JAKARTA An Indonesian court has upheld a government decision to curb the expansion of a multibillion-dollar oil palm plantation project in the country’s easternmost region of Papua. In its Sept. 9 ruling, the Jakarta State Administrative Court rejected lawsuits filed by two plantation companies that are part of the Tanah Merah mega plantation project, […]
by Tigor Gemdita Hutapea & Franky Samperante
Yayasan Pusaka Bentala Rakya (Bentala Raya Heritage Foundation)
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Photo: Yayasan Pusaka Bentala Rakyat
Indonesia is the world’s largest exporter of palm oil and Papua is the new frontier. Forests on the Papua Island have become the investment target of the moment, after forests in Sumatra, Kalimantan and Sulawesi have been already largely converted into industrial oil palm plantations. Various big projects have targeted the forests in Papua. (1)
Petrus Kinggo, an elder and member of the Wambon Tekamerop tribe, from Kali Kao Hamlet, Jair Subdistrict, Boven Digul Regency, Papua Province, is the leader of the Kinggo indigenous group that owns the customary forest in Kali Kao Hamlet. They have lived in these forests for centuries.