Soldiers, cronies and deforestation: The story behind Indonesia's food estate programme
- The Gecko Project
- 14 December 2021
When the Indonesian government announced ambitious plans to ramp up domestic food production as the pandemic set in last June, officials claimed that it would not lead to “environmental destruction”. An investigation by The Gecko Project and Tempo reveals how the ministry has exploited regulations that were drafted hastily during the pandemic, stripping away environmental safeguards and opening up vast new areas of land for agriculture.