It’s the fire season in Indonesia. The haze is not as bad as last year, but once again Riau province in Sumatra was shrouded in smoke. Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency has set itself the target of putting out the fires by October.
West Papua
There are 26 posts filed in West Papua (this is page 1 of 2).
Indonesia: President Jokowi extends the moratorium and announces a 4.6 million hectare land grab
Last week, Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo agreed to extend the country’s moratorium on new forestry concessions. Also last week, Jokowi visited Papua and relaunched the disastrous Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE).
Deforestation in West Papua: The role of PT Austindo Nusantara Jaya, The Nature Conservancy, REDD, RSPO, and Wilmar
PT Austindo Nusantara Jaya Tbk (ANJ) is an Indonesian palm oil company, that is clearing forest in West Papua to make way for an oil palm plantation. George Tahija is a commissioner of PT ANJ and a member of both The Nature Conservancy (TNC) Indonesia Chapter Advisory Board and the TNC Asia Pacific Council.
PT Austindo Nusantara Jaya’s ongoing forest destruction for palm oil in West Papua
PT Austindo Nusantara Jaya Tbk (ANJ) is an Indonesian palm oil company, with a land bank of more than 140,000 hectares. Of this the plantable area is 96,528 hectares, of which 44,143 hectares has so far been planted. The company is currently clearing forest in West Papua to make way for a further 40,500 hectares of oil palm plantations.
Indonesia’s rate of deforestation has doubled under the moratorium
A recent study revealed that the Indonesian government has been telling lies about its rate of forest loss. The study found that between 2000 and 2003 the rate of deforestation in Indonesia was about one million hectares per year. In the years 2011 and 2012, the rate doubled to about two million hectares per year.
Indigenous peoples’ rights and the status of forest land in Indonesia
A recent meeting in Indonesia addressed three important issues facing the future of the forests in the country: gazettement of state forest; exclusion of indigenous peoples’ forest from the state forest; and the resolution of forestry conflicts.
MIFEE’s massive seizure of indigenous lands is causing starvation and poverty in Papua
The Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE) industrial plantations project is having serious impacts on people and forests in Papua province, Indonesia. Forest Peoples Programme’s Sophie Chao visited the project area earlier this year and reports that “disease and undernourishment are rampant”.
Missing the Poorest for the Trees?
“In order to be both effective and equitable, REDD+ will require large areas of land with clear tenure arrangements. Yet many developing countries suffer from conflicts over land ownership and continue to exclude local communities from land use decisions. How will REDD+ impact peace and security in these countries?”
Indonesia’s Constitutional Court returns customary forests to indigenous peoples
Yesterday, Indonesia’s Constitutional Court ruled that indigenous peoples’ customary forests should not be classed as “State Forest Areas”. This is a landmark ruling and an important step for the recognition of indigenous peoples’ rights in Indonesia.
Dorjee Sun, Ulu Masen and The Burning Season
At a presentation at the 2012 meeting of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, Dorjee Sun talked briefly about his involvement in forest protection and carbon trading. “We made front page of Time magazine with our project in Indonesia”.
Indonesian NGOs demand action: “Saving Indonesia’s Remaining Forests Can No Longer be Delayed”
Yesterday in Jakarta, a coalition of NGOs held a press conference to demand that the Indonesian government takes meaningful action to protect Indonesia’s remaining forests. Among their demands is that the two-year moratorium on new forest concessions should be extended beyond May 2013.
Indonesia treats its indigenous peoples “worse than any other country in the world” – Survival International
On 13 September 2007, the Indonesian Government adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Five years later, Survival International announced that “Indonesia treats its indigenous and tribal people, especially in West Papua, worse than any other country in the world.” What went wrong?
Interview with Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, head of Indonesia’s REDD+ Task Force: “We are starting a new programme, a new paradigm, a new concept, a new way of seeing things”
Interview with Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, head of Indonesia’s REDD+ Task Force. Jakarta, May 2012. A second interview followed with Heru Prasetyo, Deputy I UKP4 and a member of the REDD+ Task Force[*], in July 2012.
After one year, Indonesia’s forest moratorium isn’t working
Indonesia is now half way through its two-year moratorium on forest concessions. The moratorium was implemented as part of a US$1 billion REDD deal between Indonesia and Norway. Most of Norway’s money is to be performance based, and given the results so far, it doesn’t look like Norway will be handing over much cash any time soon.
65 cents per hectare: The cost of land for oil palm plantations in West Papua
An new report by the Environmental Investigation Agency and Telapak reveals that indigenous landowners in Sorong, West Papua province are being ripped off by an oil palm plantation company. The company, Kayu Lapis Indonesia Group (KLI) paid Moi landowners only US$0.65 per hectare.