Indonesia

Pelo menos nove grupos, entre coreanos, chineses e indonésios, vieram neste ano ao país em busca de terras para plantio de alimentos.

Foreigners will be allowed to have a maximum ownership of 49 percent in plantations for staples such as rice, according to a presidential decree seen by Reuters on Monday.

These planned food estates will deprive Papuans of their traditional resources for hunting and fishing and destroy the very basis of their livelihoods.

Business leaders and even top government officials have been left surprised by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s announcement last week that the country would impose a two-year moratorium on the clearing of natural forests, which may affect various foreign investment projects.

Environmentalists are up in arms over the latest design for the Merau­ke Integrated Food and Energy Estate in Papua, which they say will see more than 1.1 million hectares of forests converted into agricultural estates.

Serikat Petani Indonesia (SPI) mengatakan program food estate di Merauke, Papua akan memberikan empat kerugian implikasi.

Chinese investors to open 1,000 hectares of rice fields in Tommo subdistrict, Mamuju regency, West Sulawesi province, Indonesia

The Agricultural Stance Coalition has rejected the government’s plan to establish a food estate in Merauke, Papua. According to them, the plan sounds reckless and letting the people of Indonesia become slaves in their own country.

"We request the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues to conduct an independent study on the impact of MIFEE and other similar businesses to Indigenous Peoples in Merauke and around the world."

Indonesia will require investors in food crop production to get local government permission before developing farms or estates in order to prevent land disputes.

Plans for a US$6 billion food estate in the Merauke region of West Papua has been attacked by farmer and environmental organisations as a land grab that would destroy 2 million hectares of virgin forest.

The Indonesian government plans to create a vast agricultural estate in the restive province of Papua, sparking fears of environmental destruction and a return of mass migration policies.