Intense exploitation of Indonesia’s natural resources is taking a special toll on the country’s small islands, with many subject to an outpouring of mining concessions that cover huge swaths of their tiny areas, often to the chagrin of local populations.

The village of Pekandangan sits on the border of Register 39, a 41,000-hectare protected forest containing the headwaters of the Way Seputih River. The Way Seputih is the longest and most important river in the area, providing irrigation to the rice fields in Lampung Tenga before flowing into the Betik swamp and the Java Sea.