review of regulatory frameworks, decision-making criteria, and methods. Land, 13(7). https://doi.org/10.3390/land13071051

Parsons, M., Godden, N. J., Henrique, K. P., Tschakert, P., Gonda, N., Atkins, E., Steen, K., & Crease, R. P. (2025). Participatory approaches to climate adaptation, resilience, and mitigation: A systematic review. Ambio, 54(12), 2005–2020. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-025-02202-z

Perera, E. D., Moglia, M., Glackin, S., & Woodcock, I. (2023). The intention-implementation gap for community involvement in urban waterways governance: A scoping review. Local Environment, 28(4), 495–517. https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2022.2155941

Pouresmaieli, M., Ataei, M., Nouri Qarahasanlou, A., & Barabadi, A. (2024). Building ecological literacy in mining communities: A sustainable development perspective. Case Studies in Chemical and Environmental Engineering, 9, 100554. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cscee.2023.100554

Ren, H., Zhao, Y., & He, T. (2025). Remote sensing in mining-related eco-environmental monitoring and assessment. Remote Sensing, 18(1). https://doi.org/10.3390/rs18010103

Robins, L., van Kerkhoff, L., Rochmayanto, Y., Sakuntaladewi, N., & Agrawal, S. (2022). Knowledge systems approaches for enhancing project impacts in complex settings: Community fire management and peatland restoration in Indonesia. Regional Environmental Change, 22(3), 100. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-022-01960-w

Shao, G. P. P., & Bishop, I. J. (2025). Citizen science in river monitoring: A systematic literature review of the whys and hows. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2025.1609084

Sholihah, W., & Gharesifard, M. (2025). Citizen science for water quality monitoring: Analyzing key parameters, success factors, and research gaps for aquaculture. Environmental Management, 75(10), 2583–2595. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-025-02261-8

Simpson, G. B., Ferguson, K., Slingerland, N., Jewitt, G. P. W., Alekseenko, A. V., Simpson, Z. Z., Ennis-John, J., Hattingh, R., & Stock, K. (2025). Integrating the sustainable development goals into post-mining land use selection. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 31974. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-15980-z

Skarlatidou, A., Haklay, M., Hoyte, S., van Oudheusden, M., & Bishop, I. J. (2024). How can bottom-up citizen science restore public trust in environmental governance and sciences? Recommendations from three case studies. Environmental Science & Policy, 160, 103854. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2024.103854

Sun, X., Liu, Y., Guo, S., Wang, Y., & Zhang, B. (2021). Interregional supply chains of Chinese mineral resource requirements. Journal of Cleaner Production, 279, 123514. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.123514

Taylor, M., Davison, A., & Harwood, A. (2024). Local ecological learning: Creating place-based knowledge through collaborative wildlife research on private lands. Environmental Management, 73(3), 563–578. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-023-01907-9

Tengö, M., Austin, B. J., Danielsen, F., & Fernández-Llamazares, Á. (2021). Creating synergies between citizen science and Indigenous and local knowledge. BioScience, 71(5), 503–518. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biab023

Tibbett, M. (2024). Post-mining ecosystem reconstruction. Current Biology, 34(9), R387–R393. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2024.03.065

Walker, D. W., Smigaj, M., & Tani, M. (2021). The benefits and negative impacts of citizen science applications to water as experienced by participants and communities. WIREs Water, 8(1), e1488. https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1488

Willetts, J., Priadi, C., Ombasta, O., Wulandari, D., Imtiyaz, I., Sudhiastiningsih, N. N. S. N., Kohlitz, J., Mills, F., & Listyasari, M. (2022). Co-developing evidence-informed adaptation actions for resilient citywide sanitation: Local government response to climate change in Indonesia. Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 49(8), 2129–2150. https://doi.org/10.1177/23998083221098740

Wright, D. S., Crooks, K. R., Hunter, D. O., Krumm, C. E., & Balgopal, M. M. (2021). Middle school science teachers’ agency to implement place-based education curricula about local wildlife. Environmental Education Research, 27(10), 1519–1537. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2021.1960955

Yu, Y., Appiah, D., Zulu, B., & Adu-Poku, K. A. (2024). Integrating rural development, education, and management: Challenges and strategies. Sustainability, 16(15). https://doi.org/10.3390/su16156474

Zerbian, T., Moragues-Faus, A., López-García, D., & García-García, L. (2024). Territorialising knowledge-policy interfaces: Lessons from urban food governance spaces. Environmental Science & Policy, 161, 103883. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2024.103883

Downloads

Published

2026-06-26

How to Cite

Patiung, O., Delu, F. I., Rahim, A., Putri, N. S., Afasedanya, M. M. T., & Batto, O. (2026). Strengthening Local Residents’ Capacity for Community-Based Environmental Monitoring in the Mining Area of Mimika, Central Papua. Vokatek: Jurnal Pengabdian Masyarakat, 4(2), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.61255/vokatekjpm.v4i2.1409

Issue

Section

Articles