InfoSAWIT, KAPUAS HULU – The expansion of the palm oil plantation industry in Kapuas Hulu Regency, West Kalimantan, in recent years has reportedly increased pressure on areas with high ecological and social value. Field findings indicate that the operations of PT Equator Sumber Rezeki (PT ESR)—a subsidiary of First Borneo Group—may have triggered serious environmental and social issues, ranging from deforestation and peatland threats to community-level conflict.
PT ESR is known to hold an Plantation Business Permit (IUP) covering approximately 16,867 hectares in Batang Lupar District. While administratively located within Non-Forest Estate (APL), the concession lies within a strategic ecological corridor connecting Betung Kerihun National Park and Danau Sentarum National Park. The corridor is considered vital as an ecosystem buffer zone, a wildlife movement route, and a livelihood landscape for Indigenous Dayak communities that have depended on forests for generations.
“This corridor is not only an ecological space, but also the living space of Indigenous communities. Forest clearing activities here risk disrupting wildlife connectivity and shrinking community-managed areas,” said the LinkAR Borneo Research Team, in a statement reported by InfoSAWIT on Monday (26/1/2026).
According to LinkAR Borneo, monitoring conducted between October and December 2025 suggests PT ESR’s operations may have contributed not only to ecological damage, but also to escalating social conflict and the neglect of Indigenous and local community rights.
During 2025, deforestation associated with PT ESR was recorded at 973.79 hectares, consisting of 825.063 hectares in Sungai Senunuk Village and 148.72 hectares in Sungai Setulang Village. The land clearing reportedly took place in a high conservation value landscape serving as a buffer for two major national parks. It also targeted peat ecosystems, which are crucial for carbon storage, water regulation, and climate crisis mitigation.
“Deforestation throughout 2025 shows very serious pressure on a high conservation value landscape, especially when land clearing targets peat areas and national park buffers,” the LinkAR Borneo team added.
As of December 2025, the total forest cleared by PT ESR was said to have reached 2,868.57 hectares, with 1,892 hectares—around 66%—located within orangutan habitat based on the Population and Habitat Viability Analysis (PHVA). Cumulatively, from 2024 to November 2025, the total forest loss reportedly amounted to 3,063 hectares, roughly equivalent to 4,400 soccer fields, with about 65% considered habitat for the Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus).
Field findings also confirmed at least 10 orangutan nests in the forest area of Labian Village, indicating the concession remains an active habitat for protected wildlife. Forest fragmentation in the corridor is feared to disrupt ecosystem connectivity, increase human-wildlife conflict, and worsen biodiversity loss.
“The presence of orangutan nests shows the area is still an active habitat. Corridor fragmentation will accelerate biodiversity loss and increase the risk of human-wildlife conflict,” LinkAR Borneo stressed.
At the village level, land clearing has been ongoing in Sungai Senunuk and Setulang. In Sungai Senunuk, individuals who surrendered land reportedly received Rp3.5 million per hectare, while compensation for communal land varied between Rp11–20 million per household, distributed through hamlet heads. The scheme is considered to have created information gaps and differing perceptions within communities regarding land status and the long-term consequences of land release.
In Setulang, the clearing was reportedly used to establish Belida Estate, serving as a nursery and early planting site for oil palm. The activity is seen as an entry point for wider operational expansion and has triggered environmental and social impacts in surrounding areas.
Community resistance has also been reported in other villages, including Labian and Labian Ira’ang, driven by concerns over loss of living space, environmental degradation, and lack of meaningful consultation. In Mensiau Village, opposition emerged despite the concession not directly overlapping with the village forest under social forestry permits, due to fears of spillover impacts on forest buffer zones and local livelihoods.
The situation has also shown signs of horizontal conflict in Ngaung Keruh Hamlet, Labian Village. Indigenous Dayak Iban Menua Ngaung Keruh communities—recognized through a Regent Decree and an official customary forest designation—raised concerns over alleged individual land claims within communal customary territory, accompanied by promises of jobs, plasma schemes, and compensation offers.
In addition, communities questioned the weak implementation of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC/PADIATAPA). From a legal perspective, PT ESR reportedly holds an IUP but has not yet obtained Land Cultivation Rights (HGU).
“Without proper FPIC implementation and with no HGU in place, land clearing activities should be reviewed to prevent worsening conflict and ecological damage,” the LinkAR Borneo team concluded.
Recommendations raised include temporarily halting land clearing, reviewing permits, conducting independent environmental-social audits, ensuring full protection of Indigenous rights, enforcing. (T2)
