Land conflicts rife in Indonesia

 

Speaking at the same event, an indigenous community representative from Indonesia said “[In Indonesia] there is a failure of companies to obtain legal rights to acquire land but they go ahead and grab land, clear forest and plant/operate.”

 

“That is their modus operandi."

 

"We hope that the Consumer Goods Forum can try and identify which is a good company that operates and fulfils its obligations, such as through RSPO processes. When we look at documents, we find there is often not a genuine representation of indigenous peoples in decision making [when it comes to] certifying palm oil plantations," she added.

 

"There were 30 land conflicts and problems with palm oil companies and indigenous peoples in Central Kalimantan in the past month," she said. "Indigenous peoples defending their lands are met with force by the police and Brimob [special operations unit of the Indonesian police]. They are criminalised."

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Environmental defenders targeted in Paraguay

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This same issue is widespread across the globe. An indigenous community leader and human rights defender from Paraguay, speaking at the event, reiterated concerns and added how much more difficult life has become since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

“Soybeans are the main product in Paraguay,” he said. “It provokes internal conflicts, the migration of indigenous families. It impacts the ecosystem through severe droughts. And now on top of all this we can add the pandemic.”

 

“[In Paraguay] we are all working to making environmental rights defenders visible, and this is what we are doing with a lot of effort with the communities,” said the community leader.

 

“This is especially important in these times of pandemic when the government is asking us to remain at home without any kind of policies relating to healthcare and food,” he added.

 

“Even six months after the beginning of the pandemic, we have found that what affects most members of the indigenous family is hunger. In this time, deforestation has created a lot of conflict regarding indigenous areas due to lack of security.”

 

The community leader explained that indigenous Paraguayans face racism and discriminatory policies and attitudes, including from the non-indigenous cattle ranchers that restrict the access of indigenous communities to their ancestral lands, limiting their freedoms to practice their traditional livelihoods on their ancestral lands. "Even in the 21st century, we continue to suffer from racism in Paraguay," said the leader.

 

“As indigenous peoples living under threat, our calls are not listened to. We need to issue an SOS – an urgent call for help that we are experiencing this level of threat and harm,” he added.

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Human rights under attack in Colombia

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In Colombia, which was the most dangerous country in the world for environmental and human rights defenders in 2019, local communities face similar issues.

 

"In the territory of Montes de Maria, our population is not only threatened physically by illegal armed groups, but we also face severe threats to our livelihoods and food security from the extensive oil palm plantations that have occupied the region,” said a female human rights defender and leader of an Afro-descendant community.

 

"Many of the conflicts can be traced to land tenure problems and inequality in access to land," she said.

 

The communities of Montes de Maria depend on fishing and agriculture, and the vast palm monocultures threaten their livelihoods.

 

"The oil palm plantations are in the watersheds,” said the community leader. “It affects the communities – the chemicals go into the water so it is no longer safe to drink. It also causes deforestation."

 

"Many of our communities are now surrounded by oil palm plantations and their access to water, wells and livelihood resources has been lost,” said the leader.

 

"The plantations use chemicals that bring serious and grave consequences for our communities, [while at the same time] the palm monocultures are also encroaching on our water and forest reserves."

 

"Our petition is that companies, the EU and other markets must respect human rights protections as established by the United Nations," she said.

 

"It is significant that the cases from Peru and Colombia being shared in this ZTI event are both linked to global oil palm supply chains connected to major transnational agribusiness, food and beverage companies who are members of the CGF, including Nestlé, Cargill and Unilever,” said Maria del Rosario Arango of Forest Peoples Programme, and moderator of the event.