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Jakarta: Papuans have demanded a halt to all new forestry and plantations deals until the region’s Special Autonomy Law protects indigenous rights with dedicated implementing regulations, a coalition of local organisations said today.

© Telapak/EIA

The call was made after over 20 indigenous, community, church and non-governmental groups from across Papua held a strategic meeting in Jakarta following presentations from government representatives on Papuan forestry and land use policies.

Papua’s globally significant forests are increasingly threatened by major oil palm, biofuels and pulp plantations, and have been ravaged by both legal and illegal logging. Rights have also been granted to clear one kilometre either side of the planned 1,650 kilometre long Trans Papua Highway.

'A legal grey area'

Septer Manufandu, Executive Secretary of Foker, Papua’s biggest NGO coalition said, “The fact that the Perdasus and Perdasi have not yet been passed, despite having been in the Papuan parliament for the last two years, has enabled investors and other actors to work with elites in Papua to exploit the people’s forests within a legal grey area.”

Under Papua’s Special Autonomy status within Indonesia, a provincial regulation, called a Perdasi, is required to define and implement rules guaranteeing community based forest management rights. However, this cannot be passed until a Special Regulation called a Perdasus is passed to formally protect native Papuan’s rights over all natural resources.

Indigenous Papuans also fear problems such as demographic change from migration, the loss of livelihoods from forest resources and the spread of HIV/AIDS will only increase in the wake of such projects, as has happened in the past.

Disagreement

Foker LSM Papua also released a film documenting local people’s disagreement with a controversial new oil palm plantation in Keerom, near the provincial capital of Jayapura, which was opened by the Governor of Papua Province, Barnabas Suebu in March.

The film, along with others made by Papuan NGOs and communities is part of a long term campaign called Save the People and Forests of Papua, and aims to secure real involvement for Papuans in decisions affecting their land and resources.

For more information, contact:

Septer Manufandu, Foker LSM Papua: septer_manufandu@yahoo.com
Tel: +62 (0)967573511 / Fax: +62 (0) 0967 573 512 / Mob: +62 (0) 812 487 6321

Jago Wadley, EIA: Tel: +62 (0) 813 866 21940 / jagowadley@eia-international.org

Mardi Minangsari, Telapak: 0811 111 918 / mardi_minangsari@telapak.org


EDITOR’S NOTES,


• West Papua and Papua provinces make up the easternmost region of Indonesia.
• Indonesia has the highest deforestation rate, one of the worst illegal logging problems, and is now the biggest producer of oil palm in the world.
• At least 3 million hectares of forests in Papua have been slated for conversion to oil palm.
• The majority of Papuans still rely on forests for their daily needs.
• The governor of Papua province, Barnabus Suebu, pledged to “return the forests to the people” at the UN climate conference in Bali, December 2007.
• Foker’s film is entitled Jangi untuk Sejhatera (Promise of Welfare), and focuses on a plantation owned by PT Rajawali Group, with Malaysian investment.
• In 2007 Indonesia passed an Investment Bill raising commercial land rights for foreign investors from 35 years to 90 years.

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