Indonesia

En Indonésie, la police vient de désigner le dirigeant d'une compagnie d'huile de palme comme le commanditaire du meurtre de deux défenseurs des petits planteurs, dans une concession de l'île de Sumatra.

Indonesia North Sumatra police have arrested an oil palm plantation owner believed to be the mastermind behind the murder of two journalists-cum-activists, Maraden Sianipar and Maratua P. Siregar. The police said it was believed the murders were triggered by a land dispute between the company and local farmers.

In recent weeks, Indonesia has seen its largest mass protests since the “people power” movement that forced President Suharto to step down in 1998. Among a variety of pro-democracy demands, the protesters want lawmakers to scrap a controversial bill governing land use in the country.Critics say the bill could be used to imprison indigenous and other rural citizens for defending their lands against incursions by private companies.

Central Kalimantan provincial government in Indonesia agrees to cooperate with Elite Agro LLC of UAE to develop agriculture and plantation sector. As initial step, government will prepare 5,000 hectares of land for the agriculture project.

About 19% of Indonesia’s palm oil plantations are unlicensed. The government now plans to take back unplanted palm oil concessions.

Déforestation et accaparement des terres au Cameroun par les agro-industriels du secteur de l’huile de palme, l’ONG Milieudefensie, pointe le doigt accusateur sur certaines banques néerlandaises et européennes.

For decades, the island of Aru escaped the attention of companies clearing Indonesia’s rainforests. But then it came into the sights of the Menara Group, which wanted to plant sugarcane across nearly two-thirds of Aru.

Community representatives, impacted by palm oil companies in Liberia and Indonesia have traveled to the Netherlands to convey their grievances with ABN Amro, the financier of those companies.

Palm oil plantations in Indonesia and commercial fruit orchards in the Philippines have uprooted indigenous people and rural communities from their land, despite laws put in place to protect them, human rights groups said.

The Indonesian government is failing to protect the rights of Indigenous peoples who have lost their traditional forests and livelihoods to oil palm plantations in West Kalimantan and Jambi provinces, according to a new report released by Human Rights Watch.

Korindo, a major palm oil operator in Indonesia’s Papua region, has sent a cease-and-desist letter to delay the publication of a report highlighting its various violations there.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has sent a delegation to Central Kalimantan in Indonesia to observe several areas as a follow up to a plan to invest in food crops in the province.