Jakarta. Nickel miner Vale Indonesia recently took home the 2024 Subroto Award for the community development and empowerment performance category.

Vale has developed a pineapple agrotourism program in Tabarano, a village in South Sulawesi, in partnership with the local government. As part of the program, Vale has helped transform the disaster-prone idle land into a sustainable agricultural area. This not only helps make the region more environmentally resilient but also helps boost community welfare.

Vale reported that it had donated 15,000 pineapple seedlings that were planted on 1.5 hectares of land to keep the area drought-free.

The program also helps spur job opportunities as it trains locals to grow pineapples by producing their very own organic fertilizers. The Tabarano Pineapple Agrotourism also functions as a social, recreational, and educational center, according to Vale’s chief sustainability and corporate affairs officer Bernadus Irmanto.

"Every step we take, including the Tabarano Pineapple Agrotourism program, reflects our commitment to the environment and society. Sustainability is a shared responsibility, and we hope this program can provide significant benefits for the community to face future challenges," Bernadus was quoted as saying in a press statement.

Bernadus said that Vale had adopted a holistic approach in implementing its environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles. This enables the company to create a synergy between sustainability and industry. The freshly earned award would also motivate Vale into creating more programs that have a positive impact on the environment and society. Other initiatives include waste management, tree planting, and public health programs that focus on improving the quality of life.

Tabarano village head Rimal Manukallo commented on the partnership with Vale Indonesia.

"With this pineapple agrotourism, we can empower residents in need. We have also employed a number of residents [in this project]. We also plan on expanding this [agrotourism] area in the future,” Tabarano village head Rimal Manukallo said.

"We plan to build facilities such as compost and production houses. We also want to develop it into a tourism destination,” Rimal said.

In 2018, Vale won the Subroto Award for the best environmental management. It then won an award the following year for the mining environmental protection category. The company also brought home an award for having the most innovative health-related community empowerment program in 2022.