Background and Purposes of the Seminar

There have been increasing numbers of artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) activities around the world in over 70 countries, including Indonesia. The ASGM activities have been performed for the livelihood support of the community with poverty issues. However, mercury, a neurotoxin used in ASGM to get the gold, can be exposed to the human body of not only the miners but also the community, and it can contaminate the environment, including the entering of water bodies where it can be converted into methylmercury, a highly toxic form of mercury. Then, methylmercury affects humans through contaminated fish and water.

Despite the various approaches, ASGM has been an issue in Indonesia and other developing countries that have yet to be resolved. One of the significant reasons for this is a lack of information sharing among the government, stakeholders, and academic researchers. Therefore, this seminar will focus on the building of networks among the governmental officials, environmental scientists, public health professionals, and social scientists who are working in ASGM and its relevant contexts, in order to share the information, knowledge, and experience of the research on ASGM in Indonesia. We hope that the global networks strengthened through this seminar can contribute to resolving ASGM problems in Indonesia.

This seminar welcomes presentations on any topic of the followings:

General Information on the ASGM of Indonesia;
ASGM Related Environmental and Health Issues, Socioeconomic Assessments;
ASGM Related Legal Issues, and
Identification of the Factors for the Unsolved ASGM Related Problems.