InfoSAWIT, JAKARTA – Civil coalition from eight provinces, such as, in Sumatera, Kalimantan, and Papua within the name, Eyes On The Forest (Jikalahari, Walhi Riau, KSPPM, Walhi Jambi, Walhi Sumatera Selatan, Point Kalbar, Walhi Kalimantan Tengah, Walhi Kalimantan Timur, and Walhi Papua) directly delivered two field reports to Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MEF) on 26 January 2023. They were directly welcome by Minister of Environment and Forestry, Siti Nurbaya Bakar; Vice Minister of Environment and Forestry, Alue Dohong; and the officials of Echelon I and II in MEF.
Minister Siti Nurbaya told that her side did appreciate the field monitoring and directly delivered the reports to MEF to get solution. For the government, some could be directly told in advice, some could be waiting for some months, and even years.
“The best thing is that if something needs to be done together. Some should remind which parts that the government must do, and which parts that civil organization should reinforce. The most important thing is the follow up to what civil coalition found in 8 provinces,” Siti Nurbaya said, as InfoSAWIT quoted from the official page of Jikalahari.
The two reports consist of corporates’ performance development in industrial plantation forests (IPF) and palm oil plantations. In total there were 40 corporates. They consist of 27 IPF corporate, 13 palm oil plantation companies in Riau, Jambi, North Sumatera, South Sumatera, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, and Papua.
The first report consists of the investigation on commitment violation to No Deforestation, No Peat and No Exploitation (NDPE) and sustainability policy for IPF corporates. Eyes on The Forest coalition did monitor and saw NDPE implementation and sustainability policy that APRIL Group, APP Sinarmas Grup, Sumitomo, and Medco have conducted. IPF monitoring was also done in Jambi, North Sumatera, South Sumatera, Central Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, West Kalimantan, and Papua.
The second report consists of permit existence to IPF corporate and palm oil plantations after the government revoked the permits that President Joko Widodo himself announced on 6 January 2022. The monitoring result which ran in March – June 2022 took place in Riau, Jambi, South Sumatera, West Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, and Papua and found that the corporates still operate though their permits were revoked. Palm oil corporates and wealthy men, mining corporates, forest business rights corporates and the people still master the former IPF areas which were also revoked.
The two reports showed that IPF and palm oil corporates did violate, damage forests and take the indigenous people’s forests. The corporates that their permits were revoked get no sanction from the government. “The core of the finding is that the government’s monitoring system is very weak in the landscape or field level. This is the biggest factor. The corporates keep damaging, taking the indigenous people’s forests and circumstances,” civil coalition noted. (T2)
