The Aru Islands are rich in cultural and biodiversity. Many Aru Indigenous people are worried their traditions, Aru’s flora and fauna and the relationship between the two could be threatened by the onset of large-scale cattle ranching.
Category: Forests
What happens when investors make a cattle call on ranching Indonesia’s Aru Islands?
Four cattle-ranching firms have acquired permits for an area covering almost 62,000 hectares on Trangan Island, one of the most pristine of the Aru Archipelago. Mongabay Indonesia explores how this came to be.
Ecosystems and indigenous people at risk if cattle ranching begins in Indonesia’s Aru Islands
Indonesia’s well-conserved Aru Islands may soon be taken over by cattle ranching stretching across almost 62,000 hectares, including 16 villages home to the area’s Indigenous people.
Irresponsible food estate
The food estate project in Central Kalimantan went into motion before relevant regulations and an environmental analysis were published. Prabowo Subianto and Moeldoko are behind companies running food estates.
Indigenous groups in Mentawai Islands resist the exploitation of their territories
The issuance of the Regional Regulation on the Recognition of the Mentawai Indigenous Peoples provides legal protection for Indigenous rights at the district level. However, new laws and inaction by the central government have paved the way for timber companies to exploit their land, natural resources and culture.
The determined fight against timber estates in Mentawai Islands
For years, the people of Mentawai have fought against the exploitation of their forests. The latest permit for timber estates issued by the government in Siberut Island was in 2017, without having consulted local communities
Communities in Tidore Islands rely on mangroves for remedies
Besides having ecological benefits, mangroves are also used for medicinal purposes and the Tidore Islands community, have been reaping benefit from the plant for generations.
Sungai Buluh social forestry fails to take root
High hopes surrounded the Social Forestry program in the Batang Anai region, West Sumatera. Ecotourism activities that started in 2013 stopped operating soon after, while supporting facilities crumbled.
Community-based efforts help reforest the Bromo-Tengger-Semeru National Park
The reforestation of slopes in the mountainous area of the Bromo-Tengger-Semeru National Park in East Java has set an example where community involvement is paramount to its success.
Deforestation in Halmahera Paves Way for Palm Oil Industry
The expansion of private oil palm plantation in Gane Dalam, Halmahera is inevitable. Some residents choose to stay on the remaining land they have. Some of them sold their land and become labourers on the plantation. While environmentalists ask the government to review permits and policies that are deemed as not in favour of the local community.