Tag Archives: Pacific Inter-link

The Menara Group* has not carried out its obligations.

Between 2011 and 2014, the Forestry Minister issued decrees releasing state forest land to twelve oil palm plantation companies in and around Jair sub-district of Boven Digoel Regency. Five of those companies are owned by or still have connections with a Malaysian company, the Menara Group*: PT. Usaha Nabati Terpadu (37.918 ha), PT. Megakarya Jaya […]

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A statement from indigenous people in Boven Digoel

This statement was drafted during a meeting between indigenous Papuans affected by plantation development, NGOs and local government representatives, on 4th and 5th November 2016. We are representatives of the Auyu, Wambon and Muyu peoples, who live within the administrative area of Boven Digoel Regency, Papua province, and primarily in villages that are targets for […]

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The voice of Papuan workers: the companies came and our income dropped.

When the oil palm plantation companies first arrive in the villages they promise jobs for indigenous Papuans, an effort to implant dreams of improved economic well-being and higher incomes. Once work starts however, the promises aren’t followed through and the imagined changes never come about. Meanwhile, the land and forest which used to provide the […]

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New companies threatening the Papuan forest: Number 1 Pacific Inter-link.

There is currently some momentum for change in the palm oil industry, aiming to reduce its disastrous environmental and social impact. In Papua, some of the biggest companies, such as Sinar Mas, Musim Mas and Wilmar, have all abandoned plantation plans after signing up to ‘no deforestation’ policies. ((in the case of Wilmar, the abandoned […]

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Is the government about to take action to save Papua’s forests?

There are positive indications that President Joko Widodo’s recent promise to place a moratorium on new oil palm permits across Indonesia may soon become reality. Statements from key figures in the Forestry and Environment Ministry suggest that one of the main aims of this new policy is to stop the same kind of decimation of […]

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West Papua Oil Palm Atlas – The companies behind the plantation explosion.

Indonesia’s oil palm industry is moving east. With large tracts of land increasingly difficult to find in Sumatra and Borneo, plantation companies are now focussing their attention on Indonesia’s eastern frontier: the small islands of the Maluku archipelago and especially the conflict-ridden land of West Papua. In 2005 there were only five oil palm plantations […]

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West Papua Oil Palm Atlas Introduction

Over the course of several months, we have tried to collect as much data as we can about the oil palm industry in Papua. We have done this through a process of internet research, communication with local Papuan NGOs, church organisations, indigenous organisations and other activists, and attempts to contact government and corporate sources. We […]

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#savearu sees off Menara Group, time to #savebovendigoel

The story may be over for the Menara Group in Aru, now it’s time to look at Boven Digoel. There another mega-plantation plan is opening the door to the Malaysian timber barons, who are using the pretext of oil palm plantations to get their hands on 400,000 hectares of primary forest. The people of the […]

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