location: Kalimantan

location: Kalimantan

Social media activity version | Lean version

Pulp giant RGE admits possible deforestation breach in Bornean wildlife habitat
- A new report links forestry giant Royal Golden Eagle’s pulp supply chain to the clearance of 5,565 hectares (13,751 acres) of natural forest in Indonesian Borneo between 2020 and 2024, despite the company’s no-deforestation pledge. RGE says the clearing was likely non-compliant.
- The deforestation occurred in the Mahakam River watershed, one of Indonesia’s last intact rainforest regions and habitat for critically endangered species including Bornean orangutans, Irrawaddy dolphins and Sumatran rhinos.
- Timber from two Bornean concessions flowed through a single wood chip mill to RGE’s Asia Symbol pulp plant in China. The mill had already been linked to earlier deforestation breaches.
- The case may undermine RGE’s effort to regain certification under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), and has also renewed scrutiny of banks financing the group, with campaigners urging suspensions until deforestation across its supply chain stops.

Green labeler PEFC under fire for certifying Indonesian firm clearing orangutan habitat
- Sustainable forestry certifier PEFC is under fire for its endorsement of Indonesian plantation firm IFP despite it being a major recent deforester, with tens of thousands of hectares cleared in orangutan habitat and ongoing forest loss documented into 2024.
- Earthsight and other NGOs say the certification exploits loopholes, including PEFC’s “partial certification” model that lets companies exclude recently cleared areas while still selling certified timber.
- Deforestation-linked timber may have entered global supply chains, with mills processing IFP-linked wood exporting large volumes to the EU ahead of the bloc’s new deforestation regulation.
- Critics say PEFC’s weak safeguards and Indonesia’s IFCC certification system enable greenwashing, and call for IFP’s certification to be revoked and rules tightened to bar any company or corporate group involved in post-2010 forest clearing.

Indigenous Dayak sound alarm as palm oil firm razes orangutan habitat in Borneo
- Indigenous Dayak communities report wildlife encroaching into villages, land grabbing, and loss of cultural and livelihood resources as a palm oil company begins clearing forests on their customary lands — in some cases without consent or even prior notification.
- PT Equator Sumber Rezeki (ESR) has already cleared nearly 1,500 hectares (3,700 hectares) of rainforest inside this region that’s designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and orangutan habitat, with much of the deforestation occurring this year and signaling far more destruction to come.
- The company’s parent group, First Borneo, is driving widespread deforestation across Kapuas Hulu with two other plantations, yet its palm fruit is still entering global “zero-deforestation” supply chains through intermediary mills despite corporate no-buy pledges.
- Environmental groups are urging the government to halt or revoke ESR’s permits and protect the orangutan-rich landscape, warning that continued clearing undermines Indonesia’s climate commitments and threatens both biodiversity and cultural survival.

Bearing witness to Indonesia’s environmental challenges: Sapariah Saturi
- Sapariah “Arie” Saturi grew up in West Kalimantan amid recurring forest and peatland fires, experiences that shaped her understanding of Indonesia’s environmental crises.
- After beginning her journalism career in Pontianak in the late 1990s, she joined Mongabay Indonesia at its inception and helped build it into a national environmental newsroom.
- As managing editor, she oversees a dispersed team of more than 50 reporters, beginning her days before dawn to edit stories, coordinate coverage, and guide investigations across the archipelago.
- Her commitment is grounded in independence, empathy, and the belief that environmental journalism can help communities, influence policy, and deepen public understanding of Indonesia’s overlapping crises.

Indigenous Dayak resist new southern Borneo national park amid global protection deficit
- Indigenous peoples and student protesters staged several demonstrations in Indonesian Borneo in August in a bid to pressure local authorities to cancel plans for a 119,779-hectare (295,980-acre) national park in the Meratus mountain range.
- Meratus Mountains National Park would be the first national park in South Kalimantan province, and the 58th in Indonesia.
- The draft plans will absorb almost two dozen villages impacting several thousand families, many of whom fear displacement given the lack of formal state recognition of Indigenous communities.
- Local civil society organizations say the public protests reflect a lack of consultation with affected communities, a pattern established by many governments as countries rush to protect 30% of the world’s land and marine areas by 2030.

Study maps whale shark stranding hotspots in Indonesia, highlights conservation needs
- A new study has identified whale shark stranding hotspots in Indonesia and linked them to seasonal ocean conditions, offering scientists a clearer picture of when and where risks are highest.
- The researchers found that most strandings involved juveniles and often occurred during upwelling seasons; they highlighted that human pressures such as fishing gear, ship traffic and pollution may further increase the danger.
- The study calls for stronger rescue networks, better community training, and international cooperation to improve survival rates and protect these migratory animals across the region.

Scientists call for stronger action to save Indonesia’s vanishing seagrass meadows
- Marine experts at the Indonesian Seagrass Symposium in Bali warned that seagrass ecosystems — vital for carbon storage, biodiversity and coastal protection — remain largely overlooked in national policy and conservation efforts.
- Seagrass coverage in Indonesia has fallen from around 30,000 km2 in 1994 to about 8,000 km2 today, with losses driven by pollution, mining, coastal development and sedimentation that reduces water clarity and habitat quality.
- Indonesia holds some of the world’s most extensive remaining seagrass meadows, estimated to store more than 30 million metric tons of CO2, making their protection crucial for both national and global climate goals.
- Scientists and conservation leaders urged stronger data collection, funding and institutional capacity to support restoration, monitoring and community participation, positioning Indonesia as a potential leader in seagrass conservation.

Indonesia’s most vulnerable push for nation’s first Climate Justice Bill
- Climate change is forcing migration and deepening inequality across Indonesia, displacing rural residents, Indigenous peoples and those with disabilities — groups least responsible for the crisis.
- Fishers and farmers say they’ve been driven abroad by collapsing livelihoods caused by erratic weather, only to face exploitation and unsafe working conditions overseas.
- Indigenous and disabled communities are also seeing their food security, mobility and safety undermined, yet they remain largely excluded from government responses and public discourse.
- Civil society and affected groups are pushing for Indonesia to pass a Climate Justice Bill, which would enshrine climate justice as a constitutional right and protect vulnerable communities through coordinate national policy.

Indonesia court clears wildfire scientists in case brought by palm oil company
- A district court in a Jakarta suburb has dismissed a lawsuit brought by palm oil company PT Kalimantan Lestari Mandiri against two scientists who provided expert testimony in a 2018 court case that found the palm oil firm liable for wildfires on hundreds of hectares of land in Central Kalimantan province.
- Bambang Hero Saharjo and Basuki Wasis, two professors at Bogor Institute of Agriculture, said defending the suit required time that could have been spent in the field or laboratory working to establish the facts in other cases.
- Civil society representatives responded to the ruling with relief. The heads of several nonprofits expressed hope that the verdict would provide reassurance to others that corporate actors had limited ability to use the courts against scientists.

Connecting Indonesia’s environmental stories to millions
- Akhyari Hananto, Multimedia Manager for Mongabay Indonesia, combines creativity, data, and strategy to ensure environmental journalism reaches and engages audiences across the archipelago.
- His unconventional path—from musician to banker, humanitarian worker, and economic specialist—eventually led him to journalism after witnessing an orangutan shooting that deeply moved him.
- Since joining Mongabay in 2014, Hananto has helped transform its Indonesian platform into a digital force, using visuals, analytics, and storytelling to connect millions with urgent environmental issues.
- Hananto spoke with Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett Ayers Butler in October 2025 about his journey, motivations, and the role of purpose in shaping impactful journalism.

Indonesia eyes seagrass zoning for blue carbon; experts urge community benefits
- Indonesia is moving to designate 17 seagrass habitats as national strategic areas for blue carbon, a plan that promises climate and community benefits but raises concerns over safeguards.
- The fisheries ministry says the zoning will help cut emissions, protect marine ecosystems and boost coastal livelihoods, with seagrass storing carbon far more effectively than rainforests.
- Experts welcome the initiative but warn it must avoid privatization, ensure fair benefit-sharing and guarantee transparent governance to prevent conflicts and elite capture.
- With Indonesia holding 11.5% of the world’s seagrass meadows, scientists stress the urgency of protection as the ecosystems vanish globally at alarming rates.

Americans’ love of RVs tied to destruction of orangutan habitat: Investigation
- Investigations by the NGOs Earthsight, Auriga Nusantara and Mighty Earth have found that plywood from forests cleared in Indonesian Borneo — including critical orangutan habitat — is ending up in U.S. RVs made by brands like Jayco, Winnebago and Forest River.
- Logs from a concession held by PT Indosubur Sukses Makmur were traced to plywood giant KLAM, then exported via U.S. intermediaries (MJB Wood, Tumac Lumber and Patrick Industries) into RV manufacturing supply chains.
- Indonesia allows legal clearing of natural forests, while the U.S. bans only illegal logging under the Lacey Act — creating a loophole that lets deforestation-linked wood enter supply chains unchecked.
- FSC-certified sustainable alternatives exist and would add as little as $20 to an RV’s price, but RV makers prioritize low costs, critics say; experts call for stronger Indonesian protections and U.S. deforestation-free import laws.

Study maps rare Borneo forests with unique habitats & urgent need for protection
- A new study has mapped lowland heath forests (kerangas) in Indonesian Borneo, revealing major changes in their extent and limited formal protection.
- In Central Kalimantan’s Rungan-Kahayan landscape, researchers documented unique habitats rich in biodiversity but surrounded by competing land uses.
- They noted that these forests are often overlooked due to misconceptions about their soils, despite their ecological and cultural importance.
- The study calls for urgent action to better understand, protect and sustainably manage these rare ecosystems.

Indonesian palm oil company sues experts who helped secure $18m pollution ruling
- Two top Indonesian environmental experts, Bambang Hero Saharjo and Basuki Wasis, are being sued by palm oil firm PT Kalimantan Lestari Mandiri for their court testimony that helped convict the company for massive fires in Borneo.
- The lawsuit is widely condemned as a SLAPP (strategic lawsuit against public participation) — a legal tactic to silence critics — and raises concerns about the chilling effect on scientists who testify in environmental cases.
- Despite existing anti-SLAPP regulations in Indonesia, poor enforcement has allowed such lawsuits to proceed, with activists calling the case a form of judicial harassment and an attempt to evade responsibility for ecological damage.
- The case highlights broader issues of corporate impunity and weak enforcement of environmental rulings, as the company continues to operate and burn peatland, even after a binding court order to pay fines and restore the land.

Study finds worrying uptick in proboscis monkey trade in Indonesia
- Proboscis monkeys, endemic to Borneo, are threatened by habitat destruction, forest fires and hunting. But until two decades ago, trade wasn’t a threat to the CITES-listed species, which is challenging to keep in captivity.
- A recent study, analyzing 25-year seizure and trade data involving proboscis monkey trade, finds nearly 100 individuals in trade in Indonesia, with an alarming rise in online trade and zoo exchanges in recent years, many of which are likely acquired from the wild.
- Conservationists say this uptick in trade poses a threat to the endangered species and urge Indonesian authorities to enforce existing legislation to protect proboscis monkeys from trade. They also say social media platforms must do more to curb wildlife trade on their platforms, which is also a concern for proboscis monkeys.

Indonesian civil society urges probe after payout for mine recovery that never happened
- The former head of the East Kalimantan provincial mining agency is facing corruption charges, after he allegedly disbursed a guarantee payment used for environmental restoration to a company in East Kalimantan province.
- Muhammad Muhdar, an environmental lawyer at Mulawarman University in Samarinda, the provincial capital, told Mongabay that gaps in land rehabilitation of closed mining pits are so extensive that there’s potential for further unlawful activity to come to light.
- Data from the Mining Advocacy Network, a civil society organization known as Jatam, showed more than 1,700 former coal mine sites in East Kalimantan province, and that around 39 people had died in the excavations, most of them children.

Indonesia new capital yet to spark electricity for low-income neighbors on Borneo
- In a district that holds Indonesia’s biggest coal reserves and sits near the new national capital, the country’s largest construction site, a large share of households in Paser district remain without an electricity connection.
- Data published by Indonesia’s statistics agency showed 10% of Paser district had yet to receive a connection to the grid.
- Households without electricity told Mongabay Indonesia that the lack of basic infrastructure provided by the state restricted economy activity and cultivated security fears at night.

After years of silence, Indonesia moves to assess its iconic wildlife
- Indonesia, home to critically endangered orangutans, elephants, tigers and rhinos, has gone nearly two decades without official updates on the populations of some key species.
- Under the previous forestry minister, population surveys and conservation plans were shelved or retracted, and relationships with conservation organizations were often tense.
- Under new leadership, the ministry has signaled that initiating wildlife surveys and publishing population and habitat viability analyses (PHVAs) are key priorities, and surveys of several key species are already underway.
- While welcoming pro-science statements from environment authorities, conservationists caution that data remain alarmingly deficient for many species, and that updating surveys is time-consuming and expensive — a particular concern given recent cuts to the ministry’s budget.

Orangutan habitat under siege as palm oil company clears forest in Borneo
- Indonesian palm oil company PT Equator Sumber Rezeki (ESR), part of First Borneo Group, has begun clearing critical orangutan habitat in West Kalimantan province, threatening high conservation value (HCV) forests and the survival of the critically endangered Bornean orangutan.
- Despite only partial clearing so far, conservationists warn that ESR plans major expansion, risking the loss of up to 10,000 hectares (about 25,000 acres) of forest, and further undermining Indonesia’s biodiversity and climate goals.
- First Borneo Group has a long record of large-scale deforestation through multiple subsidiaries, prompting major palm oil buyers like Nestlé and Musim Mas to suspend or end sourcing from the group, though some companies remain linked via supply chains.
- Environmental groups are calling for an immediate halt to ESR’s land clearing, comprehensive ecological audits, and urgent action from companies still sourcing from First Borneo Group to prevent a potential ecological disaster for orangutans and the region’s forests.

‘Heart of Borneo’ dams raze Indigenous forests for Indonesia green energy drive
- A joint venture between Indonesia and state-owned Malaysia companies is constructing a network of dams in the Bulungan and Malinau districts of North Kalimantan, a sparsely populated Bornean province bordering the Malaysian state of Sarawak.
- The dams will generate 9,000 megawatts to power industry in the under-construction Kalimantan Industrial Park Indonesia in Bulungan district, a site the government hopes will be a global hub of solar panel and battery manufacture.
- One community of around 28 families has already been relocated as dam contractors prepare to submerge more villages and tunneling continues.

Indonesia’s peatlands face growing flood risks amid widespread degradation
- Nearly half of Indonesia’s peatlands are vulnerable to flooding due to degradation from exploitation, with 6 million hectares (15 million acres) — twice the size of Belgium — highly at risk.
- Peatland drainage, subsidence and fires have significantly reduced the water retention capacity of these carbon-rich ecosystems, leading to inland and coastal flooding, particularly in Sumatra and Borneo.
- Despite efforts to curb exploitation, industrial activities continue to degrade peatlands, with 33% of peat hydrological units overlapping with concessions for oil palms and pulpwood plantations.
- National and international policies, like the EU Deforestation Regulation, fail to fully address peatland degradation as a form of deforestation, prompting calls for stricter regulations and corporate accountability.

‘Sustainable’ palm oil firms continue illegal peatland clearing despite permit revocation
- 0Three palm oil companies in Indonesian Borneo, including subsidiaries of the country’s top deforesting firm in 2023, continue to clear protected peatlands and forests despite having their permits revoked.
- Despite also holding Indonesia’s sustainable palm oil certification, the ISPO, the companies have been found draining peatlands, deforesting, and expanding plantations in violation of environmental laws.
- The companies have faced multiple government sanctions, yet continue operations unchecked, highlighting Indonesia’s ongoing struggles with enforcing environmental regulations.
- Peatland destruction releases vast amounts of CO₂, contributing significantly to climate change; the report calls for stricter law enforcement; expanded deforestation regulations in the EU, a top export market; and better transparency in the palm oil sector.

Indigenous Dayak community makes strides on Borneo toward forest autonomy
- In Mekar Raya, a semi-remote pocket of Ketapang district near the west coast of Indonesian Borneo, the local Dayak Simpan Indigenous society are navigating the complex bureaucracy of the state in a bid to gain semi-autonomous control of their customary forest.
- Under the national “social forestry” program, Indonesia’s central government has released more than 8 million hectares (20 million acres) from the national forest estate to management by local and Indigenous communities.
- The Dayak Simpan in Mekar Raya have previously resisted attempts by the palm oil industry to survey local land. Local sources say devolved management of the forest to the community will all but eliminate the risk of this land-use change.
- Several areas of the forestry are held sacred by the Dayak Simpan, with customary rules prohibiting the felling of trees or disturbance of water courses.

Surge in legal land clearing pushes up Indonesia deforestation rate in 2024
- Indonesia’s deforestation increased in 2024 to its highest level since 2021, with forest area four times the size of Jakarta lost; 97% of this occurred within legal concessions, highlighting a shift from illegal to legal deforestation.
- More than half of the forest loss affected critical habitats for threatened species like orangutans, tigers and elephants, particularly in Borneo and Sumatra.
- Key industries driving deforestation include palm oil, pulpwood, and nickel mining, with significant deforestation in Kalimantan, Sumatra and Papua; a new pulp mill in Kalimantan in particular may be driving aggressive land clearing.
- Despite an existing moratorium on new forest-clearance permits, there’s no protection for forests within existing concessions, allowing continued deforestation, and spurring calls for stronger policies to safeguard remaining natural forests.

NGOs raise concerns over Borneo pilot of ‘jurisdictional’ certification for palm oil
- A new report by a coalition of Indonesian environmental groups reiterates concerns over a long-running trial of “jurisdictional” certification conducted by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).
- The trial underway in Seruyan district, Central Kalimantan province, intends to apply the RSPO standards to the entire district, rather than the more costly, but more specific, vetting of individual plantations or corporate entities.
- A 2017 investigation by Mongabay and The Gecko Project documented how former Seruyan leader Darwan Ali blanketed the district in oil palm plantation concessions beginning in the mid-2000s, issuing licenses to many companies set up in the name of his relatives and cronies.
- Civil society researchers say they worry that a jurisdictional certificate for Seruyan could gloss over long-standing and ongoing land conflicts, and that the palm oil produced from such plantations could enter “green” supply chains.

Indonesian company defies order, plants acacia in orangutan habitat
- The Indonesian company PT Mayawana Persada has shifted focus from clearing peatlands in western Borneo to planting acacia on previously cleared lands in defiance of a government order to restore damaged peatlands.
- The lands are home to the critically endangered Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus), and any habitat loss pushes the animal closer to extinction.
- Mayawana Persada’s concession spans nearly 140,000 hectares (345,900 acres), overlapping with more than 83,000 hectares (205,100 acres) of carbon-rich peatlands and more than 90,000 hectares (222,400 acres) of Bornean orangutan habitat.

Using regenerative agriculture to heal the land and help communities: Q&A with Kaleka founder Silvia Irawan
- Industrial oil palm cultivation is a major driver of deforestation in Indonesia and other tropical countries.
- Kalimantan’s Seruyan regency is one of the main palm oil-producing regions in Indonesia.
- Through regenerative agriculture trials in Seruyan, research organization Kaleka is trying to find ways for smallholders to cultivate oil palm more sustainably, without reducing their incomes.
- In an interview with Mongabay, Kaleka founder Silvia Irawan discusses the process, benefits and challenges of this approach.

Orangutan conservation and communication: Gary Shapiro’s half-century journey from zoos to the wilds of Borneo
- Gary Shapiro’s work on orangutan cognition and communication spans five decades, beginning with his pioneering studies teaching sign language to ex-captive orangutans in Borneo.
- His research evolved into a lifelong commitment to orangutan conservation, leading him to co-found organizations like Orangutan Foundation International, focusing on protecting orangutans and their rainforest habitats from logging and palm oil plantations.
- Shapiro advocates for “orangutan personhood,” emphasizing their intellectual and emotional capacities, and calls for global action to save both the orangutans and their critical habitats amidst the ongoing climate and biodiversity crises.
- Shapiro recently spoke with Mongabay Founder and CEO Rhett Ayers Butler about his work and the state of orangutans in the wild.

Wildlife-rich mangroves suffer as Indonesia ramps up construction of new capital
- The development of Indonesia’s new capital city on the island of Borneo has resulted in clearing of mangrove forests that are home to threatened wildlife such as proboscis monkeys and Irrawaddy dolphins.
- The government has repeatedly claimed that the Nusantara project will be “green,” but experts attribute the ongoing deforestation to a lack of planning by the developers.
- With around 3,900 proboscis monkeys, Balikpapan Bay is a stronghold for the endangered species; but the new capital city’s footprint overlaps with 41% of their habitat.
- The government agency overseeing the project insists it’s doing what it can to mitigate the impacts on wildlife and ecosystems through planning, as well as cracking down on contractors destroying the mangroves.

Indonesia’s new ‘green’ capital drives environmental damage far and wide
- The design and development of Indonesia’s new capital city, Nusantara, is nowhere near as “green” or as “smart” as the government repeatedly claims it is, experts say.
- The government has certified the new presidential palace as meeting green building standards — which it defined itself — but its use of materials and energy indicate the opposite.
- Experts cite the “excessive” use of copper and brass for the main decorative element of the palace, noting the large carbon and pollution footprints associated with mining and processing this much metal.
- A report also identifies the obliteration of forested mountains on the island of Sulawesi to supply rocks for Nusantara on the island of Borneo, as well as the impacts of dust on communities living near the quarries.

Indonesia’s oil palm smallholders get a boost in bid for sustainability
- A new set of guidelines aims to help smallholder oil palm farmers in Indonesia, the world’s top producer of palm oil, ensure their products are deforestation-free.
- This would allow them a foothold in markets that are increasingly demanding, and requiring, sustainably produced goods.
- In particular, the smallholder toolkit aims to address the Indonesian government’s main grievance to a new European Union regulation prohibiting the import of deforestation-linked products, namely that smallholder farmers are least able to comply and will be affected the most.
- The toolkit could also contribute to Indonesia’s climate goals, by incentivizing smallholders to embrace more sustainable farming practices and choosing to conserve forests instead of clearing them.

Borneo’s Dayak adapt Indigenous forestry to modern peat management
- In Indonesia’s Central Kalimantan province, Indigenous Dayak societies living in Pulang Pisau district received a lease from the central government to manage a peatland under Indonesia’s acclaimed social forestry program.
- However, that management license required the Indigenous communities to establish a new state institution at the village level to implement national laws governing forests.
- This form of governance clashed in part with a traditional configuration that the Dayak have practiced for generations, known as handil after the canals running alongside growing areas.
- Local civil society organizations have stepped in to close this gap to support the community blend state laws with traditional norms and other longstanding cultural practices.

NZ funding helps Indigenous farmers in Indonesia protect forests, boost incomes
- Two Indigenous villages in Indonesian Borneo have received initial funding of nearly $15,000 from the New Zealand government to improve their livelihoods while protecting their ancestral forests.
- Residents of the Dayak villages of Setawar and Gunam mostly grow oil palms, but also still rely on their ancestral forests for making medicinal herbs, producing handicrafts and carrying out traditional rituals.
- The funding, channeled through the Farmers For Forest Protection Foundation (4F), will go toward programs such as training and deployment of forest guards, forest management support, and implementation of good agricultural practices.

Latest palm oil deforester in Indonesia may also be operating illegally
- The biggest deforestation hotspot for palm oil in Indonesia is located on a small island off the southern Borneo coast, new data show.
- Up to 10,650 hectares (26,317 acres) of forest — one-sixth the size of Jakarta — were cleared from 2022-2023 inside the concession of PT Multi Sarana Agro Mandiri (MSAM), part of the influential Jhonlin Group.
- Activists say the company’s operations may be illegal, given the questionable process through which it obtained its permits.
- However, law enforcers have ignored calls to investigate, and previous efforts by journalists to expose the group’s business practices have led to their criminal prosecution on hate speech charges.

Indonesian company defies order, still clearing peatlands in orangutan habitat
- Indonesian Pulpwood producer PT Mayawana Persada is continuing to clear peatlands on critical Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) habitat, despite a government order to stop clearing.
- An NGO coalition analysis found that 30,296 hectares (74,900 acres) of peatland, including 15,560 hectares (38,400 acres) of protected lands, had been converted as of March; 15,643 hectares (38,700 acres) of known Bornean orangutan habitat were cleared between 2016 and 2022.
- Conservationists are calling on the Ministry of Environment and Forestry to revoke the company’s permits.

Pro-business parties accused of holding back Indonesia’s Indigenous rights bill
- Pro-business political parties in Indonesia have deliberately stalled the passage of an Indigenous rights bill for more than a decade, lawmakers and activists allege.
- These parties fear ceding control of natural resources to Indigenous communities by giving them land rights, they add.
- Lawmakers trying to push the bill through have identified the PDI-P and the Golkar Party as the main opponents of the bill, but others say it’s the entire ruling coalition: seven parties that control 82% of seats in parliament.
- Indigenous activists say the bill is urgently needed to formalize Indigenous land rights and stop the hemorrhaging of customary lands and forests to commercial, industrial and infrastructure projects.

Indonesian capital project finally gets guidelines to avoid harm to biodiversity
- Beset by criticism over its environmental and social impacts, the controversial project of building Indonesia’s new capital city in the Bornean jungle has finally come out with guidelines for biodiversity management.
- The country’s president has hailed the Nusantara project as a “green forest city,” but just 16% of its total area is currently intact rainforest.
- The new biodiversity master plan outlines a four-point mitigation policy of avoiding harm, minimizing any inevitable impacts, restoring damaged landscapes, and compensating for residual impacts.
- The master plan considered input from experts, but several didn’t make it into the final document, including a call for the mitigation policy to extend to a wider area beyond the Nusantara site.

Hyundai ends aluminum deal with Adaro Minerals following K-pop protest
- The South Korean auto company Hyundai has ended its 2022 agreement for procuring aluminum for its electric vehicles from Adaro Minerals, which plans to build 2.2 gigawatts of coal-fired power plants to power its aluminum smelter.
- The decision follows campaigns coordinated by Kpop4Planet, a climate movement led by K-pop fans who protested Hyundai’s business with Adaro.
- Climate group Market Forces has estimated Adaro’s coal plants would emit 5.2 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent per year, and activists say Hyundai would be pushed further from reaching its goal of carbon neutrality by 2045.
- The campaign collected more than 11,000 petition signatures from K-pop fans in 68 countries.

Report links pulpwood estate clearing Bornean orangutan habitat to RGE Group
- NGOs have accused PT Mayawana Persada, a company with a massive pulpwood concession in Indonesian Borneo, of extensive deforestation that threatens both Indigenous lands and orangutan habitat.
- In a recent report, the NGOs also highlighted links that they say tie the company to Singapore-based paper and palm oil conglomerate Royal Golden Eagle (RGE).
- RGE has denied any affiliation with Mayawana Persada, despite findings of shared key personnel, operational management connections, and supply chain links.
- The report also suggests the Mayawana Persada plantation is gearing up to supply pulpwood in time for a massive production boost by RGE, which is expanding its flagship mill in Sumatra and building a new mill in Borneo.

Indonesia to offer tax perks to companies investing in reforestation of its new capital city
- The Indonesian government is appealing to the private sector for investors to help transform 82,891 hectares (204,800 acres) of barren lands around the new capital of Nusantara into tropical rainforests.
- Mining companies that are required to rehabilitate their concessions after their permits have expired will be able to count reforestation in the capital region toward their quota.
- In addition, the government is offering significant tax deductions to companies that invest in rehabilitating degraded lands.
- East Kalimantan, once covered in tropical forests and home to charismatic species and vast regions of biodiversity, is the country’s most intensely mined province with 7 million hectares (17.3 million acres) of coal mining concessions.

Mini rainforest project aims to serve as Kalimantan reforestation blueprint
- The government, researchers and companies are combining forces to build a miniature tropical rainforest in Kalimantan, hoping it will serve as a blueprint for the reforestation of barren lands in the region of Indonesia’s planned new capital, Nusantara.
- Tree species of different heights – tall, low and understory – will create layers of vegetation in a reforestation method that hasn’t been used in Indonesia before; the program is the first of its kind to reintroduce tropical rainforest into a degraded ecosystem in Indonesia.
- The project, involving Mulawarman University and three companies — Danone, PT Indo Tambangraya Megah (ITM) and PT Multi Harapan Utama (MHU) — will cover 96 hectares (237 acres) some 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) away from the government’s core area of the new capital.

Reforestation of Indonesia’s new capital city stumped by haphazard planting
- Less than a tenth of the reforestation target for Indonesia’s new capital city, Nusantara, has been achieved to date, planners say.
- The main obstacles that experts have identified include a preference for nonnative tree species, poor planting practices and monitoring, and a general misapplication of reforestation principles.
- Officials have acknowledged that progress is off-target, but note that the government is joined by the private sector and NGOs in carrying out tree-planting efforts.
- They also say a master plan is in the works to better guide these efforts, as Indonesia prepares to inaugurate its “green forest city” later this year.

Study: Indonesia’s new capital city threatens stable proboscis monkey population
- A recent study warns that the ongoing construction of Indonesia’s new capital city on the island of Borneo could destabilize the population of endangered proboscis monkeys currently thriving in the area.
- President Joko Widodo has characterized the development as green and with a minimal environmental impact, but concerns have arisen over the potential threat to the nearby Balikpapan Bay mangrove ecosystem that’s home to proboscis monkeys and other threatened wildlife.
- Scientists have advocated for sustainable development practices and emphasized the importance of respecting local biodiversity while constructing the new city, Nusantara.
- Their recommendations include legal protection for affected areas, habitat restoration, and collaboration with local stakeholders to mitigate the environmental impact.

2023 fires increase fivefold in Indonesia amid El Niño
- Nearly 1 million hectares (2.47 million acres, an area 15 times the size of Jakarta) burned in Indonesia between January and October 2023, according to environment and forest ministry data; El Niño and burning for new plantations contributed to this.
- 2023 was the worst fire season since 2019, when that year’s El Niño brought a prolonged dry season and fires so severe, they sent billowing smoke across Malaysia and Singapore.
- In the absence of local jobs, some people burn abandoned farmlands and turn them into new plantations as a way to make a living and survive.

Reversing progress, Indonesia pulp & paper drives up deforestation rates again
- Reversing years of progress, deforestation caused by Indonesia’s pulp and paper industry is on the rise, increasing fivefold between 2017 and 2022, according to a new analysis.
- The increase in deforestation follows dramatic declines that occurred after major wood pulp and paper companies adopted zero-deforestation commitments due to public pressure.
- In addition to deforestation, the pulp and paper industry is linked to land and forest fires and peat subsidence, which contribute to the greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) that speed up global warming.

Killings of Bornean orangutans could lead to their extinction
- Human actions have led to the deaths of more than 100,000 Bornean orangutans since 1999, mainly for crop protection, bushmeat or the illegal wildlife trade.
- For the first time in 15 years, researchers surveyed residents of Kalimantan, the Indonesian section of Borneo, to find out why people kill the great apes and whether conservation projects help protect them.
- Researchers found that killings seriously threaten orangutan numbers, and that conservation projects have not yet helped.

Boost for Sumatran rhino IVF plan as eggs extracted from Bornean specimen
- Conservationists in Indonesia say they’ve successfully extracted eggs from a Sumatran rhino to be used in an IVF program meant to boost the population of the near-extinct species.
- The donor rhino, known as Pahu, is a Bornean specimen of the Sumatran rhino, and her egg would greatly expand the genetic pool of a species believed to number as few as 40.
- Since 2012, three Sumatran rhinos have been born under Indonesia’s captive-breeding program, but all are closely related: a single captive male is the father to two of them and grandfather to the third.
- Conservationists say they hope to eventually fertilize Pahu’s eggs with sperm from captive Sumatran males, with one of the Sumatran females then serving as a surrogate to hopefully bring a baby to term.

Indonesian activist Gita Syahrani wins $3m award for work on sustainable growth
- Global philanthropy Climate Breakthrough has awarded Indonesian environmental activist Gita Syahrani $3 million in grants along with capacity-building resources to support her projects in developing alternative economic models for local governments across Indonesia.
- Gita has for many years focused on supporting district governments protect peatlands and forests while developing policies for sustainable economic growth.
- Gita said she is keen to explore and include approaches that are more mindful and spiritual in encouraging more people to be active in protecting, rehabilitating and recovering the balance between people and the environment.
- Gita is the second Indonesian awardee of Climate Breakthrough grants, following environmentalist Arief Rabik in 2019; her fellow awardee this year is Jane Fleming Kleeb of the U.S., a prominent activist against the Keystone XL pipeline.

Independent project steps in as government slow to map Indonesian ancestral lands
- An independent initiative in Indonesia, the Ancestral Domain Registration Agency (BRWA), has ramped up its efforts in mapping customary lands by identifying 26.9 million hectares (66.5 million acres) — an area twice the size of Java — of land claimed by Indigenous communities.
- But the government’s efforts in recognizing these customary lands is lagging behind, with only 3.73 million hectares (9.21 million acres) formally recognized; that’s just 14% of what the BRWA has mapped.
- And this formal recognition is still largely limited to local governments, with the central government having only issued land certificates for customary lands in two provinces, 12 hectares (29 acres) of land certified in West Sumatra and 699.7 hectares (1,728 acres) in Papua.

As fire season worsens, Indonesian activists report four companies for burning
JAKARTA — Activists have reported four companies — two industrial forest firms and two palm oil firms — to the local police over fires in their concessions in Central Kalimantan as Indonesia is grappling with its worst fire episode since 2019. According to satellite image analysis done Sept. 2-10, the activists found a total of […]
Report alleges APP continues deforestation 10 years after pledge to stop
- A new Greenpeace report alleges that pulp and paper giant APP continues to clear forests and develop peatlands 10 years after adopting its landmark 2013 pledge to stop destroying natural forests for its plantations.
- The report identifies 75,000 hectares (185,300 acres) of deforestation in APP supplier concessions or companies connected to APP between February 2013 and 2022 — an area the size of New York City.
- APP has also changed the start date of its no-deforestation policy from 2013 to 2020, which would allow the company at some point in the future to accept new suppliers that deforested between 2013 and 2020.
- APP denies allegations of continued deforestation and says its suppliers have ceased forest conversions since 2013; the company also says it has committed to peatland restoration.

Indigenous Dayak ‘furious’ as RSPO dismisses land rights violation complaint
- The RSPO, the world’s leading sustainable palm oil certifier, has dismissed a complaint filed by an Indigenous community in Indonesia against a plantation company accused of violating their land rights.
- The company, MAS, arrived on the Indigenous Dayak Hibun’s ancestral land in 1996, and by 2000 had swallowed up 1,400 hectares (3,460 acres) of the community’s land within its concession.
- The community lodged its complaint in 2012, aimed at MAS’s parent company at the time, Malaysian palm oil giant Sime Darby Plantation, which is a member of the RSPO.
- In dismissing the complaint, 11 years later, the RSPO cited no evidence of land rights violations, and also noted that Sime Darby Plantation has sold off MAS — whose current owner isn’t an RSPO member and therefore isn’t subject to the roundtable’s rules.

Deforestation surges in hotspot of critically endangered Bornean orangutans
- Deforestation within a pulpwood concession that overlaps with key orangutan habitat in Indonesian Borneo has escalated in recent months.
- Concession holder PT Mayawana Persada cleared 14,000 hectares (34,600 acres) of forest between January and August, or 40 times the size of New York’s Central Park, of which 13,000 hectares (32,100 acres) were areas identified as orangutan habitat.
- In July alone, the company cleared 4,970 hectares (12,300 acres), the highest monthly deforestation figure recorded.

Indonesian police slammed after protester demanding rightful land is shot dead
- Indonesian police have reportedly shot dead one protester and injured two others in a flareup of yet another land dispute between communities and outside investors.
- Residents of the mostly Indigenous Dayak village of Bangkal in Central Kalimantan province have since Sept. 16 protested over palm oil company HMBP’s failure to allocate land to them as required by law.
- Police claim the protesters attacked security forces in the Oct. 7 clash, but video and witness accounts from the ground strongly suggest otherwise.
- Activists say the Bangkal case is emblematic of how the Indonesian government prioritizes commercial interests over those of communities, including using excessive force against protesters.

‘Wasn’t us,’ fire-hit Indonesia claims as Malaysia chokes on poor air quality
- Malaysia has blamed forest fires in neighboring Indonesia of causing smoke that has sent air quality levels to unhealthy levels across much of the country.
- Air quality in Kuala Lumpur and other parts of Malaysia have worsened in recent days, with more than a dozen regions recording unhealthy air quality.
- Indonesian officials have denied that fires in their jurisdiction are to blame, and accused their Malaysian counterparts of misreading the data.
- Indonesia dismissed that same source of data in 2019, however, when fires in Sumatra and Borneo also spread to Malaysia and Singapore.

Indonesian children locked out of school as El Niño haze chokes parts of Sumatra & Kalimantan
- Poor air quality over several Indonesian cities and outlying rural areas has forced local authorities to cut class times or close schools altogether.
- Air pollution on Oct. 5 in one area of Palangkaraya far exceeded the level at which air quality is classified dangerous to human health.
- The government of Jambi province has closed schools until Oct. 7, after which it will review whether to reopen for in-person teaching.

Small-scale fishers in Indonesian isles flag use of banned net by outsiders
- Fishers on a group of small islands in the Java Sea are calling for a crackdown on larger boats using a banned type of seine net in their waters.
- The Masalembu Islands, which lie in one of the most heavily trafficked fishing zones in Indonesia, have frequently seen boats from elsewhere encroach into the near-shore zone that’s reserved for small-scale traditional fishers.
- The local fishers say these bigger boats typically use a cantrang net, banned by the fisheries ministry but still in widespread use amid a lack of law enforcement.
- The fishers have petitioned the government to clearly designate the traditional fishing zone that should be strictly off-limits to these cantrang boats.

Indonesia awards biggest Indigenous forest claim yet to Bornean Dayaks
- The Indonesian government has officially recognized the biggest swath yet of forests that fall under the ancestral domain of an Indigenous group, awarding rights to nearly 70,000 hectares (173,000 acres) in Borneo.
- It took the government 11 years to grant this recognition to the 15 Indigenous Dayak communities that had applied for it, according to the nation’s main Indigenous alliance, AMAN.
- There are many more customary forests yet to be recognized in the region, with activists calling on the government to speed up the recognition process.

New farmers foundation supports deforestation-free products in Indonesia
- Palm oil farmers in Indonesia have established a new foundation to help farmers around the country in protecting forests and selling their sustainable products to the global market.
- The foundation was established after the Indonesian palm oil farmers union, SPKS, carried out a pilot project in six villages in western Borneo.
- The pilot project proved that smallholders could cultivate palm oil without clearing forests by implementing the high carbon stock (HCS) approach, but they needed incentives and benefits.
- This is where the new foundation, called the Farmers For Forest Protection Foundation (4F), comes in by providing farmers with both financial and non-financial support, like training.

Indonesian oil palm firm slapped with $61m fine for fires on its plantation
- Indonesia’s Supreme Court has upheld a $61 million fine against palm oil company PT Rafi Kamajaya Abadi for fires on its oil palm plantation in western Borneo.
- The fires burned an area spanning 2,560 hectares (6,326 acres), or more than seven times the size of New York City’s Central Park.
- To date, the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry has filed lawsuits against 22 companies for fires on their concessions, 13 of which have been found liable and must pay fines after exhausting all avenues of appeal.

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