Indonesia

An administrative court in West Papua Province ruled in favour of a district head who had revoked permits allowing more than a dozen palm oil companies to operate in Indigenous forest areas and turn them into plantations.

An analysis of land conflicts involving palm oil companies in Indonesia, the world’s biggest producer of the commodity, shows the country lacks effective mechanisms for addressing these problems.

A fifth of oil palm plantations in Indonesia, the world’s biggest producer of palm oil, are operating illegally inside forest areas that are off-limits to commercial agricultural activity, a new report from Greenpeace shows.

The rapid spread of oil palm plantations across Indonesia has spawned over 4,000 land conflicts, and the size of these plantations is doubling every decade. A new study, details the main causes of these conflicts and exposes the limited resources rural Indonesians have to seek resolution and redress for land loss.

Big financial institutions rake in profits bankrolling the destruction of the land, homes and livelihoods of communities who have safeguarded their forests for generations

The Indonesian government has stripped back rules protecting the environment to expedite a plan to ramp up food production through a “food estate” programme. A firm run by allies of the Minister of Defence has positioned itself to profit from the programme and is seeking $2 billion in investment.

There is a common and well-known philosophy throughout Papua, which represents the strong bond between women and nature; “Land is Mama”. We might suspect that it sounds like a romantic attachment of the stereotype of domestic work to one gender. However, it is reflected in what these Indigenous women, who fight for their land are doing.

Despite the fact that Indonesia’s deforestation rate reached a historic low in 2020, the social, cultural, and ecological wellbeing of people whose livelihoods depend on forests has continued to suffer greatly. The indigenous Marind people in Papua, for example, have seen 1.2 million hectares of their lands and forests targeted for oil palm and timber plantations as part of the Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate. This has led not only to food and water insecurity but also fundamental shifts in the food and eating habits of the Marind people. Why is this happening?

An Auckland property developer is involved in a company linked to carrying out deforestation in Indonesia, where virgin rainforest is being bulldozed to grow palm oil plantations.

Oil palm plantations are one of the most unsafe spaces for women, not only because of their vulnerable working status –mostly as casual workers – but also because of the potential for sexual violence that lurks them in and around the plantation fields.

Perusahaan kelapa sawit PT Sorong Agro Sawitindo dan PT Papua Lestari Abadi menggugat Bupati Sorong di PTUN Jayapura yang telah mengeluarkan rekomendasi pencabutan izin perusahaan perkebunan tersebut atas dasar melanggar UU Larangan Praktek Monopoli.

Sekitar 2.000 hektare lahan tanam akan ditambah di Food Estate (FE) di Kabupaten Humbang Hasundutan (Humbahas), Sumatera Utara.