Environmentalists are up in arms over the latest design for the Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate in Papua, which they say will see more than 1.1 million hectares of forests converted into agricultural estates.
Serikat Petani Indonesia (SPI) mengatakan program food estate di Merauke, Papua akan memberikan empat kerugian implikasi.
Chinese investors to open 1,000 hectares of rice fields in Tommo subdistrict, Mamuju regency, West Sulawesi province, Indonesia
The Agricultural Stance Coalition has rejected the government’s plan to establish a food estate in Merauke, Papua. According to them, the plan sounds reckless and letting the people of Indonesia become slaves in their own country.
"We request the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues to conduct an independent study on the impact of MIFEE and other similar businesses to Indigenous Peoples in Merauke and around the world."
Indonesia will require investors in food crop production to get local government permission before developing farms or estates in order to prevent land disputes.
Plans for a US$6 billion food estate in the Merauke region of West Papua has been attacked by farmer and environmental organisations as a land grab that would destroy 2 million hectares of virgin forest.
The Indonesian government plans to create a vast agricultural estate in the restive province of Papua, sparking fears of environmental destruction and a return of mass migration policies.
The Indonesian government's plan to develop a food estate in Papua has come in for heavy criticism for potentially marginalizing small farmers and threatening the environment.
A planned large-scale food production system in Merauke, Papua province, aimed at improving national food sustainability, could prove detrimental for locals, an activist says.
"If the government wants to eliminate famine, it should give farmers access to more land, and not give it away for corporations"