All Eyes on Papua Campaign Sets Off Demands for Indigenous Palm Oil Plantations
Update February 04, 2025
Korindo stands to lose permits in Papua as Indonesian government tightens rules on palm oil firms’ mandatory land allocation for smallholders
New rules require firms to give 20 percent of their land to smallholders before the government extends their permits.
JAKARTA – The government is tightening regulations on right-to-cultivate (HGU) permits for oil palm plantations, requiring applicants to allocate 20 percent of their land to local smallholders before their permits get extended, a requirement which previously could be fulfilled afterward.
Plantations can apply for an additional 35 year extension, but would be required to allocate 30 percent of their land to local smallholders, up from the previous 20 percent. Nusron stated that this adjustment would allow more local farmers to benefit from managing oil palm plantations. Asia News Network
As of February 04, 2025, Korindo;s operations in Papua have yet to allocate any land for plasma plantations despite numerous MoUs with indigenous land owners in Papua.
Korindo stands to lose permits in Papua as Indonesian government tightens rules on palm oil firms’ mandatory land allocation for smallholders
New rules require firms to give 20 percent of their land to smallholders before the government extends their permits.
JAKARTA – The government is tightening regulations on right-to-cultivate (HGU) permits for oil palm plantations, requiring applicants to allocate 20 percent of their land to local smallholders before their permits get extended, a requirement which previously could be fulfilled afterward.
Plantations can apply for an additional 35 year extension, but would be required to allocate 30 percent of their land to local smallholders, up from the previous 20 percent. Nusron stated that this adjustment would allow more local farmers to benefit from managing oil palm plantations. Asia News Network
As of February 04, 2025, Korindo;s operations in Papua have yet to allocate any land for plasma plantations despite numerous MoUs with indigenous land owners in Papua.
Update December 06, 2024
Heartiest congratulations to the Ghuzi tribe of Papua upon the signing of Memorandums of Agreement with Korindo's subsidiary, PT PAL to create plasma plantations on indigenous lands.
The company has agreed to provide equipment and seedlings as well as technical advice on starting up palm oil farms.
Heartiest congratulations to the Ghuzi tribe of Papua upon the signing of Memorandums of Agreement with Korindo's subsidiary, PT PAL to create plasma plantations on indigenous lands.
The company has agreed to provide equipment and seedlings as well as technical advice on starting up palm oil farms.
Update November 29, 2024
Heartiest congratulations to the indigenous Papuan tribes from the Inggyash tribes of Papua upon their signing of of agreements with PT PAL for the development of their plasma plantations.
The plasma plantations were long delayed by Western groups like Mighty Earth who falsely portrayed all indigenous Papuans as preferring to live in forests.
Tribal leaders from the Inggyash and Ghuzi tribes have approved the development of plasma plantations in areas bordering Indonesian Papua and Papua New Guinea.
Heartiest congratulations to the indigenous Papuan tribes from the Inggyash tribes of Papua upon their signing of of agreements with PT PAL for the development of their plasma plantations.
The plasma plantations were long delayed by Western groups like Mighty Earth who falsely portrayed all indigenous Papuans as preferring to live in forests.
Tribal leaders from the Inggyash and Ghuzi tribes have approved the development of plasma plantations in areas bordering Indonesian Papua and Papua New Guinea.
The viral hashtag #AllEyesonPapua is exposing conflicts within Indonesian policies
- 'All Eyes on Papua' campaign generates interest in deforestation cases
Jakarta (AFP) – A campaign seeking to drive support for Indigenous tribes fighting palm oil plantations in eastern Indonesia is spreading widely online after taking inspiration from an AI-generated image of Gaza.
France 24
- All eyes are on Rafah. And Papua. And Sudan. And the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Weeks after an AI-generated image of the Gazan city became a widely shared symbol of protest against Israel’s military campaign that has left tens of thousands of Palestinians dead and over a million displaced, versions of the viral slogan have been recast to raise awareness of other causes around the world.
Perhaps most prominently, images and online posts promoting “All Eyes on Papua” have been shared and seen by millions on social media. They’re in support of indigenous communities in Indonesia’s Papua province, where locals and advocates have been trying to stop authorities and palm oil companies from clearing large swathes of forest land to make room for palm oil plantations. Time
The human atrocities taking place in Gaza and Rafah should not have been used to bring attention to the struggles on indigenous peoples in Indonesian Papua. There is no comparison.
Nevertheless, it happened. Central to the All Eyes on Papua campaign is a claim from the Awyu tribe of Papua which Reuters reporters Kate Lamb and Bernadette Christina covered in Papuan tribe, palm oil firms battle for land rights in Indonesian top court.
While the Reuters report by Kate Lamb and Bernadette Christina was great in covering the main issues, the report failed to look at the historical issues.
Greenpeace reported back in 2018 that PT Kartika Cipta Pratama, linked to global brands Mars, Nestlé, PepsiCo and Unilever was clearing rainforests in Papua. In fact, the two companies named in the Reuters report, PT Megakarya Jaya Raya and PT Kartika Cipta Pratama, challenged the Indonesian government’s decision to stick by its commitment to sustainable palm oil including not clearing forested lands for palm oil plantations. The legal challenge by Hayel Saeed Anam (HAS) Group, a foreign capital company from Yemen, was dismissed by the Panel of Judges at the Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN) in 2023.
Conflicts in developing Papua pits Jakarta against Merauke
In affirming Indonesia’s position on forests, Indonesia's Environment and Forestry (LHK) Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar stated in response to the All Eyes on Papua campaign, that the government and traditional communities share the same view about the need to protect customary forest lands in Papua.
"Traditional communities are pushing for the protection of forests from deforestation. In this regard, the government is on the same page with them, since we are against the conversion of primary forests into palm oil plantations,"
Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning Minister Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono (AHY) supported this official position when he responded to the All Eyes on Papua campaign.
During his visit to Bekasi, West Java, on Wednesday, AHY underscored that President Joko Widodo had always placed emphasis on the importance of prioritizing the interests of people in every development project so that no one would be harmed.
"We cannot afford to let any development project be carried out without taking environmental preservation into consideration," he stressed.
These statements from Indonesian officials whose ministries deal with forests and land use challenge the allegations made by the All Eyes on Papua campaign. Unfortunately for some Papuan tribes, the international focus on Papua as the last frontier for Indonesian forests is depriving them of their right to development.
Enter Korindo
One thing that the All Eyes on Papua campaign did was to reignite the demands of Papuan tribes whose demands are not for the companies to leave their forests alone but for plasma plantations owed to them.
Within the “concessions which are not legally contested” as reported by Reuters, are several concessions belonging to the timber and palm oil giant, Korindo.
A good backgrounder on Korindo’s environmental impact on Papua can be read in this assessment of Korindo by the FSC. All of its concessions including concessions in North Maluku were examined.These are PT Tunas Sawa Erma, PT Papau Agro Lestari, PT Dongin Prabawa, PT Berkat Cipta Abadi, PT Gelora Mandiri Membangun.
Commonly associated with deforestation in Papua, Korindo was featured along with Korea’s Posco International in this report by Al Jazeera. Korindo’s timber and palm oil operations were also heavily covered by media including Mongabay’s investigative piece on the company.
In its defense, Korindo argues that it has invested heavily into the development of rural areas in Papua with schools, health clinics and roads which are accessible to all local communities. While these are commendable investments into restive provinces in Indonesia, the All Eyes on Papua campaign has reignited the demands of Papuan landowners for Korindo to deliver its ultimate promise to them.
The key issue here is that while the Papuan landowners may have signed over the development of their lands for cheap, the agreement price did not matter as what they wanted was a share of the profits from mature palm oil plantations. As Al Jazeera reported, gross revenue from palm oil plantations could amount to $2500 per hectare per year.
Satellite data from the Indonesian licenses issued to Korindo indicated an area of 4,400 hectares would be allocated to the two tribes under Indonesia’s plasma plantation regulation. The regulation states that 20% of the licensed acreage would be developed within three years of the license being granted a permit.
Based on that calculation, gross revenues from this acreage would have amounted to $11 million dollars per annum for a mature plantation. For the nine clans from the Inggyash tribe and the five clans from the Ghuzi tribe of Bian Anim Indonesia South Papua, this meant a secure future for them as landowners. Mind you what ends up in the pockets of the tribes could be much less after processing costs but this would have been more impactful for their socio-development beyond the subsistence programs funded by Korindo.
It has been over a decade since the concession permits were granted to Korindo. The company is in obvious violation of Indonesian laws on providing plasma plantations but may have escaped official sanction due to the federal government’s position on deforestation for palm oil.
With the level of anti-deforestation policies from Jakarta as affirmed by Ministers Bakar and Yudhoyono, the only hope for the Ghuzi and Inggyash tribes whose ancestral lands are being developed by Korindo lie with the Papuan People’s Assembly (MRP) of South Papua Province.
The 4400 hectares of plasma plantations owed to the Inngyash and Ghuzi tribes would be the biggest plasma area developed by Korindo since the transfer of 2,280 hectares of mature plasma plantation to the Ziid Kiwab Bersatu (ZKB) Cooperative in Selil Village, located in the Ulilin District, part of the Merauke Regency.
For the Inggyash Ghuzi cooperative who can only eye the plasma plantations given to the the Ziid Kiwab Bersatu Cooperative with jealousy, their one hope is the Papuan People’s Assembly will push Jakarta and Korindo to follow the Indonesian rule of law on plasma plantations.
As Info Sawit reported:
During the working visit of the Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia to Merauke, a number of members of the Papuan People's Assembly (MRP) of South Papua Province conveyed their aspirations. Katarina Mariana Yaas, a member of the South Papua MRP, revealed that they had asked the Vice President to immediately evaluate oil palm plantation permits in the area.
"We also ask that all investors, both future and existing in South Papua, are obliged to obey and respect local customary laws," said Katarina Mariana Yaas to journalists at the South Papua MRP Office, Thursday (6/6/2024).
Katarina explained that every company operating in South Papua is obliged to fulfill their obligations in accordance with the Plantation Law, namely building plasma plantations amounting to 20 percent of the total land they use. This evaluation is considered important to ensure that investment in South Papua, especially oil palm plantations, is carried out in accordance with regulations.
All Eyes on Papua has without a doubt, created a new problem for Indonesia as the issue of plasma plantations challenges its position of no deforestation in the context of indigenous peoples rights.
Published June 2024, CSPO Watch
- 'All Eyes on Papua' campaign generates interest in deforestation cases
Jakarta (AFP) – A campaign seeking to drive support for Indigenous tribes fighting palm oil plantations in eastern Indonesia is spreading widely online after taking inspiration from an AI-generated image of Gaza.
France 24
- All eyes are on Rafah. And Papua. And Sudan. And the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Weeks after an AI-generated image of the Gazan city became a widely shared symbol of protest against Israel’s military campaign that has left tens of thousands of Palestinians dead and over a million displaced, versions of the viral slogan have been recast to raise awareness of other causes around the world.
Perhaps most prominently, images and online posts promoting “All Eyes on Papua” have been shared and seen by millions on social media. They’re in support of indigenous communities in Indonesia’s Papua province, where locals and advocates have been trying to stop authorities and palm oil companies from clearing large swathes of forest land to make room for palm oil plantations. Time
The human atrocities taking place in Gaza and Rafah should not have been used to bring attention to the struggles on indigenous peoples in Indonesian Papua. There is no comparison.
Nevertheless, it happened. Central to the All Eyes on Papua campaign is a claim from the Awyu tribe of Papua which Reuters reporters Kate Lamb and Bernadette Christina covered in Papuan tribe, palm oil firms battle for land rights in Indonesian top court.
While the Reuters report by Kate Lamb and Bernadette Christina was great in covering the main issues, the report failed to look at the historical issues.
Greenpeace reported back in 2018 that PT Kartika Cipta Pratama, linked to global brands Mars, Nestlé, PepsiCo and Unilever was clearing rainforests in Papua. In fact, the two companies named in the Reuters report, PT Megakarya Jaya Raya and PT Kartika Cipta Pratama, challenged the Indonesian government’s decision to stick by its commitment to sustainable palm oil including not clearing forested lands for palm oil plantations. The legal challenge by Hayel Saeed Anam (HAS) Group, a foreign capital company from Yemen, was dismissed by the Panel of Judges at the Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN) in 2023.
Conflicts in developing Papua pits Jakarta against Merauke
In affirming Indonesia’s position on forests, Indonesia's Environment and Forestry (LHK) Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar stated in response to the All Eyes on Papua campaign, that the government and traditional communities share the same view about the need to protect customary forest lands in Papua.
"Traditional communities are pushing for the protection of forests from deforestation. In this regard, the government is on the same page with them, since we are against the conversion of primary forests into palm oil plantations,"
Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning Minister Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono (AHY) supported this official position when he responded to the All Eyes on Papua campaign.
During his visit to Bekasi, West Java, on Wednesday, AHY underscored that President Joko Widodo had always placed emphasis on the importance of prioritizing the interests of people in every development project so that no one would be harmed.
"We cannot afford to let any development project be carried out without taking environmental preservation into consideration," he stressed.
These statements from Indonesian officials whose ministries deal with forests and land use challenge the allegations made by the All Eyes on Papua campaign. Unfortunately for some Papuan tribes, the international focus on Papua as the last frontier for Indonesian forests is depriving them of their right to development.
Enter Korindo
One thing that the All Eyes on Papua campaign did was to reignite the demands of Papuan tribes whose demands are not for the companies to leave their forests alone but for plasma plantations owed to them.
Within the “concessions which are not legally contested” as reported by Reuters, are several concessions belonging to the timber and palm oil giant, Korindo.
A good backgrounder on Korindo’s environmental impact on Papua can be read in this assessment of Korindo by the FSC. All of its concessions including concessions in North Maluku were examined.These are PT Tunas Sawa Erma, PT Papau Agro Lestari, PT Dongin Prabawa, PT Berkat Cipta Abadi, PT Gelora Mandiri Membangun.
Commonly associated with deforestation in Papua, Korindo was featured along with Korea’s Posco International in this report by Al Jazeera. Korindo’s timber and palm oil operations were also heavily covered by media including Mongabay’s investigative piece on the company.
In its defense, Korindo argues that it has invested heavily into the development of rural areas in Papua with schools, health clinics and roads which are accessible to all local communities. While these are commendable investments into restive provinces in Indonesia, the All Eyes on Papua campaign has reignited the demands of Papuan landowners for Korindo to deliver its ultimate promise to them.
The key issue here is that while the Papuan landowners may have signed over the development of their lands for cheap, the agreement price did not matter as what they wanted was a share of the profits from mature palm oil plantations. As Al Jazeera reported, gross revenue from palm oil plantations could amount to $2500 per hectare per year.
Satellite data from the Indonesian licenses issued to Korindo indicated an area of 4,400 hectares would be allocated to the two tribes under Indonesia’s plasma plantation regulation. The regulation states that 20% of the licensed acreage would be developed within three years of the license being granted a permit.
Based on that calculation, gross revenues from this acreage would have amounted to $11 million dollars per annum for a mature plantation. For the nine clans from the Inggyash tribe and the five clans from the Ghuzi tribe of Bian Anim Indonesia South Papua, this meant a secure future for them as landowners. Mind you what ends up in the pockets of the tribes could be much less after processing costs but this would have been more impactful for their socio-development beyond the subsistence programs funded by Korindo.
It has been over a decade since the concession permits were granted to Korindo. The company is in obvious violation of Indonesian laws on providing plasma plantations but may have escaped official sanction due to the federal government’s position on deforestation for palm oil.
With the level of anti-deforestation policies from Jakarta as affirmed by Ministers Bakar and Yudhoyono, the only hope for the Ghuzi and Inggyash tribes whose ancestral lands are being developed by Korindo lie with the Papuan People’s Assembly (MRP) of South Papua Province.
The 4400 hectares of plasma plantations owed to the Inngyash and Ghuzi tribes would be the biggest plasma area developed by Korindo since the transfer of 2,280 hectares of mature plasma plantation to the Ziid Kiwab Bersatu (ZKB) Cooperative in Selil Village, located in the Ulilin District, part of the Merauke Regency.
For the Inggyash Ghuzi cooperative who can only eye the plasma plantations given to the the Ziid Kiwab Bersatu Cooperative with jealousy, their one hope is the Papuan People’s Assembly will push Jakarta and Korindo to follow the Indonesian rule of law on plasma plantations.
As Info Sawit reported:
During the working visit of the Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia to Merauke, a number of members of the Papuan People's Assembly (MRP) of South Papua Province conveyed their aspirations. Katarina Mariana Yaas, a member of the South Papua MRP, revealed that they had asked the Vice President to immediately evaluate oil palm plantation permits in the area.
"We also ask that all investors, both future and existing in South Papua, are obliged to obey and respect local customary laws," said Katarina Mariana Yaas to journalists at the South Papua MRP Office, Thursday (6/6/2024).
Katarina explained that every company operating in South Papua is obliged to fulfill their obligations in accordance with the Plantation Law, namely building plasma plantations amounting to 20 percent of the total land they use. This evaluation is considered important to ensure that investment in South Papua, especially oil palm plantations, is carried out in accordance with regulations.
All Eyes on Papua has without a doubt, created a new problem for Indonesia as the issue of plasma plantations challenges its position of no deforestation in the context of indigenous peoples rights.
Published June 2024, CSPO Watch
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