JAKARTA The Indonesian government’s plan to administratively split the country’s easternmost region of Papua into five provinces, from the current two, has raised concerns that its forests and natural resources will be at higher risk of being plundered. The idea has been floated for several years, and picked up steam this year, with lawmakers […]
Southeast Asia in Transition: People and their Forest eastwestcenter.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from eastwestcenter.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
JAKARTA A “social forestry” program administered by the Indonesian government to grant land rights to communities has not been effective in preventing deforestation, and in some cases has even seen the problem get worse, a new study shows. The program is one of the largest socioenvironmental experiments of its kind, aiming to reallocate 12.7 […]
Palm oil conflicts persist amid lack of resolution in Indonesian Borneo
Efforts to resolve land conflicts between palm oil companies and local communities in western Indonesian Borneo have largely failed, with many disputes festering for more than a decade, a new study shows.
Of 32 conflicts analyzed, 66% haven’t been resolved, even though 72% have been mediated by local governments, lawmakers and police.
The researchers say the authorities tend to not enforce the law on companies and have instead tended to take a harder line on community members protesting against the companies.
The study also found that other avenues of redress for the community, such as filing a complaint with certification bodies like the RSPO, remain underutilized because of complicated procedures and a lack of trust in institutions.