{"id":89179,"date":"2022-01-10T03:55:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-09T20:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ekuatorial.com\/?p=89179"},"modified":"2022-01-10T23:19:19","modified_gmt":"2022-01-10T16:19:19","slug":"irresponsible-food-estate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ekuatorial.com\/en\/2022\/01\/irresponsible-food-estate\/","title":{"rendered":"Irresponsible food estate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The government developed food estates in Sumatra and Kalimantan with a budget of Rp1.2 trillion for the sake of food security. If the plan to clear land in East Nusa Tenggara and Papua is taken into account, the total area of the food estate project reaches 2.3 million hectares. Land clearing will transform forests\u2014causing carbon emission, the loss of habitat for orangutan, and floods. In Kalimantan, the defense ministry cleared forests before regulations were issued and an environmental analysis was published. Tempo, in partnership with The Gecko Project<\/a>, with the support of the Rainforest Investigations Network of Pulitzer Center<\/a>, Internews Earth Journalism Network<\/a>, and Greenpeace Indonesia<\/a>, investigates the officials behind companies running the strategic national project of President Joko Widodo\u2019s administration.<\/em> <\/p>\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThis story also appeared in Tempo<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t

This is a cover story for an investigative series that was first published by Tempo Magazine<\/a> on 10 October 2021.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

WITH a heavy, trembling voice, Rangkap spoke softly about the forest in Tewai Baru village in Gunung Mas, Central Kalimantan, which has been the source of livelihood for the residents of the four villages surrounding it for decades. His eyes were filled with anger as he stared at the arid land planted with cassava. \u201cThis used to be a thick forest,\u201d said the 50-year-old man. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We stood among piles of logs, each 40 centimeters in diameter, which had formed small hills around the cassava plantation. The weather at the end of August was truly scorching. The sun struck Rangkap\u2019s face on the exposed land. \u201cThere used to be many boars and mouse deer here,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n

\"TEMPO\"
<\/span>TEMPO<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Five-month-old cassava plants in the defense ministry\u2019s food estate project, in Gunung Mas District, Central Kalimantan, 27 August 2021<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

Tempo asked Rangkap to join us as we walked around the cassava plantation. The six-month old cassava plants were only knee-height, thin and had yellow leaves. Within the span of 10 meters, two had died out of 10 cassava plants. The secondary forest\u2019s soil is sandy, said Rangkap, and tend to dry out without the shade of trees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the land was converted into a cassava plantation, Rangkap planted eggplant and chili under larger trees. According to the chairperson of the Hindu Kaharingan council in his village, people around the forest has practiced agroforestry for generations. Once a month he would check on his plants while hunting for mouse deer or boars, or while gathering rattan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The custom ended in November 2020. Dozens of heavy equipment arrived in his village escorted by the army, entering the forest that lays around 10 kilometers from the village center and cut down all trees on its way. In one month, 600 hectares of the lush forest was cut open. <\/p>\n\n\n\n