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View all search resultsIndustrial expansion squeezes indigenous lands, forests
Roughly 8.5 million hectares of indigenous land in Indonesia, an area twice the size of Denmark, are currently overlapping with either wood, oil and gas or mining concessions, according to a recent report by environmental groups.
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A nickel mining site at the edge of the forest is seen in April 15. Members of the Hongana Manyawa indigenous tribe regularly patrol the area to monitor mining activity in East Halmahera, North Maluku. (AFP/-)
I
ndigenous peoples in Indonesia are increasingly being cut off from their homes and livelihoods as industrial activities seize upon their customary lands and forests, according to NGOs, raising fears over deepening marginalization of such communities whose rights are often brushed aside.
Such disconnects between people and their lands and traditions due to their territories taken over by industries can be observed most strikingly in provinces in Papua, according to indigenous watchdog Pusaka Bentala Rakyat.
“When extractive projects started to emerge under state control and succeeded by extracting the forests, [...] the indigenous people in Papua were alienated from their living space,” the group’s campaigner Yokbeth Felle said during a discussion hosted by Justice Coalition for Our Planet (JustCOP) on Wednesday.
She added the threats of displacement were worsened by bureaucratic hurdles that hamper indigenous groups from gaining formal recognition of their customary forests.
This happened to the Gelek Malak Kalawilis Pasa indigenous community in Southwest Papua. The community holds no state recognition for their indigenous forest despite previous attempts to secure it, while private wood businesses hold concessions for their business nearby.
“Legal recognition for any strategic development project is faster to obtain than for customary forests,” Yokbeth said.
A new report issued by Earth Insight and Global Alliance of Territorial Communities (GATC) echoes such a concern.
