Plantations

DTE 89-90, November 2011, Special Papua edition

The United National Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has written to the Indonesian government to express concern about the impacts of the Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate project (MIFEE) on the indigenous peoples affected by this agro-industrial mega-project.

DTE 89-90, November 2011, Special Papua edition

The following report, by independent researcher Anna Bolin,[1] explores the global trends and influences at work behind agriculture mega-projects like MIFEE in Papua.

DTE 88, April 2011

Oil palm development in Indonesia has led to conflict, human rights abuses and the theft of community land; it has sparked massive fires which devastate forests, contribute significantly to climate change and affect human health.

DTE 88, April 2011

As a country rich in natural resources, Indonesia has many sources of renewable energy. According to government policy, these include geothermal energy, agrofuels, hydro, solar and wind energy, biomass, biogas, tidal energy and energy from differences in sea temperatures.

DTE 88, April 2011

A new certification scheme – Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) – is being introduced in Indonesia this year. Announced in November last year by Indonesia’s Agriculture Minister Suswono, the scheme is being seen as a rival to the Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).

Down to Earth 87, December 2010

The story of an oil palm plantation worker in Kalimantan.

"The longer we worked, the deeper we got into debt"

This is the story of Suroso, who spent four and half months working at an oil palm plantation in Bulungan District, East Kalimantan. The information was gathered at an interview which took place at the Sawit Watch1 office, in Bogor, West Java, in early November 2010.

Down to Earth 87, December 2010

An update on the Ancestral Domain Registration Agency - BRWA - launched earlier this year.

"We have taken back the land…but it isn't recognised as ours.  We want to be free to work our own land." (Nenek Mahbun, from Kelumpang Lima)