#child-slavery — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #child-slavery, aggregated by home.social.
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Indigenous Peoples Fight Climate Change
In the wake of the worst wildfires in living memory in Mexico and Central America in 2024, news outlets were looking for someone to blame. Howler monkeys and many species of parrots perished in the blazes. Slash and burn farming practices by Belize‘s indigenous communities were singled out as a primary cause. Yet this knee-jerk reaction is not evidence based and doesn’t take into account forces like corporate landgrabbing for mining and agribusinesses like meat, soy and palm oil.
Belize’s indigenous Maya communities are rebuilding stronger based on the collective notion of se’ komonil: reciprocity, solidarity, traditional knowledge, gender equity, togetherness and community.
In the wake of horrific #wildfires in #Belize and #Mexico caused by #climatechange, #indigenous #Maya are rebuilding using the notion of se’ komonil: reciprocity #community and solidarity. #indigenousrights #landrights #BoycottPalmOil @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-924
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterWritten by James Stinson, Senior Research Associate and Evaluation Specialist, Young Lives Research Lab, Faculty of Education, York University, Canada and Lee Mcloughlin, PhD student, Global Sociocultural Studies, Florida International University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Driven by extreme heat and drought, some of the worst wildfires in living memory raged across Mexico and Central America through April and May 2024.
News agencies reported howler monkeys dropping dead from trees, and parrots and other birds falling from the skies.
In Belize, a state of emergency was declared as wildfires burned tens of thousands of hectares of highly bio-diverse forest. Farmers suffered huge losses as fires destroyed crops and homes, and communities across the country suffered from hazardous air quality and hot, sleepless nights. Many risked their lives to fight off the approaching fires.
As the wildfire crisis subsided with rains in June, public attention shifted toward identifying the causes and allocating blame. Many singled out the “slash and burn” farming practices in Belize’s Indigenous communities as the primary cause. This simple knee-jerk reaction ignores the underlying causes of the climate crisis, are scientifically unfounded and stoke resentment of Indigenous Peoples.
Young Mayan women. Image source: WikipediaFanning the flames
On June 5, one of Belize’s major news networks ran a story with the headline “Are Primitive Farming Techniques Responsible for Wildfires?” The story placed blame for Belize’s wildfires on “slash-and-burn farming”, arguing that “there has to be a shift away from this destructive means of agriculture.”
The story was followed by an op-ed published online asserting that “because of the increased amounts of escaped agricultural fires, aided by climate change, global warming and drought, slash and burn has become more of a problem than the solution it once was.” This sentiment was further reinforced by Belize’s prime minister, who declared that “slash аnd burn has to be something of the past.”
While some of the recent fires in Belize were connected to agricultural burning — and poorly managed fire-clearing practices can have negative air-quality impacts — blaming “slash and burn” for the wildfire crisis ignores the larger context and conditions that made it possible, namely global warming.
May 2024 was the hottest and driest month in Belize’s history. This extreme heat is part of a broader global trend, with June 2024 marking the 13th consecutive “hottest month on record” globally.
More fundamentally, these statements confuse other forms of slash-and-burn agriculture with the distinct “milpa” systems employed by Indigenous people in Belize.
Indigenous knowledge undermined
Throughout Belize, Indigenous Maya farmers commonly practise a form of agriculture referred to as milpa in which fire is used to clear fields and fertilize the soil. Within this system, small areas of forest are chopped down, burned, and planted with maize, beans, squash and other crops. After being cultivated for a year or two, the field is then left fallow and allowed to regenerate back to forest cover while the farmers move on to a new area within a cyclical pattern where areas are reused after a regenerative period.
Commonly derided as slash-and-burn farming, milpa has long been perceived as environmentally destructive. This perspective has been perpetuated by long-standing myths and misconceptions that portray the farming practices of non-Europeans, and specifically the use of fire, as wasteful and irrational.
In Belize, this negative view of slash and burn has driven many colonial and post-colonial interventions to modernize Maya farming practices.
Recent research, however, has shown that the lands of Indigenous Peoples around the world have reduced deforestation and degradation rates relative to non-protected areas. The southern Toledo district of Belize, where the majority of Maya communities are located, boasts a forest cover rate of 71 per cent, significantly higher than the national average of 63 per cent.
Further research has found that the species composition of contemporary Mesoamerican forests has been shaped by the agricultural practices of ancient Maya farmers.
In Belize, fire has been found to play a role in promoting ecosystem health and resilience and intermediate levels of forest disturbance caused by milpa can increase species diversity. Well-managed milpa farming can support soil fertility, result in long-term carbon sequestration and enriched woodland vegetation.
Research has also shown that previous studies of deforestation in southern Belize significantly overestimated the rate of deforestation due to milpa agriculture by not accounting for its rotational process.
Many researchers now believe that milpa is a more benign alternative, in terms of environmental effects, than most other permanent farming systems in the humid tropics. Indeed, findings such as these have led to a growing appreciation for the role of Indigenous Peoples in advancing nature-based and life-enhancing climate solutions.
Unfortunately, research in the region has also found that climate change is undermining the ecological sustainability of milpa farming by forcing farmers to abandon traditional practices and adopt counterproductive measures in their struggle to adapt. In some cases, this has resulted in a decrease in the biodiversity and ecological resilience of the milpa system. This issue is compounded by the decreasing participation of young people, resulting in a further generational loss of traditional ecological knowledge.
Together, these issues are serving to alter and undermine a livelihood strategy that has proven sustainable for thousands of years. However, rather than call for Maya farmers to abandon slash and burn, we encourage support for the self-determined efforts of Maya communities to adapt to this changing climate. https://www.youtube.com/embed/ok787HRp_gA?wmode=transparent&start=0 A video documenting the Maya response to the 2024 wildfire crisis.
Planting seeds of collaboration
Since winning a groundbreaking land rights claim in 2015, Maya communities in southern Belize have been working to promote an Indigenous future based on principles of reciprocity, solidarity, traditional knowledge, gender equity and, most significantly, se’ komonil, the Maya notion of togetherness and community.
Led by a collaboration of Maya leaders and non-governmental organizations, work toward this has included efforts to revitalize traditional institutions and governance systems, as well as the development of an Indigenous Forest Caring Strategy and fire-permitting system. In an effort to encourage and support the participation of youth in this process, Maya leaders have collaborated with the Young Lives Research Lab at York University to develop the Partnership for Youth and Planetary Wellbeing.
Building on previous research with Maya youth, the project has produced innovative youth-led research and education on the impacts of climate change, the importance of food sovereignty, traditional ecological knowledge and the struggle to secure Indigenous land rights in Maya communities. This work has been shared with global policymakers at the United Nations and local audiences in Belize.
Rather than fanning the flames of climate blame, we must work together to revitalize Indigenous knowledge systems and plant seeds of climate collaboration and care.
Written by James Stinson, Senior Research Associate and Evaluation Specialist, Young Lives Research Lab, Faculty of Education, York University, Canada and Lee Mcloughlin, PhD student, Global Sociocultural Studies, Florida International University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
ENDS
Read more about human rights abuses and child slavery in the palm oil and gold mining industries
Investigation by Bloomberg exposes that despite being RSPO members, #SOCFIN plantations in #WestAfrica are the epicentre of #humanrights abuses, sexual coercion, environmental destruction, and #landgrabbing. Operating in #Liberia, #Ghana, #Nigeria, and beyond, SOCFIN’s…
Palm Oil Threatens Ancient Noken Weaving in West Papua
Colonial palm oil and sugarcane causing the loss of West Papuans’ cultural identity. Land grabs force communities from forests, threatening Noken weaving
Family Ties Expose Deforestation and Rights Violations in Indonesian Palm Oil
An explosive report by the Environment Investigation Agency (EIA) details how Indonesia’s Fangiono family, through a wide corporate web, is linked to ongoing #deforestation, #corruption, and #indigenousrights abuses for #palmoil. Calls mount for…
West Papuan Indigenous Women Fight Land Seizures
Indigenous Melanesian women in West Papua fight land seizures for palm oil and sugar plantations, protecting their ancestral rights. Join #BoycottPalmOil
Greasing the Wheels of Colonialism: Palm Oil Industry in West Papua
A landmark study published in Global Studies Quarterly in April 2025 has revealed that the rapid expansion of the #palmoil industry in #WestPapua is not only fuelling #deforestation, #ecocide and environmental destruction but…
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Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
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Join 3,171 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#belize #boycottPalmOil #boycottpalmoil #childLabour #childSlavery #climatechange #community #goldMining #humanRights #hunger #indigenous #indigenousActivism #indigenousKnowledge #indigenousRights #indigenousrights #landRights #landgrabbing #landrights #maya #mexico #palmOil #poverty #slavery #wildfires
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SOCFIN’s African Empire of Colonial Oppression: Billionaires Profit from Palm Oil and Rubber Exploitation
An investigation by Bloomberg exposed that despite being RSPO members, #SOCFIN plantations in #WestAfrica are the epicentre of #humanrights abuses, sexual coercion, environmental destruction, and #landgrabbing. Operating in #Liberia, #Ghana, #Nigeria, and beyond, SOCFIN’s #rubber and #palmoil plantations continue historical colonial legacies of exploitation. Despite widespread evidence of abuse and deforestation, SOCFIN and its partners benefit from weak sustainability certifications such as #FSC and #RSPO. Europe and the US buy products directly linked to these violations, greenwashing the destruction in the process. Indigenous communities and workers are actively resisting this huge injustice —They seek proper redress in the form of stricter #EUDR regulations and better protections of their health, livelihoods and families. Consumers can boycott palm oil and rubber in solidarity. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife
#News: 🚨 #SOCFIN #palmoil and #rubber is linked to sexual #violence, forced #labour, #landgrabbing #deforestation in #WestAfrica🌴🔥🤢☠️🙊🚫 French tycoon Vincent Bolloré profits while communities suffer. 💀✊🏽 #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife https://palmoildetectives.com/2025/10/22/socfins-african-empire-of-colonial-abuse-how-billionaires-profit-from-palm-oil-and-rubber-exploitation/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterA recent Bloomberg investigation into SOCFIN, a plantation empire co-owned by French billionaire Vincent Bolloré, reveals ongoing human rights violations, sexual exploitation, deforestation, and colonial-style land grabs across West Africa. SOCFIN, based in Luxembourg and co-owned by Bolloré, operates sprawling palm oil and rubber plantations in Liberia, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, and elsewhere. The investigation uncovered systemic abuses and environmental destruction, exposing the toxic greenwashing reality behind RSPO corporate sustainability claims.
According to Bloomberg’s extensive report published in April 2025, SOCFIN plantations in Liberia and Ghana are sites of widespread sexual coercion, rape and sexual abuse.
Women workers at the Liberian Agricultural Company (LAC) plantation, one of SOCFIN’s largest operations, routinely face demands for sex from supervisors as a condition for securing daily work. Women like Rebecca (a pseudonym) describe daily harassment and abuse, forced to accept demands out of economic necessity. Contract workers earn as little as $3.50 a day and face threats of dismissal if they refuse sexual advances.
Similar accounts emerge from SOCFIN’s Salala Rubber Corporation (SRC), recently sold after violent worker protests over labour abuses, inadequate medical care, and poor housing conditions. Women workers have described supervisors openly demanding sexual favours in exchange for continued employment. Mamie, a former SRC worker, described being violently raped by her supervisor after repeatedly refusing his advances. Such experiences remain common, despite superficial anti-harassment measures like “No Sexual Harassment” signs erected by the company (Bloomberg, 2025).
SOCFIN’s operations are rooted deeply in colonial history. Established in the Belgian Congo in the late 1800s, SOCFIN expanded aggressively during colonialism, exploiting rubber and palm oil resources across Africa and Asia. Today, its co-owners, Vincent Bolloré and Belgian businessman Hubert Fabri, control vast landholdings, perpetuating neo-colonial dynamics of wealth extraction. According to an article by Tony Lawson for Shoppe Black, the plantations replicate exploitative plantation models, extracting wealth from African land and labour for European profit, reminiscent of colonial rubber plantations and antebellum slave operations like Louisiana’s Nottoway Plantation.
This neo-colonial exploitation is glaringly evident in Nigeria, where SOCFIN’s subsidiary, Okumu Oil Palm Company, operates 19,062 hectares of palm plantations and 7,335 hectares of rubber plantations. Palm Oil Detectives (2024) documented widespread displacement of local Indigenous communities due to plantation expansion. Villages such as Lemon, Agbeda, and Oweike have been forcibly dismantled, leaving hundreds homeless. The affected communities received no compensation or consultation—violating international human rights standards on Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC).
Austin Lemon, whose family established Lemon village in 1969, recounted witnessing his ancestral land seized by SOCFIN and converted into plantations without consent or compensation. The trauma from losing their homes, livelihoods, and ancestral heritage remains profound, with many residents still unable to recover decades later.
In Ghana, SOCFIN’s Plantations Socfin Ghana (PSG) has systematically destroyed vital rainforests, despite clear warnings from environmental assessments. PSG admitted clearing over 1,089 hectares of natural forest between 2012 and 2016. The loss of biodiversity and increased carbon emissions from these activities directly exacerbate the climate crisis, severely impacting local rainfall patterns and agricultural productivity. Farmers around PSG’s plantations suffer reduced yields, poverty, and food insecurity.
Meanwhile, the EU continues to import vast quantities of palm oil and rubber from SOCFIN, despite mounting evidence of human rights violations and deforestation. Europe’s reliance on SOCFIN’s supply chains for products such as Michelin tyres, Nestlé’s consumer goods, and numerous cosmetic brands implicates major companies in these abuses. Investigations show European tyre manufacturers purchasing rubber sourced from plantations like Liberia’s LAC and SRC, despite credible allegations of labour abuses, sexual coercion, and land theft.
SOCFIN and its partners rely heavily on weak and ineffective sustainability schemes like the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). But investigations repeatedly reveal these certifications as ineffectual greenwashing tools. For example, SOCFIN’s Cameroon plantations—RSPO-certified—face lawsuits alleging severe environmental damage and community displacement. Water pollution tests conducted near these plantations revealed dangerous contamination levels, threatening public health (Bloomberg, 2025).
Vincent Bolloré, despite his influential position as a major shareholder and board member, consistently denies responsibility, claiming limited involvement. Yet Bolloré’s role remains central. Known for his vast media empire and conservative political influence in France, Bolloré has maintained his SOCFIN stake despite decades of documented abuses. Lawsuits brought under French duty-of-vigilance laws now challenge Bolloré directly, arguing that his oversight constitutes effective control, making him legally responsible for SOCFIN’s actions.
Public pressure is growing. In 2024, Norway’s sovereign wealth fund excluded Bolloré Group and strongly recommended divestment from Bolloré and SOCFIN, citing overwhelming evidence of abuse. Luxembourg’s stock exchange delisted SOCFIN the same year, further isolating the company. Despite these actions, European governments and multinational corporations including the RSPO continue to support SOCFIN financially, facilitating ongoing abuses in Africa.
Communities across West Africa resist despite enormous personal risk. Liberian union leader Mary Boimah was jailed after protests against SRC’s labour conditions. Nigerian community member Iyabo Batu was shot by SOCFIN-affiliated security personnel while protesting environmental contamination and blocked access to her village. Despite these risks, communities persist in their demands for justice, compensation, and the return of their lands.
SOCFIN’s stated commitments to human rights and sustainability remain hollow. Decades of documented abuses, superficial responses to audits, and persistent denial illustrate systemic failure and wilful negligence. As long as global markets reward SOCFIN’s rubber and palm oil, the cycle of violence and exploitation will continue.
The time has come to demand real accountability. Regulators and law-makers in the EU and USA must recognise their complicity in human rights abuses and ecocide in palm oil and rubber supply chains. Until this time, people and landscapes will continue to suffer from forced labour, sexual coercion, and environmental destruction. SOCFIN’s ecocide and human rights abuses—must end now.
Learn more
Bloomberg. (2025, April 17). The Rubber Barons. Retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2025-socfin-plantations
Palm Oil Detectives. (2024, July 31). Socfin’s Destructive Empire: Palm Oil Deforestation and Human Rights Abuses in West Africa. Retrieved from https://palmoildetectives.com/2024/07/31/socfins-destructive-empire-palm-oil-deforestation-and-human-rights-abuses-in-west-africa/
Shoppe Black. (2025). Labor Abuses: Nottoway and Liberia Plantations. Retrieved from https://shoppeblack.us/labor-abuses-nottoway-and-liberia-plantations/
ENDS
Read more about human rights abuses and child slavery in the palm oil industry
Palm Oil Threatens Ancient Noken Weaving in West Papua
Colonial palm oil and sugarcane causing the loss of West Papuans’ cultural identity. Land grabs force communities from forests, threatening Noken weaving
Family Ties Expose Deforestation and Rights Violations in Indonesian Palm Oil
An explosive report by the Environment Investigation Agency (EIA) details how Indonesia’s Fangiono family, through a wide corporate web, is linked to ongoing #deforestation, #corruption, and #indigenousrights abuses for #palmoil. Calls mount for…
West Papuan Indigenous Women Fight Land Seizures
Indigenous Melanesian women in West Papua fight land seizures for palm oil and sugar plantations, protecting their ancestral rights. Join #BoycottPalmOil
Greasing the Wheels of Colonialism: Palm Oil Industry in West Papua
A landmark study published in Global Studies Quarterly in April 2025 has revealed that the rapid expansion of the #palmoil industry in #WestPapua is not only fuelling #deforestation, #ecocide and environmental destruction but…
Palm Oil Practices Resemble Colonial Exploitation
Indonesian palm oil workers expose industry practices that mirror colonial exploitation: land grabbing, bad conditions, ecocide. Systemic change is needed!
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Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email address
Sign Up
Join 3,528 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #childLabour #childSlavery #deforestation #EUDR #FSC #Ghana #greenwashing #humanRights #HumanRights #indigenousRights #labour #landRights #landgrabbing #Liberia #News #Nigeria #PalmOil #palmoil #RSPO #rubber #slavery #SOCFIN #violence #WestAfrica
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Colonial Palm Oil Threatens Ancient Noken Weaving in West Papua
A powerful new indigenous art exhibition has highlighted the tragic loss of #WestPapua’s cultural identity due to #deforestation for #palmoil and #sugarcane monoculture plantations. A situation perpetuated by the illegal Indonesian colonisation of Melanesia. The ancient Melanesian tradition of noken weaving is under threat, as military-backed land grabs force Indigenous Muyu communities from their forests. Protect people and culture, when you shop make sure you #BoycottPalmOil #HumanRights #IndigenousRights
#News: Exhibition highlights vanishing of West Papua’s UNESCO recognised #noken weaving for #palmoil and #sugarcane in #WestPapua. Reject corporate #landgrabbing for palm oil in when you shop! #BoycottPalmOil #HumanRights #IndigenousRights @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-bmj
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterAsia Pacific Report. (2025, March 28). Researcher warns over West Papuan deforestation impact on traditional noken weaving. Evening Report. https://eveningreport.nz/2025/03/28/researcher-warns-over-west-papuan-deforestation-impact-on-traditional-noken-weaving
West Papuan doctoral candidate Veronika T. Kanem has issued a stark warning about the cultural and ecological destruction unfolding in Indonesia-occupied West Papua. As the region faces what may be the world’s largest deforestation project—two million hectares for palm oil and sugarcane—centuries-old Indigenous traditions are being pushed to the edge of existence.
Veronika T. Kanem, whose exhibition “Noken/Men: String Bags of the Muyu Tribe of Southern West Papua” opened at Auckland University, says the forced removal of her people from their forests has endangered not only biodiversity but the sacred art of noken weaving—a practice deeply embedded in the identity and social fabric of her father’s tribe, the Muyu.
Known locally as “men,” the noken is more than a string bag. Made from inner fibres of the genemo tree and other natural materials, noken symbolises a woman’s womb, a vessel of life used in ceremonies, food gathering, child-rearing, and cultural gift-giving. It holds economic, spiritual, and ancestral significance across Melanesia.
Now, industrial agriculture and military occupation threaten the entire cultural landscape. These new plantations are not only destroying forests; they are severing communities from their knowledge systems, their land, and each other.
Kanem’s research applies Indigenous Melanesian methodologies, using the act of noken weaving as a metaphor for knowledge, kinship, and resistance. Her work captures the lived experience of displacement and climate injustice at the intersection of colonial occupation, corporate extraction, and Indigenous resilience.
The Auckland exhibition also screened a documentary showcasing noken weaving traditions from across West Papua, including Asmat, Nabire, and Wamena. Speakers at the event, including Pacific scholars and artists, praised the project as a vital act of cultural preservation and defiance.
As Indonesia accelerates its colonial development schemes, the voices of West Papuans like Kanem are essential. Indigenous peoples must lead solutions to environmental destruction. Without indigenous justice, there can be no climate repair.
Defend West Papua’s forests and ancient indigenous cultures. Reject palm oil-driven genocide. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife #HumanRights #IndigenousRights
Asia Pacific Report. (2025, March 28). Researcher warns over West Papuan deforestation impact on traditional noken weaving. Evening Report. https://eveningreport.nz/2025/03/28/researcher-warns-over-west-papuan-deforestation-impact-on-traditional-noken-weaving
ENDS
Read more about human rights abuses and child slavery in the palm oil industry
Family Ties Expose Deforestation and Rights Violations in Indonesian Palm Oil
An explosive report by the Environment Investigation Agency (EIA) details how Indonesia’s Fangiono family, through a wide corporate web, is linked to ongoing #deforestation, #corruption, and #indigenousrights abuses for #palmoil. Calls mount for…
Papuan women will not be silenced while palm oil behemoths consume their land
In the colonised region of #WestPapua, Indigenous Melanesian women’s rights are being forgotten as companies and the Indonesian government seizes ancestral land for palm oil and sugar cane plantations — without owners’ consent.…
Greasing the Wheels of Colonialism: Palm Oil Industry in West Papua
A landmark study published in Global Studies Quarterly in April 2025 has revealed that the rapid expansion of the #palmoil industry in #WestPapua is not only fuelling #deforestation, #ecocide and environmental destruction but…
Palm Oil Workers Expose Industry Practices Resembling Colonialism
Palm Oil Workers Expose Industry Practices Resembling Colonialism | A coalition of palm oil workers in Indonesia has unveiled industry practices that mirror colonial exploitation, including land grabbing, poor working conditions, and environmental…
Papua’s ‘Empty Lands’: A Dangerous Myth Displacing Indigenous Peoples
In #WestPapua, on illegally colonised and disputed land taken by violence from Melanesian Indigenous peoples last century by Indonesian forces, authorities label indigenous lands as “empty”. This is done in order to justify…
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Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email address
Sign Up
Join 1,400 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#art #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #childLabour #childSlavery #deforestation #humanRights #HumanRights #indigenousRights #indigenousrights #landRights #landgrabbing #News #noken #PalmOil #palmoil #slavery #sugarcane #WestPapua
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Family Ties Expose Deforestation and Rights Violations in Indonesian Palm Oil
An explosive report by the Environment Investigation Agency (EIA) details how Indonesia’s Fangiono family, through a wide corporate web, is linked to ongoing #deforestation, #corruption, and #indigenousrights abuses for #palmoil. Calls mount for governments to act immediately to strengthen the #EUDR. Consumers can act when we #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife #HumanRights
#News: Shady family ties underlie Fangiono family’s #palmoil empire, peppered with #deforestation, rights abuse in #Indonesia 🌴☠️🧐 Demand change! #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife #HumanRights @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2025/09/17/family-ties-expose-deforestation-and-rights-violations-in-indonesian-palm-oil/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterEIA & Kaoem Telapak. (2025, August 20). When deforestation, corruption and rights violations are just another palm oil family affair. [EIA]. https://eia-international.org/news/when-deforestation-corruption-and-rights-violations-are-just-another-palm-oil-family-affair/
A new investigation by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) UK and Kaoem Telapak exposes widespread alleged deforestation, corruption, and human rights abuses permeating Indonesia’s palm oil sector, tracing these patterns to the powerful Fangiono family and their sprawling corporate network. Despite public denials and ostensible sustainability commitments, the report finds disturbing evidence that companies linked to the family have persistently violated laws, destroyed forests, and displaced local and indigenous peoples.
Indonesia, the world’s largest palm oil producer—exporting products worth nearly $28 billion in 2024—remains a hotbed for land-grabbing and habitat loss. The report, A Family Affair, catalogues cases across Sumatra, Kalimantan, and Papua, each area inhabited by unique indigenous communities and affected by complex ecological shifts driven by industrial expansion.
Martias, the family patriarch, was convicted in 2007 for acquiring palm oil permits through corruption and bribery. Despite serving a sentence and paying fines, his relatives have increased their influence, now holding leadership positions in major groups such as First Resources, FAP Agri, and Ciliandry Anky Abadi. The report highlights a series of persistent issues, including illegal plantation expansion, continued deforestation after permit revocation, and land acquisition without proper consent.
“The Fangiono family’s activities are spread far and wide across Indonesia’s palm oil industry and all too often we find routine, flagrant violations of the law, human rights and the environment.”
Senior Forests Campaigner Siobhan Pearce (EIA)
“This report reveals a governance failure that has enabled the Fangiono family’s corporate network to engage in deforestation, legal violations and the criminalisation of indigenous peoples. As long as groups… continue to operate without oversight, accountability or legal consequences, indigenous and local communities will keep losing their land, livelihoods and fundamental rights.”
Olvy Tumbelaka, Kaoem Telapak’s Senior Campaigner.
Corporate denials have done little to resolve the controversies. Although First Resources is a member of the RSPO, renowned for its so-called “sustainability” standards, the RSPO suspended its membership for three months in August 2025 after the company failed to demonstrate transparency regarding cross-ownership and shadow companies. The case reflects the broader limitations of voluntary industry certification and the persistent use of offshore entities to shield beneficial ownership from scrutiny.
The EIA and Kaoem Telapak strongly urge authorities, companies, investors, and certification bodies to address these ongoing violations and demand accountability for persistent environmental and social harm. The findings serve as an urgent warning for policymakers, buyers, and consumers on the global risks of unchecked palm oil expansion. Learn more via EIA.
EIA & Kaoem Telapak. (2025, August 20). When deforestation, corruption and rights violations are just another palm oil family affair. [EIA]. https://eia-international.org/news/when-deforestation-corruption-and-rights-violations-are-just-another-palm-oil-family-affair/
ENDS
Read more about human rights abuses and child slavery in the palm oil industry
Papuan women will not be silenced while palm oil behemoths consume their land
In the colonised region of #WestPapua, Indigenous Melanesian women’s rights are being forgotten as companies and the Indonesian government seizes ancestral land for palm oil and sugar cane plantations — without owners’ consent.…
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Papua’s ‘Empty Lands’: A Dangerous Myth Displacing Indigenous Peoples
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this is #genocide, much like the #Indigenous and #NativeAmerican and #Originario boarding schools and child adoption systems set up by the Catholic Church across the Américas:
https://masto.ai/@meduza_en/114992629030856751
and, just as a refresher: the original definition of familiae is house/reproductive slave.
christofascists know this.
Putin knows this.
all genocides are connected.
#Ukraine #Russian #childTrafficking #childSlavery #reproductiveSlavery #slavery
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Greasing the Wheels of Colonialism: Palm Oil Industry in West Papua
A landmark study published in Global Studies Quarterly in April 2025 has revealed that the rapid expansion of the #palmoil industry in #WestPapua is not only fuelling #deforestation, #ecocide and environmental destruction but also perpetuating colonial-era patterns of land dispossession, #violence, and erasure of #Indigenous #Papuan communities #BoycottPalmOil
#Study finds #palmoil expansion in #WestPapua isn’t just fuelling #deforestation but also colonialist-style #landgrabbing #violence and systematic erasure of #Indigenous #Melanesian cultures and languages. #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🪔☠️🩸🚜🔥🧐⛔️ @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2025/06/22/greasing-the-wheels-of-colonialism-palm-oil-industry-in-west-papua/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterResearchers Szilvia Csevár and Yasmine Rugarli found that Indonesia’s government has shifted its palm oil plantation focus from Sumatra and Borneo to West Papua, granting private companies nearly unlimited concessions over millions of hectares—including protected forests and Indigenous lands. “Oil palm plantations and associated infrastructure in West Papua have proliferated on a massive scale,” the authors report, noting that this expansion is driven by global demand and a system ‘rigged’ by corruption and profit motives, with little regard for the rights of indigenous peoples and their sovreignty.
The study highlights that large companies overwhelmingly rely on monoculture and invasive agricultural methods, despite evidence that intercropping and smallholder farming could minimise environmental harm. “Profit-driven large companies remain reluctant to adopt these practices; a disturbing status quo resulting from a rigged system of corruption in Indonesia,” Csevár and Rugarli write.
The findings echo long-standing warnings from West Papuan leaders and human rights advocates. Douglas Gerrard, writing for the Office of Benny Wenda, describes how “the most critical years of West Papuan history are told entirely from the colonisers’ perspective,” contributing to a process of historical erasure that keeps Indonesia’s occupation and its consequences out of international view. Gerrard urges the world to “put West Papua back into history”—a call that resonates with the study’s documentation of ongoing land theft and displacement.
Human rights groups and scholars have repeatedly accused the Indonesian state of using military force to suppress Papuan self-determination and facilitate resource extraction. As Jacobin’s Ben Knobloch reported in 2021, “Indonesia’s repression hasn’t broken the West Papuan freedom struggle,” but it has resulted in widespread violence, mass displacement, and the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Papuans since the 1960s. The International Center on Nonviolent Conflict notes that West Papua’s decolonization was never completed, and that “the people of West Papua have the legal right to self-determination because the decolonisation process following Dutch rule was never completed.”
Csevár and Rugarli’s study underscores that the palm oil industry is now a central force in this ongoing conflict. The authors warn that unless global consumers and policymakers act, West Papua’s forests—and the cultures they sustain—will continue to be sacrificed for cheap palm oil. “The continued expansion of oil palm plantations in West Papua is inseparable from the broader colonial dynamics and the ongoing denial of Indigenous rights,” the study concludes.
As calls grow to boycott palm oil linked to deforestation and human rights abuses, Papuan leaders and their allies urge the international community to recognise the region’s history, support Indigenous land rights, and demand an end to the colonial exploitation of West Papua.
Original Paper: Greasing the wheels of colonialism: Palm oil industry in West Papua
Csevár, S., & Rugarli, Y. (2025, Apr 26). Greasing the wheels of colonialism: Palm oil industry in West Papua. Global Studies Quarterly, 5(2), Article ksaf026. https://doi.org/10.1093/isagsq/ksaf026
Abstract
This article explores the links between colonial conflict, palm oil extraction, and displacement of Indigenous communities in Indonesia’s Papua region (“West Papua”). In West Papua, Indigenous communities are systematically subjected to extractive violence and forced displacement, with large part of these incidents closely linked to the palm oil industry. Unsound practices of plantation development to satisfy demands of economic growth has led to an increased militarization of Indigenous lands with a particularly harmful impact on Papua women. West Papua’s colonial origins led to decades of military rule, underdevelopment, and political exclusion entrenching a power structure through violence that can only be sustained in continuing conditions of oppression. The palm oil industry functions within a predatory political economy where revenue-generating activity depends on inequality and vulnerability to violence. This article exposes the continuance of colonial mentality, in which an exploitative and deeply unequal economy is sustained to control wealth and resources. This not only fuels multiple forms of insecurities for Papua communities but also diminishes the importance of their traditional environmental knowledge for climate adaptation. Building on the concept of human security, we conceptualize the intersecting threats created by conflict, plantation development, ethnicity, and gender in West Papua as a humanitarian catastrophe, contributing to the development of a principled understanding of such harms that will ultimately disrupt the existing colonial order.
Introduction
While the palm oil sector continues to be a growing industry, it begs many questions and belies a range of controversies. As certain impacts of large-scale plantation development have by now become unavoidable, particularly on the regional and local levels, there is a growing need to understand the linkages between political and economic forces that are driving social conflict, extraction activities, and their impact on Indigenous communities. There is a growing body of evidence highlighting the various gender dimensions of the interaction between environmental issues and security (Detraz 2017, pp. 146–173; UN Environment Programme [UNEP] 2020; Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance [DCAF] 2022). Access to, use of, and control of natural resources are well-known drivers of conflict and insecurity, which play out against the backdrop of a range of interrelating power structures and pre-existing structural inequalities impacting upon gender and ethnic relations as factors of social differentiation. The variety of forms in which environmental insecurity manifests is difficult to generalize, and the way in which it will interact with other forms of insecurity will greatly depend on the specific context and personal circumstances of women and men. With reference to the situation in West Papua, this article aims to highlight the inextricable links between the palm oil industry and racialized gender-based harms impacting historically oppressed communities. It seeks to demonstrate that contemporary legal and policy frameworks remain rooted in a colonial mentality and therefore are inherently incapable of addressing structural causes of such harms that are supported by the economic interests of the state.
One of the main characteristics of extractive activities on Indigenous lands is the presence of security forces, either state or private or both, to secure economic state interests in the region. Such practices of militarized extraction have a particularly harmful impact on Indigenous communities trying to defend their lands and resources (Human Rights Council [HRC] 2013). In West Papua, oil palm plantations and mining projects are routinely guarded by military forces, creating a widespread and systematically racist pattern of rights abuses targeting Indigenous Papuans (Csevár 2020, pp. 5–9). In fact, military repression against Indigenous communities opposing oil palm plantation development on their traditional lands is endemic across the Indonesian archipelago (Forest Peoples 2021). In the Philippines, legitimate objection to national development projects by Indigenous groups has led to the entrenchment of paramilitary units on traditional lands to violently suppress community opposition (Alternative Law Groups Inc et al. 2009, pp. 55–64). The decades-long campaign of “red-tagging” by the Philippine government, labeling Indigenous and human rights defenders as supporters of the communist insurgency, has created a narrative in which violent attacks against Indigenous Peoples are not only deemed tolerable but are in fact encouraged (Amnesty International 2021; International Commission of Jurists [ICJ] 2022). Similar patterns and issues are frequently reported across different regions (Global Witness 2023), with Indigenous Peoples systematically subjected to extractive violence, albeit with different degrees of intensity, both in the Global South and the Global North (Inter-American Commission on Human Rights [IACHR] 2015; Hitchcock 2019, para. 302; Nachet et al. 2021). Such practices have led to persistent patterns of environmental racism in the Global South, where environmental justice remains elusive due to the inherent male and white bias maintaining racial hierarchies at the expense of communities of color (Batur and Weber 2017; Falzon and Batur 2018), with a particularly harmful impact on Indigenous women. At the same time, environmental security threats greatly weaken women’s ability to cope with and adapt to climatic changes. This is particularly disturbing as environmental knowledge—traditionally created, held, and transmitted by Indigenous women—is crucial for climate change resilience (McGregor et al. 2020; Spencer et al. 2020; Climate Investment Funds [CIF] 2021; Mekonnen et al. 2021).
Despite disturbing patterns of violence, international response to these concerns has been slow, if not completely absent. International discourse remains embedded in outdated state-centric approaches to peace and security and is thus unable to provide an effective response to human suffering not associated with national security interests as a military matter (Chinkin and Kaldor 2017). Conceptions of human security, developed mainly by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP 1994, 2022), continue to be downplayed in security narratives, and efforts to adapt international frameworks to interconnected layers of violence remain uneven and precarious. While frameworks such as environmental peacebuilding or the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda promote human security, they remain rooted in the traditional mentality of a narrow understanding of security, which puts virtually exclusive emphasis on the security of the territory and capital of the state (Csevár 2021). The intersecting threats created by environmental pressures, gender and ethnicity, and traditional environmental knowledge systems are thus largely discounted, and the international security discourse continues to draw on Western traditions shaped by pervasive racial and cultural biases. It is such colonialist approaches that this article takes issue with. The central argument is that contemporary frameworks enable the continued colonial dispossession of Indigenous Peoples by the extractive industry, supporting an abnormal political economy in which revenue-generating activity depends on violence and coercion. It exposes how the palm oil industry continues to reproduce harmful colonial binaries (civilized vs. primitive) and how neoliberal demands of endless economic growth and security of capital dismiss, often violently, any Indigenous resistance to unsound and exclusionary extraction practices on traditional lands. Building on the concept of second-generation human security, we conceptualize the situation in West Papua as a humanitarian catastrophe, shifting the focus away from national security interest to local needs and priorities, blurring harmful binaries, and ultimately disrupting the existing colonial order.
Section 2 of this article starts with describing issues of internal colonialism and contested indigeneity in Southeast Asia. It then highlights the concept of second-generation human security, which has gained some attention in literature as a consequence of the inadequacy of contemporary frameworks to provide effective responses to situations of exacerbated conflict, and human suffering. This forms the conceptual basis for analysis in the following sections. Section 3 describes the palm oil industry in West Papua, highlighting its coloniality, which has created an exploitative and deeply unequal economy facilitating dispossession of and violence against Indigenous Papuans. Section 4 illustrates the intersectional harms experienced by Papua women as their traditional roles and knowledge are eroding as a consequence of the loss or degradation of their lands. Section 5 offers some concluding remarks.
Colonialism and Indigeneity: Gaps in Human Security Models
The post-WWII era of decolonization marked a shift towards denouncing colonialism. The right to self-determination was adopted in numerous United Nations (UN) instruments, serving as a foundational norm for the UN-led process of decolonization. While most of the territories under European colonial power have indeed achieved some measure of self-determination, the process of decolonization continues to be shaped by certain antimonies (Anghie 2004). Established and dominated by Western powers, UN primacy in decolonization efforts and post-colonial state-building has led to serious concerns as such an approach was thought to “simply change[d] the form of European hegemony, not its substance” (Otto 1996, p. 340), a process that entrenched power relations established during colonial times and thus contributing to continuing oppression of historically marginalized communities. Indeed, international law—largely a Eurocentric system (Bedjaoui 1985; Koskenniemi 2011)—was instrumental in applying decolonization to some situations of violent domination, but not to others. The “salt-water theory” was introduced to exclude Indigenous communities from decolonization efforts by establishing a binary system in which colonial domination was assumed to exist only between a European and non-European entity (Bennett 1978). Also known as the blue-water theory, this concept served to prevent a broad application of Chapter XI of the UN Charter on non-self-governing territories. Under this theory, decolonization efforts were applied only to geographically separate overseas territories, and thus excluded self-determination by native communities residing within the territory of UN member states (Ofuatey-Kodjoe 1977; Stavenhagen 1990, pp. 5–6).1 At the same time, the historical trajectory of indigeneity as a concept of international law tracks to some extent that of decolonization. Grounded in the peoples’ right to self-determination, and as a result of decades of tireless efforts by Indigenous representatives, Indigenous rights have gradually gained acceptance by the international community (Anaya 2004) and have been formally espoused by the General Assembly with the adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007. This process too was however largely shaped by Western understandings of indigeneity centered around white settler colonial experiences on the American continents, Australia, and New Zealand (Muehlebach 2001; Merlan 2009). The prevalent UN standards of decolonization and indigeneity are therefore too narrow, largely ignoring ethnic and cultural differences within the borders of the newly independent states exposing traditionally marginalized communities to various forms of internal colonization.
Settler colonialism is best conceptualized as a structure rather than a singular historical event, underscoring its permanent, ongoing and systemic nature (Wolfe 1994, 96; Wolfe 1999, 2). Unlike other colonial formations, settler colonialism’s primary goal of elimination is not race but the expropriation of land. This process is perpetuated through various mechanisms, seeking to “destroy to replace” (Wolfe 2006, 388), which differs from genocide as it encompasses not only physical elimination but also cultural erasure, assimilation, and the systematic destruction of Indigenous identities, land fragmentation and a wide array of biocultural assimilation (O’Brien 2010). Settler colonial narratives actively erase Indigenous Peoples while memorializing them as relics of the past—perpetuating the myth of the “vanishing Indian” (Kēhaulani Kauanui 2016, 3) which serves as an ideological tool to deny Indigenous presence and rights, thereby legitimizing settler claims to land (O’Brien 2010). The colonization experiences in Southeast Asia, as well as that of several African nations, are distinct from this practice in several ways. In its most renowned work, Fanon (1963) provides a powerful analysis of colonial structures, pointing to the emergence of new post-colonial forms of imperialism and political distortions entrenching racialized forms of violence and leading to the continued exploitation of former colonies. Tracing colonial techniques and strategies, Casanova (2007) explains internal colonization as the dominance and exploitation of natives by natives. Indeed, the concept of internal colonization refers to the practice of racialized classification of minority ethnic groups as subordinate to the dominant ethnicity within the borders of a single state. Such “domestic subset of a larger colonial (or imperial) paradigm” (Chávez 2011, p. 786) bears on all social relations, including political and extractive violence. Southeast Asia is particularly suitable to illustrate the various patterns and harmful impacts of internal colonization on traditional communities, closely linked to a narrow understanding, or even non-existence, of indigeneity in the region. Post-colonial state forming in most Southeast Asian countries denied the existence of specific Indigenous groups on the territory, claiming that the concept “internationalist indigeneity” (Merlan 2009, p. 303), as developed within the UN system, is inherently linked to European domination through settler colonialism and therefore inapplicable to Southeast Asian territories, which did not experience significant European settlement. What has become known as the “Asian controversy” (Kingsbury 1998), a peculiar all-or-nothing approach to indigeneity, is a common feature in qualifying indigeneity in the region (Baird 2020).
While there are notable parallels with the patterns of classic European settler colonialism, the current neo-colonial administration in West Papua clearly exhibits methods of internal colonization as well. Indonesian settlers under the Dutch colonial administration became the post-colonial elite and ruling class, perpetuating colonial structures and systems after independence. Their position was further strengthened by a large-scale, government-sponsored migration from other parts of Indonesia in successive years, increasingly marginalizing Indigenous Papuans, reducing them to a minority and dispossessing them of their ancestral lands (Chauvel 2007; International Coalition for Papua [ICP] 2020, 168–175). Given Indonesia’s historically discriminatory policies toward ethnic minorities within its territory, internal colonization has thus emerged as the most prevalent political structure. As a result, the concept of indigeneity remains highly controversial in Indonesia, where the government has explicitly denied the applicability of international standards of indigeneity on its territory. Instead, it refers to “customary law societies,” which are thus seemingly deprived from the possibility of asserting their Indigenous rights to land and resources as a matter of international law (Permanent Mission of Indonesia 2022). Such approaches were challenged by Gray (1995, p. 35), who linked the existence of Indigenous communities to the notion of internal colonialism, asserting that they are “colonized peoples (. . .) who are prevented from controlling their own lives, resources, and cultures.” Indeed, despite initial rejections on the state level, native communities across Southeast Asia have increasingly invoked the concept of indigeneity as an attempt to redress long-standing ills and grievances concerning land use and cultural extinction, albeit with various degrees of success (Baird 2019). Indonesia’s despising position notwithstanding, local organizations in West Papua have embraced the concept and assert their identity as Indigenous on the international level (Franciscans International 2022).
There might not be much sense in making clear distinctions between settler and internal colonialism or internationalized and local standards of Indigenous identity. Beyond the definitions and labels we apply, colonialism in any form shows high levels of oppression and violent events targeting traditional communities, which continue to be perceived as inferior to those in power, their opposition to development and extractive activities on their lands viewed as disruptive to the existing hierarchical order established during colonial times. Indigenous peoples thus remain disproportionately vulnerable to colonial depredation and military violence, their social status and security deteriorating. As traditional approaches prioritize the political and economic security of the state at the expense of marginalized communities, the emergence of the human security concept showed a promising attempt to generate alternative responses to such pervasive forms of human insecurity. Since its inception with the UNDP in 1994, human security has generated significant academic discussion (Martin and Owen 2014). In any event, the concept was both welcomed and met with concern, regularly criticized for its lack of precision, which gave rise to various interpretations of its scope (Paris 2001). In its report, the Commission on Human Security (CHS 2003, p. 4) defined human security as “the vital core of all human lives in ways that enhance human freedoms and human fulfilment”; a “threshold approach” embracing both human rights and human development, which seemingly reconciled the debate surrounding the scope of human security (Owen 2004, 2014), referring to a set of minimum or basic standards to guarantee survival, livelihood and dignity.
A common understanding of a vital core of human security suggests a homogenous concept, which is of course not the case. What constitutes minimum conditions of tolerable livelihood and dignity, survival even, will largely depend on the prevalent gender dynamics and societal norms within the local community. Human security is thus highly contextual. There have been incremental, though sporadic attempts to implement the human security framework in global policy and legal tools. Within the environmental peacebuilding discourse studies tend to adopt a narrow focus and analyse the environment-security nexus based mainly on the potential of environmental issues to influence and aggravate armed conflict (Swain and Öjendal 2018). While the benefits of environmental peacebuilding are significant, Ide (2020) cautioned about its potential to generate harmful and exclusionary practices. Such practices result from discounting the linkage between environment, security and ethnic and gender equality, feeding into broader concerns about international law normalizing systemic forms of environmental violence (Cusato 2021). At the same time, these linkages are significantly marginalized in the WPS framework as well, which has so far ignored environmental factors as drivers of violence against women, and thus failing to adopt an intersectional human security approach (Csevár 2021; Yoshida and Céspedes-Báez 2021). Indeed, WPS implementation and knowledge production is heavily criticized by its whiteness, whereby Global South actors are generally viewed as mere recipients of norms developed by actors in the Global North (Haastrup and Hagen 2021; Henry 2021; Parashar 2019). In parallel, linking environmental concerns and security issues has gained more attention in global debates, which, however, fail to properly consider the gender and ethnicity dimensions of environmental security (HRC 2015; Detraz 2017, para. 16). As they privilege theories advanced by Western actors to understand environmental insecurity in the Global South, colonialist assumptions and biases remain inherent in these frameworks (Kashwan and Ribot 2021; Sultana 2022). Current human security frameworks thus fail to address the abusive ethnic, racial, and gender paradigm of conflict situations, which has given rise to calls for reinterpretation. Chinkin and Kaldor (2017, pp. 479–526) argued powerfully for the need of a “second-generation human security.” A new model which builds on the existing critique on human security, shifting the focus away from top-down solutions introduced by dominant powers to an effective adoption of bottom-up approaches prioritizing local knowledge and needs. They reconstruct human security as a strategy of resistance, where insecurity emanates from a specific context that is generated by interrelated factors such as gender or ethnicity. International intervention should be developed based on local priorities, aimed at assisting local people, rather than imposing pre-set structures designed to advance Western geo-political or economic agendas.
Adequate responses to long-standing and mostly unresolved colonial practices remain one of the key gaps in human security models. Contemporary approaches often suit the geo-political or economic agenda of the dominant powers, rather than the needs of affected communities. The current study understands second-generation human security as an important opportunity to reflect on the interactions of power structures such as colonialism, militarism, and resource extraction. There is an urgent need for the model to account for complex histories of political violence rooted in colonial encounters, elucidating how unsound practices of extraction on Indigenous lands create a predatory political economy reproducing harmful colonial binaries and thus entrenching inequality and vulnerability affecting traditional communities the most. The next section examines the palm oil industry in West Papua and its implications for Indigenous Papua communities.
Colonial Manifestations of the Palm Oil Industry
The palm oil industry in West Papua operates within the context of an ongoing political conflict rooted in the region’s colonial history. Amid global security concerns during the Cold War, Indonesia’s invasion and continued military action in West Papua forced the Netherlands, the colonial power at the time, into accepting a bilateral agreement which transferred control of West Papua to Indonesia after a brief period of UN administration (Agreement No. 6311, 1962). The promised act of self-determination2, the 1969 UN-supervised Act of Free Choice, was marred by coercive military tactics by Indonesian forces (UN 1969; UNSF Background). Following such a frustrated process of decolonization and West Papua’s forceful integration (Drooglever 2009), Indonesia maintains a military control over the territory, entrenching power relations established through violence and facilitating extractive practices associated with continuing insecurity stemming from ethnic and racial marginalization of native Papua communities. As the connections between colonial grievances, violent Indonesian rule and the extractive industry in West Papua were discussed elsewhere (Csevár 2020, 2021), the focus of this section is on highlighting current practice enabling the palm oil industry to treat Indigenous lands as “empty land” at the expense of Indigenous Papuans to satisfy neoliberal demands of endless economic growth.
Oil palm plantations across Indonesia are expanding at a rapid pace, solidifying its position as the world’s largest exporter of palm oil. Building on the already extensive exploitation in other regions, the Indonesian government has shifted its plantation development focus to West Papua by granting private companies with concessions for virtually unlimited period of time and ensuring their access to an area of millions of hectares, encompassing not only agricultural land, but also protected forests and Indigenous settlements (awasMIFEE! 2012; Wakker 2005, p. 20). Since the late twentieth century, oil palm plantations and associated infrastructure in West Papua have indeed proliferated on a massive scale (Gaveau et al. 2021). As the global demand for palm oil continues to intensify, its trading price is relatively low, promoting an economy of scale whereby producers can remain competitive only by maintaining small prices and providing high quantities of the commodity (Tandra et al. 2022), necessitating invasive agricultural methods, such as monocultures, to maximize production. Despite growing evidence on intercropping providing a more sustainable method for palm oil cultivation, already implemented by smallholder farmers (Slingerland et al. 2019), profit-driven large companies remain reluctant to adopt these practices; a disturbing status quo resulting from a rigged system of corruption in Indonesia (The Gecko Project 2018, 2020).
As planation development in West Papua has grown, so have socio-ecological concerns about Indonesian palm oil. The rapid growth of plantations is affected by large-scale conversion of forests and traditional lands resulting in significant environmental harm, loss of biodiversity, and Indigenous livelihoods (Adrianto, Komarudin, and Pacheco 2019; Susanti and Maryudi 2016; Runtuboi et al. 2020). The scale of deforestation and displacement driven by plantation development in West Papua is thus significant. Mega-projects such as the billion-dollar business “Tanah Merah” (The Gecko Project 2018, Prologue) or the “textbook land grab” (Ginting and Pye 2013, p. 161) Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE) destroys millions of hectares of rainforests and Indigenous lands. At the same time, they operate within the context of military oppression, with direct roots in colonial histories, where resource extraction activities are characterized by a “steady marginalisation of [I]ndigenous Papuans, with top-down projects imposed from outside, and often accompanied by the threat of, or the use of violence to enforce plans” (Marr 2011; see also Csevár 2020). West Papua’s political conflict and environmental crises are thus inextricably intertwined—spatial evidence gathered by INTERPRT, an independent project investigating environmental crimes, reveals a disturbing territorial convergence between state violence and ecological devastation driven by corporate interests, underscoring a direct territorial link between genocide and ecocide. Consequently, the landscape transformation is not merely emblematic of a political conflict but represents a tangible conflict eroding the land, soil, water, people, fauna, and flora extending over time and space across West Papua (Center for Creative Ecologies 2018).
The harmful impacts of “colonial-style large scale corporate monoculture” (Li 2018, p. 328) did not go unnoticed by Indonesia’s key trade partners. Becoming increasingly aware of the environmental and social issues attached to palm oil, the European Union (EU) sought to enforce higher sustainability standards in trade agreements by restricting its palm oil import (de Clerck and Harmono 2019; European Parliament 2020) and introducing Trade Sustainable Development (TSD) chapters in free-trade agreements (Nessel and Orbie 2022). While the EU urgently needs to reflect on the inherent coloniality within its own environmental policies (Almeida et al. 2023), such attempts to “green” investment and trade agreements are long overdue. Indeed, Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) and trade agreements prioritize nationalistic economic agendas to secure foreign investments in developing states to facilitate economic growth (Gonzalez and Mutua 2022, p. 150; Vandevelde 1998), and thus play a significant role in extractive violence enacted against Indigenous Peoples (HRC 2016; 2018, paras. 34–35; 2023, paras. 14, 21). In response to mounting socio-ecological concerns, Indonesia introduced the Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) certification scheme, which it, however, failed to effectively implement (Putri et al. 2022). In West Papua, the Manokwari Declaration was adopted, aimed at boosting forest conservation through better monitoring of illegal logging by palm oil companies (Cámara-Leret et al. 2019). While these commitments appear ambitious, they merely create a veneer of legitimacy that shrouds ongoing racial-capitalist exploitation. Engaged in a systemic structure of greenwashing, major palm oil enterprises in Indonesia operate by maintaining a seemingly sustainable production under various certification schemes, providing them access to the EU market, while also engaging in a “shadow” practice of deforestation and violation of community rights, enabling the continuous expansion of plantations (Greenpeace Indonesia 2024; The Gecko Project 2024). Palm oil certification schemes are indeed often function in an exclusionary way, designed to benefit large enterprises and beyond the reach of smallholders (Saadun et al. 2018). In that sense, the current blue-print of “green” agreements and sustainability certification schemes are part of the problem, not the solution, entrenching rather than undoing colonial practices of Indigenous land dispossession and ecological destruction.
Unchecked processes of plantation development in West Papua have been largely enabled through the continuous subjugation of Indigenous Papua communities resulting in persistent rights violations stemming from land-grabbing practices. Such pervasive patterns of exploitation find their roots in colonial dynamics—land-grabbing practices have long been legitimized under the terra nullius principle, or “empty land,” historically invoked to justify the seizure of Indigenous territories, thereby erasing Indigenous presence and history in the process (Saito 2020). In contemporary practice, this is further shaped by racial capitalism, prioritizing the pursuit of economic profits at the expense of human, non-human, material, and natural resources (Gonzalez and Mutua 2022). While Indigenous communities have historically maintained a harmonious relationship with nature, living in interconnected and reciprocal ways with their lands and forests, the arrival of colonial forces in West Papua, first Dutch and then Indonesian, marked a significant shift, triggering the slow but steady erosion of Indigenous knowledge systems. Historically, Papuan tribes maintained stewardship over their land with territorial boundaries marked by natural elements like large trees, stones, or rivers. These boundaries were rarely written, rather preserved through oral topography—reflecting a deep interconnection with the environment and a profound wisdom. (Asia Justice and Rights [AJAR] 2021, pp.160–161). These traditions were disrupted by colonial forces imposing a model of linearly demarcated territories infused with racial connotations, as slow institutional violence facilitated the commodification of nature (Ahmed 2015; Gonzalez and Mutua 2022, pp. 147). To justify the displacement of Indigenous communities, racialized myths propagated the idea that Indigenous Peoples were inherently inferior, warlike savages incapable of properly managing the land (Gonzalez and Mutua 2022, pp. 146–147). In the context of West Papua, Eichhorn (2023, p. 996) introduced the term “industrial racism” to describe the dehumanization and racialization of Indigenous Papuans linked to resource extraction, orchestrated by the intermediary of the industrial colonizer and the “civilizing” colonial master, the Indonesian government. This structural model of racialized oppression in West Papua shares notable parallels with the fate of Black African diasporic communities. Indigenous Papuans have been discriminated for their “blackness” through the time of the Dutch colonization which relied on racial politics that placed them at the bottom of the colonial societal pyramid, while “native” Indonesians and Chinese were playing the role of colonial mediator (Budiardjo and Liong 1998, p. 4; Kusamaryati 2021). This racialized model of oppression kept its long-lasting nature, persisting in the industrial colonization and still executed today within the extractive industry (Chao 2021a; Eichhorn 2023).
The palm oil industry in Indonesia is intricately tied to the country’s capitalistic agenda, driven primarily by the pursuit of state economic profit and financial security. Plantation projects operate within structures of internal colonialism and racial capitalism, where government-sponsored land-grabs treat Indigenous territories as empty land and thus facilitate an exploitative and deeply unequal economy whereby revenue-generating activity depends on the continued dispossession of Papuan communities and concurrent violence. Massive scale deforestation and loss of traditional lands also erodes Indigenous knowledge and traditions, integral to the communities’ livelihood, dignity, and survival. To fully comprehend such manifestations of culturally specific colonial violence, the next section will address the intersectional harms generated by the interplay between race and gender.
Intersectional Harms in West Papua
Embedded in Black feminism and critical race theory, the term intersectionality was coined by Crenshaw (1989) to describe the unique experiences of African American women who grappled with intersecting oppressions within the feminist movement. The term intersectionality is intended to recognize that individuals harbor multiple intersecting identities, such as class, gender, ethnicity, religion, and sexuality, among others (Davis 2008; Cho et al. 2013; Kaijser and Kron-Sell 2014). These identities profoundly shape their experiences and interact dynamically, exposing them to varying forms and layers of oppression or privileges. It is imperative to not only center the experiences and identity construction of those positioned at these intersections, but also to scrutinize how social, political, economic, and interpersonal inequalities are constructed and perpetuated (Collins 2022). Indeed, May (2015) expands upon this analytical paradigm by framing it as a “matrix of oppression”; the juncture where various experiences intersect. Ultimately, embracing intersectional perspectives requires holistic, open, and dynamic “matrix thinking.”
The externalization of costs stemming from the ecological devastation and socio-political insecurity in West Papua is spread unequally among various groups in society. Race and ethnicity are not the only drivers of insecurity; gender is another. As racialized expansion of palm oil monocultures continues, Indigenous Papuan women shoulder a disproportionate burden of environmental devastation and land dispossession as their traditional roles as community caregivers and environmental stewards are deeply intertwined with their reliance on forests and gardens (AJAR 2019, 2021). Traditionally, Papua women keep small farm plots adjacent to their houses to grow traditional food staples and harvest medicinal plants (Kadir and Mahadika 2019; Kadir 2022, Katmo 2016). They cultivate extensive knowledge of their local environments, cherish and care for the forests so that nature will provide them with a sustainable source of nutrition. Such practices thus constitute the source of traditional knowledge centralizing biodiversity, making Indigenous women the guardians of the ecosystem, as well as the cultural heritage of their communities (Mies and Shiva 1993, pp. 164–173). Despite the undeniable centrality of women in agricultural and ecological systems, Indigenous women generally fall in the “gender gap” in land access, as they have no decision-making and ownership rights over the lands they cultivate (Food and Agriculture Organization [FAO] 2018). In addition to government-sponsored industrial land-grabs, testimonies of Papuan women highlight further loss of access to their gardens when these are sold by male family members to the Indonesian government for the expansion of palm oil monocultures (AJAR 2019). This has a deeply detrimental impact on women’s health and well-being, further amplified by plantation-induced ecological degradation and diminished control over traditional resources.
Displacement not only imperils Papuan communities’ means of sustenance, but also threatens their sense of identity and cultural heritage. Papuan women have emphasized the vital role of sustenance and conservation practices in nurturing their innate connection to nature (Malinda 2021; Pusaka 2022). Commonly referred to as “Mother Earth” in metaphorical language, the land carries the feminine energy, which women nurture in their daily practices (Ortner 1972). Papua Indigenous philosophy encapsulates this profound bond with the idiomatic expression “Land is Mama” (Malinda 2021). The gathering and processing of traditional food staples carry profound social and communal significance, serving as rituals through which Indigenous women reaffirm their bonds with one another and cultivate reciprocity with nature, encapsulating the notion of “mutuality of being” (Ellen 2006; Chao 2020). The sense of belonging among Papuan women is interfered with by physical and sexual violence perpetrated by Indonesian forces as tools of domination, aimed at maintaining control over women’s agency and facilitating land grabbing (Csevár 2021). These injustices result in intergenerational stigmatization, which corrodes community ties and exposes women to increased discrimination, pushing them further into a cycle of poverty and marginalization. As the sense of identity and cultural heritage is undermined, a colonial agenda of domination and exploitation takes precedence, leading to catastrophic consequences for the long-term survival of ecosystems. In Maibo, women explained how large-scale logging destroyed the rivers, serving as the main water source of communities, leaving the land barren with no attempt at reforestation. Unsound logging practices also created a dependency on new seeds and chemical fertilizers, perpetuating the cycle of pollution and loss of biodiversity (AJAR 2019). In the Marind region, Indigenous women associate palm oil plantation with insatiable greed: “Oil palm is always hungry for more land and more water, […] it devours everything in its path—the trees, the cassowaries, the rivers. It does not think about what amay need to thrive. It does not care about the wellbeing of others—the plants, the animals, or us Marind” (Chao 2021b, p. 19). Displacement and alterations in landscapes play significant roles in the decline of wild foods and agrobiodiversity, thus influencing changes in dietary habits (Broegaard et al. 2017; Ickowitz et al. 2021). In the Merauke region, Papuan women have reported a marked decrease in the consumption of wild foods, notably sago and tubers—integral components of their diets known for providing sustained energy essential for lengthy hunting expeditions by men and for ensuring the health of women during childbirth. The harvesting of sago now entails longer walking distances compared to a couple of decades ago (Purwestri et al. 2019; Chao 2020). Due to the heightened reliance on processed foods supplied by transmigrants and the heavy presence of chemical fertilizers, high rates of malnutrition are found, with Indigenous women bearing particularly detrimental health impacts (AJAR 2019).
Conflict over land thus becomes recurrent both between state and community, as well as within communities exacerbating the risk of domestic violence. In all these instances, women have two major relationships to navigate: with the security forces present in the region and their personal relationships with their community and family. The interaction between these two creates a multi-layered insecurity for women, created by the matrix of militarized extraction, land dispossession, and the prevalent gender dynamics and societal norms within the local community. Papua women’s relationship with security forces, and the authorities whose economic interests they are protecting is closely linked to ethnicity or race, reinforcing violent discriminatory behaviors introduced during colonial times. Under the oppressive Indonesian regime, with the sole aim to maximize profit at the expense of local communities, Papuans are perceived as inferior to those in power, silenced when opposed to foreign investments and resource extraction on their lands. Indigenous women are disproportionately vulnerable to military violence in these situations, as gender-based violence is employed as a tactic to disrupt the community. At the same time, such practices enhance the possibility of domestic violence against women as a result of social stigmatization and the break-down of traditional gender structures, and thus have a detrimental impact on women’s personal relationships with their families. Domestic tensions are further accentuated by the loss of lands and resources, which makes women unable to carry out their traditional gender-based roles within the community. The changing climate aggravates these challenges. The intersectional harms greatly weaken women’s ability to cope with and adapt to environmental changes. This is particularly disturbing as environmental knowledge held by Indigenous women is crucial for climate change resilience (Jessen. et al. 2021). Their physical and spiritual connection with their traditional lands results in excellent observation and interpretation of changes to the environment. Indigenous practices in response to environmental challenges thus suggest proven adaptation methods. Continued land dispossession and displacement, however, lead to the loss of traditional environmental knowledge.
Conclusion
The outcome of decolonization as a matter of international law notwithstanding, West Papua’s forceful integration into Indonesia reproduced colonial structures intensifying local experiences of violent oppression. The environmental challenges faced by Indigenous Papuans, particularly women, are tightly linked to political, social, and economic norms rooted in colonial legacies; the manifestation of racial-capitalist exploitation reveals the inherent coloniality in the Indonesian palm oil industry. As oil palm plantations increasingly encroach on Indigenous lands, the ongoing presence of military forces not only pose risks to the survival of Indigenous communities, but also exacerbate community-level gender disparities by maintaining colonial power differentials. Within Papuan Indigenous communities, power structures and societal expectations heavily influence gender-based roles and resource access and, as a consequence, increase women’s exposure to various levels and forms of insecurity while also disempowering them as drivers of change, discounting the importance of their environmental knowledge in climate adaptation. The entrenched patriarchal dynamics subject Indigenous women to compounded vulnerabilities, exacerbated by the pervasive state of political and environmental insecurity in the region. Despite growing empirical evidence in ecofeminist discourse linking women’s marginalization with environmental destruction (Mellor 1981; Mies and Shiva 1993, pp. 164–165; Shiva 1988), the mainstream approach to environmental security remains ethnic and gender blind. Hence, addressing the complex challenges in West Papua necessitates an intersectional perspective, one that recognizes the interplay between environmental, racial, and gender factors that shape the experiences of Indigenous women.
Contemporary human security models remain reluctant to address structural causes of violence that are supported by the geo-political and economic interests of the state. The use of racialized extractive violence remains widespread, utilized to reinforce a hold on traditional communities with the aim to compel them to comply with development narratives. Such pervasive patterns of extractive violence feed into long-standing colonial structures of dispossession and displacement. Historically oppressed, Indigenous Peoples continue to be locked into a highly racialized classification of disposability, their presence deemed incompatible with extraction strategies drawing on Western tradition of thoughts. Conflict over land remains at the heart of extractive violence, where the state’s economic interest facilitates corporate practices in expropriation of Indigenous lands and resources. Moving towards a second-generation human security, there is an urgent need to deconstruct existing models and to develop alternative intersectional approaches to pervasive forms of human suffering in the name of economic development. New models must prioritize local experiences providing traditional communities with a right to resist oppressive regimes that operate at the matrix of colonialism, racial capitalism and ethnic, and cultural biases. Second-generation human security thus needs to critically examine and reflect on the ongoing complex ramifications of colonial legacies, contributing to a principled understanding of and sharper focus on racialized extractive violence enacted against historically marginalized groups.
Conflict of Interests
The authors declare no conflict of interests.
Csevár, S., & Rugarli, Y. (2025, Apr 26). Greasing the wheels of colonialism: Palm oil industry in West Papua. Global Studies Quarterly, 5(2), Article ksaf026. https://doi.org/10.1093/isagsq/ksaf026
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Further Information
Benny Wenda: The Permanent People’s Tribunal proves that West Papua needs freedom. (2024, December 9). Free West Papua Campaign. https://www.freewestpapua.org/2024/12/09/benny-wenda-the-permanent-peoples-tribunal-proves-that-west-papua-needs-freedom/
Chauvel, R (2017) Self-determination and rights abuses: Papua petitions the UN. Indonesia at Melbourne University. https://indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au/self-determination-and-rights-abuses-papua-petitions-the-un/
Csevár, S., & Rugarli, Y. (2025, Apr 26). Greasing the wheels of colonialism: Palm oil industry in West Papua. Global Studies Quarterly, 5(2), Article ksaf026. https://doi.org/10.1093/isagsq/ksaf026
Gerrard, D. (2024, Nov 22). Putting West Papua back into history. Office of Benny Wenda. https://www.bennywenda.org/2024/putting-west-papua-back-into-history/
Harrison, K. (2024, May 16). Oil palm plantations drive alarming environmental change in West Papua’s rainforests. Environment + Energy Leader. https://www.environmentenergyleader.com/stories/oil-palm-plantations-drive-alarming-environmental-change-in-west-papuas-rainforests,1329
Knobloch, B. (2021, January 12). Indonesia’s repression hasn’t broken the West Papuan freedom struggle. Jacobin. https://jacobin.com/2021/01/indonesia-west-papua-colonialism-occupation
MacLeod, J. (2021). The struggle for self-determination in West Papua (1969–present). International Center on Nonviolent Conflict. https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/struggle-self-determination-west-papua-1969-present/
(n.d) Indigenous land rights under threat – the impact of palm oil expansion in Papua. Human Rights Monitor. https://humanrightsmonitor.org/news/indigenous-land-rights-under-threat-the-impact-of-palm-oil-expansion-in-papua/
Papua conflict. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved June 14, 2025, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papua_conflict
West Papua accelerates issuance of sustainable palm oil regulation. (2025, March 19). Palm Oil Magazine. https://www.palmoilmagazine.com/regulation/2025/03/19/west-papua-accelerates-issuance-of-sustainable-palm-oil-regulation/
West Papua and the right to self determination under international law – Melinda Janki. (n.d.). United Liberation Movement for West Papua. https://www.ulmwp.org/west-papua-and-the-right-to-self-determination-under-international-law-melinda-janki
‘West Papua has no future in Indonesia’: Chairman Wenda’s Speech. (n.d.). United Liberation Movement for West Papua. https://www.ulmwp.org/west-papua-has-no-future-in-indonesia-chairman-wendas-speech
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3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #childLabour #childSlavery #colonial #colonialism #colonisation #deforestation #ecocide #FreeWestPapua #humanRights #indigenous #indigenousRights #landRights #landgrabbing #Melanesian #PalmOil #palmoil #Papua #PapuaNewGuinea #PapuaMerdeka #Papuan #slavery #study #violence #WestPapua #WestPapua
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Palm Oil Workers Expose Industry Practices Resembling Colonialism
Palm Oil Workers Expose Industry Practices Resembling Colonialism | A coalition of palm oil workers in Indonesia has unveiled industry practices that mirror colonial exploitation, including land grabbing, poor working conditions, and environmental degradation. These revelations highlight the urgent need to address systemic issues within the palm oil sector and advocate for indigenous rights. #HumanRights #IndigenousRights #BoycottPalmOil
#News: Indonesian #palmoil workers reveal industry practices they liken to #colonial exploitation, including #landgrabbing and poor labor conditions. #HumanRights #IndigenousRights #BoycottPalmOil 🌴⛔️ @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-9Pm
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterTempo.co. (2024, December 20). Palm oil workers’ group unveils harmful industry practices akin to colonialism. Retrieved from https://en.tempo.co/read/1957496/palm-oil-workers-group-unveils-harmful-industry-practices-akin-to-colonialism
In a recent exposé, a coalition representing palm oil workers in Indonesia has brought to light industry practices that they equate to modern-day colonialism. The group highlights several critical issues, including land appropriation from indigenous communities, substandard working conditions, and significant environmental harm resulting from palm oil cultivation.
The coalition points to instances where large palm oil corporations have seized ancestral lands without proper consent or compensation, displacing indigenous populations and disrupting their traditional way of life. Workers within the industry report facing hazardous conditions, inadequate wages, and a lack of labour rights protections, drawing parallels to exploitative colonial labour systems.
Environmental concerns are also at the forefront, with the expansion of palm oil plantations leading to deforestation, loss of biodiversity, and increased greenhouse gas emissions. These practices not only harm the ecosystem but also undermine the livelihoods of local communities dependent on forest resources.
The coalition is calling for comprehensive reforms in the palm oil industry, emphasising the need for policies that respect indigenous land rights, ensure fair labor standards, and promote environmentally sustainable practices. They urge consumers and policymakers to support initiatives that hold corporations accountable and advocate for ethical sourcing of palm oil.
For a detailed account, read the full article on Tempo.co.
Tempo.co. (2024, December 20). Palm oil workers’ group unveils harmful industry practices akin to colonialism. Retrieved from https://en.tempo.co/read/1957496/palm-oil-workers-group-unveils-harmful-industry-practices-akin-to-colonialism
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Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
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Join 1,391 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
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3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #childLabour #childSlavery #colonial #humanRights #HumanRights #indigenousRights #indigenousrights #landRights #landgrabbing #News #PalmOil #palmoil #slavery
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In #WestPapua, on illegally colonised and disputed land taken by violence from Melanesian Indigenous peoples last century by Indonesian forces, authorities label indigenous lands as “empty”. This is done in order to justify large-scale agricultural projects, displacing tribes like the #Malind and Khimaima peoples. These lands are vital sources of food and medicine, supporting traditional ways of life for several millennia. Communities and indigenous rights advocates call for halting exploitative #palmoil and #mining projects and honouring #LandRights #HumanRights #IndigenousRights #BoycottPalmOil
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Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterPapua’s Indigenous Communities Resist the ‘Empty Land’ Narrative
A controversial narrative labelling indigenous lands in Papua, Indonesia, as “empty” is fuelling and legitimsing large-scale agricultural projects that threaten the livelihoods of local tribes. The government’s food estate initiative has displaced indigenous communities, including the Malind, Maklew, Yei, and Khimaima tribes, who have depended on these lands for thousands of years.
A Source of Life, Not an Empty Land
The forests of Papua are far from vacant. They provide essential resources, including sago and other medicinal plants, sustaining the daily lives of indigenous peoples. These areas are deeply rooted in cultural and spiritual practices, making their loss devastating not just economically but also culturally.
Impact of Large-Scale Agriculture
Under the guise of “development,” projects like the food estate initiative restrict access to ancestral forests, impose security measures, and prioritise corporate profits over indigenous welfare. Such ventures often proceed without consulting or compensating local communities, exacerbating social and environmental injustices.
A Call to Respect Indigenous Sovereignty
Human rights advocates stress the need to protect indigenous land rights and halt exploitative practices. They demand inclusive policies that respect traditional knowledge and empower communities to manage their resources sustainably.
This issue underscores the importance of recognising indigenous sovereignty as central to ethical land use and environmental protection. The international community is urged to hold governments and corporations accountable for policies that displace indigenous people and degrade their ecosystems.
For more details, read the full article on Farm Land Grab.
Farmland Grab. (2025, January 25). Papua land is never empty, it is a source of livelihood for many. Retrieved January 28, 2025, from https://farmlandgrab.org/post/32579.
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1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
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Join 1,389 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #childLabour #childSlavery #humanRights #HumanRights #indigenous #indigenousRights #indigenousrights #Khimaima #landRights #landgrabbing #landrights #Malind #mining #News #PalmOil #palmoil #slavery #WestPapua
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Research: Palm Oil Plantations Threaten Indigenous Waterways
Research: Palm Oil Plantations Threaten Indigenous Waterways | A study by the University of Massachusetts Amherst reveals that the expansion of oil palm plantations in West Papua’s Kais River watershed has significantly degraded water quality, increasing sedimentation and nutrient pollution. This environmental harm disproportionately affects downstream Indigenous communities reliant on these waters, highlighting the urgent need for sustainable land management practices and the protection of Indigenous rights.
🌴 #News: #Research reveals #palmoil plantations in #WestPapua are degrading water quality, harming #Indigenous communities relying on the waters. Researchers call for urgent #landrights #humanrights protections #BoycottPalmOil 🌴🪔🔥⛔️ https://wp.me/pcFhgU-9Om @palmoildetect
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst. (2024, May 2). Oil palm plantations are driving massive downstream impact to watershed. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 16, 2025, from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/05/240502153115.htm
The global demand for palm oil, prevalent in products from instant noodles to cosmetics, is driving extensive tropical deforestation. Beyond biodiversity loss, new research from the University of Massachusetts Amherst uncovers significant disturbances to watersheds caused by oil palm plantations, particularly affecting Indigenous populations.
Focusing on the Kais River watershed in West Papua—a region covering over 1,000 square miles where approximately 25% has been converted into oil palm plantations—the study highlights the environmental repercussions of such land-use changes. This area is also home to various Indigenous Papuan groups who depend on the watershed for their daily water needs.
Lead author Briantama Asmara, during his graduate studies at UMass Amherst, and senior author Professor Timothy Randhir employed an enhanced Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT+) to simulate the watershed’s hydrological responses under different land-use scenarios. They analyzed historical data (2010-2015), current conditions with extensive oil palm plantations (2015-2021), and projected future scenarios up to 2034, considering ongoing plantation expansion and climate change.
Findings indicate that the shift from tropical rainforest to oil palm plantations has led to increased precipitation, runoff, and soil moisture. Notably, water quality has deteriorated, with sedimentation rising by 16.9%, nitrogen levels by 78.1%, and phosphorus by 144%. Although future projections suggest a slight moderation in these effects, water quality is expected to remain significantly compromised compared to pre-plantation conditions.
Professor Randhir emphasizes the disproportionate impact on downstream Indigenous communities, stating, “They are bearing all the environmental and public health costs, while the international palm oil companies are reaping the rewards.” Asmara adds that the research aims to provide accessible data to those most affected, enabling informed decision-making.
The study advocates for regulatory measures, including limiting pesticide use during flood periods, continuous water quality monitoring, maintaining riparian buffers, and, critically, ensuring that downstream communities are informed and involved in land management decisions.
This research underscores the pressing need for sustainable land-use practices that protect both environmental integrity and Indigenous rights. As the demand for palm oil continues to rise, balancing economic interests with ecological and social responsibilities becomes increasingly vital.
For a detailed exploration of the study, read more.
University of Massachusetts Amherst. (2024, May 2). Oil palm plantations are driving massive downstream impact to watershed. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 16, 2025, from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/05/240502153115.htm
ENDS
Read more about human rights abuses and child slavery in the palm oil industry
Greasing the Wheels of Colonialism: Palm Oil Industry in West Papua
A landmark study published in Global Studies Quarterly in April 2025 has revealed that the rapid expansion of the #palmoil industry in #WestPapua is not only fuelling #deforestation, #ecocide and environmental destruction but…
Palm Oil Workers Expose Industry Practices Resembling Colonialism
Palm Oil Workers Expose Industry Practices Resembling Colonialism | A coalition of palm oil workers in Indonesia has unveiled industry practices that mirror colonial exploitation, including land grabbing, poor working conditions, and environmental…
Papua’s ‘Empty Lands’: A Dangerous Myth Displacing Indigenous Peoples
In #WestPapua, on illegally colonised and disputed land taken by violence from Melanesian Indigenous peoples last century by Indonesian forces, authorities label indigenous lands as “empty”. This is done in order to justify…
New Research: Indigenous Communities Reduce Amazon Deforestation by 83%”
Although #deforestation rates in the Brazilian #Amazon have halved, this globally critical biome is still losing more than 5,000km² every year. That’s an area three times larger than Greater London. By combining satellite…
Concerns Mount Over Palm Oil Expansion in Nagaland
Concerns Mount Over Palm Oil Expansion in Nagaland | The Nagaland Climate Change Adaptation Forum (NCCAF) has raised grave concerns about the environmental and social impacts of expanding palm oil plantations in the…
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Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email address
Sign Up
Join 1,396 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #childLabour #childSlavery #humanRights #HumanRights #indigenous #indigenousRights #landRights #landgrabbing #landrights #News #PalmOil #palmoil #Paraquat #pesticide #pollution #research #slavery #waterPollution #WestPapua
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🧵This month on The Comfortable Spot #Podcast I sat down with Brian Milne, a social anthropologist specialising in children's human rights. We delved into the plight of children in conflict zones and society's response. #RightsOfTheChild #ChildAbuse #childslavery #childrights #UN #childlabor #Palestine #Ukraine #RussiaWarCrimes #IsraeliWarCrimes
Listen here: https://thecomfortablespotpodcast.com/2025/03/16/brian-milne/ -
In the latest episode of The Comfortable Spot podcast, my guest is author and social anthropologist Brian Milne. We discuss the current state of rights of children in conflict and ask whether our modern societies have become desensitized to their suffering.
#ChildAbuse #childslavery #childrights #UN #RightsOfTheChild #Palestine #Ukraine
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-comfortable-spot-with-brian-milne/id1614298509?i=1000699422314 -
In the latest episode of The Comfortable Spot podcast, my guest is author and social anthropologist Brian Milne. We discuss the current state of rights of children in conflict and ask whether our modern societies have become desensitized to their suffering.
#ChildAbuse #childslavery #childrights #UN #RightsOfTheChild #Palestine #Ukraine
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-comfortable-spot-with-brian-milne/id1614298509?i=1000699422314 -
In the latest episode of The Comfortable Spot podcast, my guest is author and social anthropologist Brian Milne. We discuss the current state of rights of children in conflict and ask whether our modern societies have become desensitized to their suffering.
#ChildAbuse #childslavery #childrights #UN #RightsOfTheChild #Palestine #Ukraine
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-comfortable-spot-with-brian-milne/id1614298509?i=1000699422314 -
In the latest episode of The Comfortable Spot podcast, my guest is author and social anthropologist Brian Milne. We discuss the current state of rights of children in conflict and ask whether our modern societies have become desensitized to their suffering.
#ChildAbuse #childslavery #childrights #UN #RightsOfTheChild #Palestine #Ukrainehttps://thecomfortablespotpodcast.com/2025/03/16/brian-milne/
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In the next episode of The Comfortable Spot podcast, I talk to children's rights expert, Brian Milne. Brian is a social anthropologist and we have a fascinating conversation on the rights of children during acts of conflict. This is a subject which is close to my heart and we discuss Brian's writing on the subject and how society needs to redefine children's safety in order to stop the rising lack of care for them.
Available on all podcast platforms tomorrow. 4)
#ChildAbuse #childslavery -
🧵Have societies across the world regressed when it comes to the rights of children? We still see mass poverty, lack of education, and health care but when it comes to the safety of children, do we seem to care even less in this aspect? Looking at the acts of kidnapping and mass murder in both Ukraine and Palestine, is the life of a child less important? Are they simply numbers and statistics?
#ChildAbuse #childslavery #childrights #UN #RightsOfTheChildhttps://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-child
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Violence for Palm Oil Against Peasant Communities in Honduras Meets Resistance
In the Aguán Valley of northern Honduras, peasant communities reclaiming ancestral lands face increasing violence and intimidation from armed groups linked to organised crime. The Dinant Corporation, a prominent palm oil producer, is accused of land theft and involvement in the murders of local activists. International organisations have condemned these human rights abuses, with a coalition of 33 organisations calling for a boycott of Dinant and for multinational companies: Pepsi, ADM, Cargill and Nestle to immediately cease business with Dinant. Despite governmental promises to address the conflict, concrete actions remain absent. You can resist for them in solidarity by boycotting their products in the supermarket! #BoycottPalmOil #LandRights #IndigenousRights #HumanRights
#News: Peasant Communities in #Honduras 🇭🇳 face violent #landgrabbing from armed groups claiming their ancestral lands on behalf of #palmoil company #Dinant. 33 #HumanRights orgs call for an end to violence and a boycott of Dinant. #LandRights #IndigenousRights #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🔥⛔ https://wp.me/pcFhgU-an1
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterIn the Aguán Valley, northern Honduras, peasant communities striving to reclaim ancestral lands from the palm oil industry are encountering severe threats from heavily armed groups associated with organised crime. Recent incidents include the assassinations of peasant leaders José Luis Hernández Lobo and Suyapa Guillén in February 2025, and activist Arnulfo Díaz in January 2025. On December 24, 2024, the Los Camarones cooperative suffered a violent eviction by armed factions, displacing over 160 families who now endure precarious conditions without access to land or resources.
Dinant Faces Allegations of Murder, Violence and Threats Against Peasant Farmers
The Dinant Corporation, a major palm oil producer, claims ownership of lands that peasants assert as their ancestral territory. For over a decade, Dinant has faced allegations of engaging in violence, including murders and threats against peasant leaders and human rights defenders. International bodies, such as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, have denounced these abuses. In February 2022, Honduran President Xiomara Castro pledged to investigate and resolve the conflict through a tripartite commission; however, tangible actions have yet to materialise.
Environmental and Economic Implications
The expansion of palm oil monoculture in Honduras, now covering approximately 200,000 hectares—over 18% of the nation’s arable land—has led to significant deforestation, ecosystem destruction, and soil degradation. This growth often involves collaboration between corporations and paramilitary groups, exacerbating the displacement and persecution of peasant communities.
International Coalition of 33 Orgs Call for Boycott of Dinant
A coalition of 33 environmental and human rights organisations has called on multinational corporations, including ADM, Cargill, Pepsico, and Nestlé, to cease business relations with Dinant. These organisations accuse Dinant of employing paramilitary and military forces to forcibly remove peasants resisting plantation expansion, using tactics ranging from physical violence to the destruction of livelihoods. In response to mounting pressure, companies such as BASF and Bunge have suspended commercial ties with Dinant, while Nestlé has announced plans to eliminate the supplier from its supply chains.
Call for Immediate Action
The ongoing violence and displacement of peasant communities in Honduras necessitate urgent intervention from both national authorities and the international community. Protecting the rights and lives of these communities is imperative, alongside promoting land use practices that fully respect indigenous territories and environmental integrity.
Latchford, R. (2025, February 20). Peasant communities under attack in Honduras. Freedom News. Retrieved February 25, 2025, from https://freedomnews.org.uk/2025/02/20/peasant-communities-under-attack-in-honduras/
ENDS
Read more about human rights abuses and child slavery in the palm oil industry
The Great Malaysian Timber and Palm Oil Swindle
A joint investigation by Malaysiakini and Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Investigations Network (RIN) reveals alarming deforestation in Pahang, #Malaysia, caused by one of the country’s largest #palmoil plantations. The plantation threatens endangered species like…
Deadly Harvest: How Demand for Palm Oil Fuels Corruption in Honduras
Latin America is the fastest-growing producer of palm oil, but at what price for the environment and its defenders? Park rangers in Honduras tell harrowing tales of daily threats to their lives and…
Ten Victories and Challenges to Indigenous Rights in 2024
From Brazil’s action against illegal gold miners to the Sacred Headwaters Alliance defending the Amazon, these top Indigenous stories of 2024 highlight resilience and challenges. The year of 2024 underscored the importance of…
Palm Oil Protesters Silenced and Arrested in Congo
On Tuesday, April 30, 2024, a shocking and disgraceful incident occurred in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). During a meeting of shareholders from Plantations et Huileries du Congo…
Amazon Clarion Call: Pandemics Emerging in the Rainforest
The Amazon’s diverse ecosystem is under threat from rampant deforestation, degradation, a biodiversity crisis, and the climate crisis – jeopardising its ability to act as a carbon sink. This degradation increases the likelihood of zoonotic diseases emerging…
Load more posts
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Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #childLabour #childSlavery #Dinant #Honduras #humanRights #HumanRights #indigenousRights #indigenousrights #landRights #landgrabbing #landrights #LatinAmerica #Nestle #News #PalmOil #palmoil #Pepsi #PepsiCo #slavery #SouthAmerica #violence
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The Great Malaysian Timber and Palm Oil Swindle
A joint investigation by Malaysiakini and Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Investigations Network (RIN) reveals alarming deforestation in Pahang, #Malaysia, caused by one of the country’s largest #palmoil plantations. The plantation threatens endangered species like #tigers and pollutes local water supplies. It has been described as “the worst-managed oil palm plantation in Malaysia.” Palm oil yields are low, while the #deforestation is chaotic, leaving the land barren and overrun with #elephants. The report highlights links between developers and political or royal ownership and rampant corruption and strongly pushes for more transparency, improved government oversight and regulatory enforcement. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife
#News: 🌴🇲🇾 Malaysiakini and Pulitzer investigation in #Malaysia: #Pahang’s badly managed #palmoil threatens endangered #tigers #elephants, disrupts villages. Rife with #corruption at highest level. #BoycottPalmOil 🌴☠️⛔️#Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-9GZ
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterGIJN. (2024, December 20). Timber grab: The truth behind Pahang oil palm plantation. Global Investigative Journalism Network. Retrieved from https://gijn.org/stories/2024-editors-picks-investigative-stories-southeast-asia
An investigation by Malaysiakini, in collaboration with the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Investigations Network, has exposed the dire environmental and social impacts of one of Malaysia’s largest oil palm plantations in Pahang. Located near an environmentally protected area, the plantation’s operations have resulted in chaotic deforestation, disrupted water supplies, and threats to endangered wildlife, including tigers.
The plantation, described by an environmental consultant as “the worst-managed oil palm plantation in Malaysia,” has low palm oil yields and barren landscapes overrun with elephants. Developers often cite “wildlife conflict” to justify failures, shifting focus to logging valuable timber instead of sustainable plantation development.
Malaysiakini’s investigation also shed light on troubling links between plantation developers and political or royal interests, with 95% of the land developed by such entities. In December, the investigative team revealed that prominent banks provided large loans to plantation developers despite repeated project failures, questioning the banks’ credibility and oversight practices.
The investigation calls on the Malaysian government to tighten plantation approval processes and enforce environmental protections to prevent further harm to biodiversity and local communities.
For detailed insights, read the full Malaysiakini report via GIJN.
GIJN. (2024, December 20). Timber grab: The truth behind Pahang oil palm plantation. Global Investigative Journalism Network. Retrieved from https://gijn.org/stories/2024-editors-picks-investigative-stories-southeast-asia
ENDS
Read more about human rights abuses and child slavery in the palm oil industry
Deadly Harvest: How Demand for Palm Oil Fuels Corruption in Honduras
Latin America is the fastest-growing producer of palm oil, but at what price for the environment and its defenders? Park rangers in Honduras tell harrowing tales of daily threats to their lives and…
Ten Victories and Challenges to Indigenous Rights in 2024
From Brazil’s action against illegal gold miners to the Sacred Headwaters Alliance defending the Amazon, these top Indigenous stories of 2024 highlight resilience and challenges. The year of 2024 underscored the importance of…
Palm Oil Protesters Silenced and Arrested in Congo
On Tuesday, April 30, 2024, a shocking and disgraceful incident occurred in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). During a meeting of shareholders from Plantations et Huileries du Congo…
Amazon Clarion Call: Pandemics Emerging in the Rainforest
The Amazon’s diverse ecosystem is under threat from rampant deforestation, degradation, a biodiversity crisis, and the climate crisis – jeopardising its ability to act as a carbon sink. This degradation increases the likelihood of zoonotic diseases emerging…
How We End Gold Mining’s Ecocide For Good
Gold mining is unparalleled in its environmental destruction and human rights toll. Frustratingly, 93% of gold is used for non-essential purposes like jewellery and investments.
A recent study suggests that transitioning to…
Load more posts
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #childLabour #childSlavery #corruption #deforestation #elephants #humanRights #indigenousRights #landRights #landgrabbing #Malaysia #News #PalmOil #palmoil #plywood #slavery #supplyChain #supplychain #tigers #wood
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Palm Oil Protesters Silenced and Arrested in Congo
On April 30, 2024, a shocking and disgraceful incident occurred in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). During a meeting of shareholders from Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC), (formerly known as Feronia) environmental rights defenders were arrested, and a journalist was kidnapped after displaying banners denouncing PHC’s mistreatment of local communities. PHC, formerly known as Feronia, is a multinational company that operates large palm oil plantations in the DRC. Take action in solidarity of these people and #BoycottPalmOil when you shop!
In April, environmental defenders in the #DRC were arrested and kidnapped at a shareholder meeting for highlighting #PalmOil #HumanRights abuses 🔥🌴⛔️ Since then no action has been taken! Stand with them 💪 #WorkersRights #BoycottPalmOil https://wp.me/pcFhgU-8xX @palmoildetect
Share to BlueSky Share to Twitter#PalmOil giant #PHC formerly #Feronia, violently silences environmental defenders in the #DRC #Congo. Protesters arrested, journalist kidnapped, workers left without justice. Take action for #HumanRights #BoycottPalmOil 🌴🚫 @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-8xX
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterZongwe Lukama, F. (2023, May 2). DRC: Mystery and collusion in the disappearance of environmental defenders fighting palm oil multinationals. Kilalo Press. Business and Human Rights Resource Centre has since asked for a company response, but to date none has been forthcoming from the palm oil company.
Arrests and Abduction at PHC Shareholders Meeting
On Tuesday, April 30, 2024, a shocking and disgraceful incident occurred in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). During a meeting of shareholders from Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC), environmental rights defenders were arrested, and an environmental journalist was kidnapped after displaying banners denouncing PHC’s mistreatment of local communities. PHC, formerly known as Feronia, is a multinational company that operates large palm oil plantations in the DRC.
Who are Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC)?
Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC) are a palm oil company that operate extensive palm oil plantations in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The company produces palm oil used in many products like food, cosmetics, and biofuels. PHC has faced numerous protests and criticism for its detrimental impact on the environment and local communities.
The people versus Feronia: Fighting palm oil agrocolonialism in the Congo
This powerful #comic is by Didier Kassai and Dieudonne Botoko Kendewa is about a community in the #Congo 🇨🇩 living next to the #Feronia #palmoil plantation. They faced #violence…
by Palm Oil DetectivesThe Protesters’ Demands
The protest was sparked by a letter from the Réseau d’Information et d’Appui aux ONG (RIAO – DRC), a network supporting non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the DRC. This letter led PHC to hold an urgent meeting in Kinshasa.
Protesters had several demands:
- Release people who were unjustly imprisoned.
- Compensate workers for accidents and retirees.
- Reopen the Lokutu and Boteka ports, which they argue are public roads, not PHC property.
Call to Action and Strong Suppression
The protesters wanted to push state authorities to act on an open letter from RIAO – DRC and its partners. This letter discussed mediation claims funded by the German Bank (DEG) and the Dutch Development Bank (FMO) to help communities affected by PHC. Unfortunately, security forces were called to stop the protesters, damage their equipment, and kidnap the journalist and environmental defender.
An Urgent Appeal for Support
RIAO-RDC, a national support network for NGOs, made an urgent call to security authorities and stakeholders to find their members, Dieumerci Mpay Ngomba, and a cameraman journalist from Numerica TV in Kinshasa. They called these actions “kidnapping” and stressed that defenders of forest community rights should not face political or rights abuses.
An Alarming and Unjust Situation for Environmental Defenders
The situation for environmental defenders in the DRC is worrying. RIAO-RDC said Dieumerci was arrested because of a complaint by PHC. At the General Prosecutor’s Office near the Court of Appeal of Kinshasa Gombe, protesters were charged with inciting breaches against public authority under article 135 of the Congolese penal code.
Targeting Environmental Advocates
RIAO-RDC believes that PHC is mainly targeting Jean François Mombia Atukua, who previously led a disguised march against RIAO and its director at the Lokutu base. The organisation urges the judiciary to ensure the safety of those arrested and uphold press freedom and human rights.
Company Response
Following publication PHC did not respond to the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre’s request for comment regarding these allegations.
References
- La Rédaction. (2024, May 3). DRC: Mystery and Collusion in the Disappearance of Environmental Defenders Fighting Palm Oil Multinationals. Kilalo Press.
- Business & Human Rights Resource Centre. DRC: Mystery and Collusion in the Disappearance of Environmental Defenders Fighting Palm Oil Multinationals.
- Palm Oil Detectives. (2022, February 3). Research: Small Room for Compromise Between Oil Palm Cultivation and Primate Conservation in Africa.
- Palm Oil Detectives. (2021, September 1). Africa’s Rainforests Are Different: Why It Matters That They’re Protected.
- Palm Oil Detectives. (2021, February 14). As Palm Oil Production Ramps Up in Africa, Communities Work to Avoid Problems Plaguing Other Regions.
- Palm Oil Detectives. (2021, January 18). Africa: Species Endangered by Palm Oil Deforestation
- Palm Oil Detectives. (2022, June 16). The People Versus Feronia: Fighting Palm Oil Agrocolonialism in the Congo. https://palmoildetectives.com/2022/06/16/the-people-versus-feronia-fighting-palm-oil-agrocolonialism-in-the-congo/
Zongwe Lukama, F. (2023, May 2). DRC: Mystery and collusion in the disappearance of environmental defenders fighting palm oil multinationals. Kilalo Press. Business and Human Rights Resource Centre has since asked for a company response, but to date none has been forthcoming from the palm oil company.
ENDS
Read more about human rights abuses and child slavery in the palm oil industry
Greasing the Wheels of Colonialism: Palm Oil Industry in West Papua
A landmark study published in Global Studies Quarterly in April 2025 has revealed that the rapid expansion of the #palmoil industry in #WestPapua is not only fuelling #deforestation, #ecocide and environmental destruction but…
Palm Oil Workers Expose Industry Practices Resembling Colonialism
Palm Oil Workers Expose Industry Practices Resembling Colonialism | A coalition of palm oil workers in Indonesia has unveiled industry practices that mirror colonial exploitation, including land grabbing, poor working conditions, and environmental…
Papua’s ‘Empty Lands’: A Dangerous Myth Displacing Indigenous Peoples
In #WestPapua, on illegally colonised and disputed land taken by violence from Melanesian Indigenous peoples last century by Indonesian forces, authorities label indigenous lands as “empty”. This is done in order to justify…
Research: Palm Oil Plantations Threaten Indigenous Waterways
Research: Palm Oil Plantations Threaten Indigenous Waterways | A study by the University of Massachusetts Amherst reveals that the expansion of oil palm plantations in West Papua’s Kais River watershed has significantly degraded…
New Research: Indigenous Communities Reduce Amazon Deforestation by 83%”
Although #deforestation rates in the Brazilian #Amazon have halved, this globally critical biome is still losing more than 5,000km² every year. That’s an area three times larger than Greater London. By combining satellite…
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Join 1,397 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#BoycottPalmOil #BoycottPalmOil #childLabour #childSlavery #Congo #corruption #DemocracticRepublicOfCongo #DRC #Feronia #humanRights #HumanRights #indigenousRights #landRights #landgrabbing #PalmOil #palmoil #PHC #slavery #workersRights #WorkersRights
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“Sustainable” Palm Oil No Different in Land Conflicts
New research published in the journal Political Geography reveals that there is no significant difference between RSPO-certified “sustainable” palm oil companies and non-certified ones when it comes to handling land conflicts with rural communities in Indonesia. The study, titled “Corporate Contentious Politics: Palm Oil Companies and Land Conflicts in Indonesia,” highlights how both types of companies employ contentious tactics to deal with land disputes, challenging the perceived benefits of RSPO certification.
New #research #study 🧐 reveals “sustainable” #palmoil isn’t any better for workers. RSPO-certified and non-certified co’s in #Indonesia use violence and intimidation for #landgrabbing. Take action and #BoycottPalmOil ✊ #humanrights🌴🚫 @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-8IK
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterRegardless of RSPO “sustainable” #palmoil or not, companies don’t respect #landrights of farmers, finds a landmark #study into police/corporate collusion using #violence to suppress protest. #humanrights #BoycottPalmOil @palmoildetect @ward_berenschot https://wp.me/pcFhgU-8IK
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterBerenschot, W., Dhiaulhaq, A., Hospes, O., Afrizal, & Pranajaya, D. (2024). Corporate contentious politics: Palm oil companies and land conflicts in Indonesia. Political Geography, 114, 103166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2024.103166
Our study of trajectories of 150 such conflicts identifies a big gap between the policies that companies (and RSPO) publicly announce, and their on-the-ground practices. Many companies do not live up to their stated intent of respecting land rights and resolving grievances. Instead, companies implement various measures to limit the capacity of rural Indonesians to voice their grievances and realize their claims. This involves violent suppression of protests. This suppression is made possible by extensive collusion between company managers and local authorities and police officials – ensuring that local governments side with companies against villagers. The result is that demonstrations often end violently, and that the arrest and criminalization of protest leaders is common, effectively undermining the capacity of communities to protest. Despite corporate policies and pious public statements, we found that companies are actually quite hesitant to come to an agreement with communities, and tend to avoid or stall mediation efforts.
Key findings
- Systematic Strategies: The research documents 150 conflicts between palm oil companies and rural communities in four Indonesian provinces. It highlights how companies engage in conscious and strategic efforts to realise their claims to land, employing tactics such as co-opting local leaders, cultivating connections with local authorities, suppressing community protests, and criminalising protest leaders.
- Contentious Repertoire: Companies have been found to adopt a repertoire of contentious tactics, including providing gifts and inducements to local leaders, offering bribes to government officials and police, and using security personnel and hired goons to intimidate and suppress protests.
- Limited Legal Recourse for Communities: The study highlights the challenges faced by rural communities in Indonesia, where the lack of formal land titles and the curtailing of land rights by the state create a vulnerable position for locals. This environment allows palm oil companies to exploit informal networks and circumvent regulatory measures.
- RSPO Membership Impact: Surprisingly, the study found no significant differences in conflict behaviours between companies that are members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and those that are not. This suggests that the RSPO’s code of conduct has limited influence on reducing contentious tactics by its member companies.
Research Implications
The authors, Ward Berenschot, Ahmad Dhiaulhaq, Otto Hospes, Afrizal, and Daniel Pranajaya, call for more comparative research on corporate contentious politics, particularly in regions with informalised state institutions. They argue that a contentious politics perspective provides valuable insights into the often-secretive tactics of corporations in land conflicts, challenging the benign image projected by CSR policies.
Conclusion
This groundbreaking research reveals the dual-faced nature of palm oil companies’ operations in Indonesia. While these companies publicly pledge to uphold high sustainability standards, their on-the-ground tactics often contradict these commitments, exacerbating land conflicts and community grievances. The study urges policymakers, stakeholders, and researchers to scrutinise corporate behaviour more closely and advocate for stronger regulatory frameworks to protect vulnerable communities.
Berenschot, W., Dhiaulhaq, A., Hospes, O., Afrizal, & Pranajaya, D. (2024). Corporate contentious politics: Palm oil companies and land conflicts in Indonesia. Political Geography, 114, 103166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2024.103166https://twitter.com/ward_berenschot/status/1813888824659075426
Berenschot, W., Dhiaulhaq, A., Hospes, O., Afrizal, & Pranajaya, D. (2024). Corporate contentious politics: Palm oil companies and land conflicts in Indonesia. Political Geography, 114, 103166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2024.103166
ENDS
Read more about human rights abuses and child slavery in the palm oil industry
Palm Oil Threatens Ancient Noken Weaving in West Papua
Colonial palm oil and sugarcane causing the loss of West Papuans’ cultural identity. Land grabs force communities from forests, threatening Noken weaving
Family Ties Expose Deforestation and Rights Violations in Indonesian Palm Oil
An explosive report by the Environment Investigation Agency (EIA) details how Indonesia’s Fangiono family, through a wide corporate web, is linked to ongoing #deforestation, #corruption, and #indigenousrights abuses for #palmoil. Calls mount for…
West Papuan Indigenous Women Fight Land Seizures
Indigenous Melanesian women in West Papua fight land seizures for palm oil and sugar plantations, protecting their ancestral rights. Join #BoycottPalmOil
Greasing the Wheels of Colonialism: Palm Oil Industry in West Papua
A landmark study published in Global Studies Quarterly in April 2025 has revealed that the rapid expansion of the #palmoil industry in #WestPapua is not only fuelling #deforestation, #ecocide and environmental destruction but…
Palm Oil Practices Resemble Colonial Exploitation
Indonesian palm oil workers expose industry practices that mirror colonial exploitation: land grabbing, bad conditions, ecocide. Systemic change is needed!
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Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email address
Sign Up
Join 3,528 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#BoycottPalmOil #BoycottPalmOil #childLabour #childSlavery #humanRights #HumanRights #indigenousRights #Indonesia #landRights #landgrabbing #landrights #PalmOil #palmoil #research #slavery #study #violence
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Snack giant PepsiCo allegedly sourced “sustainable” palm oil from razed Indigenous land in Peru
PepsiCo‘s supply chain is allegedly linked to environmental and human rights violations in Peru, involving Amazon deforestation and Indigenous land invasion. For three years, palm oil from deforested Shipibo-Konibo territory has been used in products like Gatorade, Mountain Dew, Cheetos, Doritos and more. PepsiCo sources oil from Ocho Sur, a company notorious for environmental crimes and forest loss. The palm oil industry in Peru, which doubled production in a decade, is allegedly responsible for significant illegal deforestation, violent indigenous landgrabbing, animal extinction and human rights abuses. Take action every time you shop and #Boycottpalmoil for wildlife and Indigenous people.
Corrupt so-called “sustainable” #palmoil is never far from your own fridge. Food #giant #PepsiCo, maker of snack favs #Cheetos #Gatorade gets #palmoil 🤮at the expense of Shipibo-Konibo people of #Peru 🇵🇪 Fight back and #BoycottPalmOil 🪔🚫 @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-8EG
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterDYK the #palmoil in #food like #Doritos 🤒🤮 and #Gatorade 🫗 is linked to #indigenous #landgrabbing and violence in #Peru? 🇵🇪 It’s what the ads leave out that’s most important. Learn more about how you can #BoycottPalmOil 🧐 via @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-8EG
Share to BlueSky Share to Twitterhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72e5HYiY7N8
The article below was originally published on April 18 2024 by Ojo Público and MongaBay. Written By Elisângela Mendonça , Aramís Castro , Andrew Wasley. Photography: David Díaz, Illustration by Claudia Calderón. This investigation was produced with support from the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Investigations Network. Read more
Sign petition: Tell PepsiCo stop destroying rainforests for palm oil!
PepsiCo’s profit-first palm oil policy is still destroying rainforests.
Meanwhile, PepsiCo keeps on promising that it’s working towards a truly sustainable palm oil policy, making commitments to human rights and zero deforestation. But this new report leaves no doubt: this whole time, PepsiCo’s palm oil promises have been nothing but smoke and mirrors.
Sign the Eko petitionPeruvian palm oil linked to environmental and human rights violations ended up in the supply chain for the makers of Gatorade and Cheetos
The US food and drink giant PepsiCo has been linked through its supply chain to Amazon deforestation and the invasion of Indigenous lands in Peru, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ), Mongabay and Peruvian outlet Ojo Público can reveal.
For at least three years, PepsiCo’s Peruvian suppliers have been sourcing palm oil from deforested territory claimed by the Shipibo-Konibo people in Ucayali, eastern Peru.
The company, which manufactures snacks including Cheetos and Gatorade, runs a factory in Mexico that buys Peruvian palm oil after it has been processed at a Mexican refinery. That refinery buys from a Peruvian consortium, Sol de Palma, that shares storage facilities with Ocho Sur, a notorious US-funded business accused of repeated environmental and human rights violations.
The storage facilities mix the various batches of palm oil, meaning PepsiCo products likely contain Ocho Sur oil despite no longer buying directly from the company.
Ocho Sur is linked to 155 sq km of forest loss in the past decade – both within its own property and through its direct suppliers. While some of the forest loss took place under other companies, satellite analyses by the Center for Climate Crime Analysis (CCCA) and TBIJ show clear deforestation on Ocho Sur’s land in the past three years.
Palm oil production in Peru has more than doubled in the past decade and Ucayali, a hotspot for cultivation on the border with Brazil, now has the country’s second-highest rate of forest loss. It’s estimated that about 30% of the country’s palm plantations are on illegally deforested land. Half of the oil is sent to international markets.
Today, Ocho Sur is the second-largest palm oil company in Peru. It was created in 2016 after acquiring the assets of two other controversial companies active in the region since 2012.
“Before 2012, the deforestation rates were pretty low,” said Tom Younger, an anthropologist working with the Forest Peoples’s Programme, an NGO. The arrival of palm oil plantations, he said, “set into motion some dynamics of land invasion and deforestation”.
Some of the forest loss on company-run oil palm plantations occurred on land claimed by the Santa Clara de Uchunya community of Shipibo-Konibo Indigenous people. They have endured a long and often hostile battle for recognition, and only a tiny portion of the 200 sq km of land the community claims has been formally titled.
In 2020, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, a regional legal body, ordered the Peruvian state to protect the Santa Clara de Uchunya community against threats and land invasions.
Luisa Mori Gonzáles, president of the community’s defence front, says the arrival of the palm oil industry has affected their food supply and sown division.
“We use that territory to feed ourselves or to hunt,” she told TBIJ and Ojo-Público. “The company put it in their [other community members’] heads that they are going to have money and wealth – but that is a lie.”
Deforestation near the Santa Clara de Uchunya communityDavid Díaz/OjoPúblicoNeither Ocho Sur nor the liquidated companies whose assets it acquired had obtained the necessary environmental permit for their plantations. The Peruvian Agriculture Ministry sanctioned and fined the dissolved company Plantaciones de Ucayali in 2015 for failing to comply with an order to stop its activities. Ocho Sur eventually paid these fines in 2022, but by 2018 the companies had failed to conserve the legally required 30% of forest, the non-profit Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has found. It is unclear whether the majority of the deforestation took place under Plantaciones de Ucayali or Ocho Sur.
Impunity for environmental crimes such as illegal deforestation is a major problem, according to Julia Urrunaga of the EIA, which recently published a report linking Peruvian palm oil to other well-known food and cosmetics companies.
“The authorities have the responsibility of guaranteeing that what is sold has a legal origin,” said Urrunaga.“If a product is being marketed that is being grown and produced in illegally deforested areas without a production permit, that should be an illegal product.”
Experts attribute the growth of palm oil in Latin America, today the second largest producing region for the industry outside south-east Asia – and the fastest growing – in part to its weaker regulation.
Earlier this year, Peru’s Congress approved a new amendment to its forest and wildlife law, loosening requirements for deforestation in “agriculture exclusion areas” and forgiving historic offences.
Robert Heilmayr, an environmental economist teaching at the University of California Santa Barbara, told TBIJ that while private-sector commitments have brought some positive advances in transparency in countries like Indonesia, the industry’s complexity makes full traceability a challenge.
He said: “It gets a little bit hard to know exactly where the fresh fruit bunches are coming from and there’s no third-party auditing of those supply lists.”
According to CCCA’s analysis, PepsiCo manufactures at least 15 products that contain Peruvian palm oil refined in Mexico – among them Doritos, Cheetos and Gatorade. It has pledged to make 100% of its palm oil supply deforestation-free by the end of 2022 and for its operation to be net zero by 2040.
Concerns about the legal origins of palm oil have also given rise to international initiatives like the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), the industry’s most widely used sustainability certification scheme.
The Santa Clara de Uchunya community of Shipibo-Konibo Indigenous people have only been officially granted a fraction of their claimed territory. Photo: David Díaz/OjoPúblicoPeru has ten RSPO members. Ocho Sur is not a member and only one of the companies in Sol de Palma’s consortium is.
PepsiCo said: “We take all inquiries like this seriously and have initiated an investigation through our established grievance process to assess whether any action on our part is required.” The company stressed that Ocho Sur is not a direct supplier and said it has engaged its direct suppliers to better understand their ties to Ocho Sur and ensure they take corrective actions if needed.
Ocho Sur said that it could not be held responsible for the actions of the companies whose assets it had taken over. It referred TBIJ to a document submitted to the UN in December 2023 that repeatedly states that it has no financial or legal links to one of those businesses. In the document it also strenuously denied sowing division in local communities and said that since its founding, the company had made special efforts “to forge a friendly, fruitful and mutually respectful relationship” with Indigenous and other groups. It said that it fully complies with all obligations with respect to Indigenous peoples’ rights and the environment and does not allow deforestation in its supply chain.
On the subject of environmental permits, Ocho Sur added: “The certification has been requested for a long time and [Midagri, the agriculture ministry] has failed to make a statement on the matter, granting it, as it should, or providing reasonable arguments to justify its refusal.”
Oleomex, owner of the Mexican refinery that supplies PepsiCo’s factory, said: “The oil we supply to our customer meets all sustainability standards as it is RSPO-certified oil.” However, it added that supply contracts with Ocho Sur were negotiated through a third party and that it has agreed to suspend them until the complaints raised in the investigation are resolved.
Sol de Palma did not comment.
Peruvian judges are yet to rule on whether Ocho Sur can be held responsible for past incursions into the Santa Clara de Uchunya community.
While the community awaits that ruling, Mori Gonzáles has vowed to continue protecting the territory: “We’re going to fight for as long as we can.”
The article below was originally published on April 18 2024 by OjoPúblico and MongaBay. Written By Elisângela Mendonça , Aramís Castro , Andrew Wasley. Photography: David Díaz, Illustration by Claudia Calderón. This investigation was produced with support from the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Investigations Network.
ENDS
Read more about human rights abuses and child slavery in the palm oil and gold mining industries
Investigation by Bloomberg exposes that despite being RSPO members, #SOCFIN plantations in #WestAfrica are the epicentre of #humanrights abuses, sexual coercion, environmental destruction, and #landgrabbing. Operating in #Liberia, #Ghana, #Nigeria, and beyond, SOCFIN’s…
Palm Oil Threatens Ancient Noken Weaving in West Papua
Colonial palm oil and sugarcane causing the loss of West Papuans’ cultural identity. Land grabs force communities from forests, threatening Noken weaving
Family Ties Expose Deforestation and Rights Violations in Indonesian Palm Oil
An explosive report by the Environment Investigation Agency (EIA) details how Indonesia’s Fangiono family, through a wide corporate web, is linked to ongoing #deforestation, #corruption, and #indigenousrights abuses for #palmoil. Calls mount for…
West Papuan Indigenous Women Fight Land Seizures
Indigenous Melanesian women in West Papua fight land seizures for palm oil and sugar plantations, protecting their ancestral rights. Join #BoycottPalmOil
Greasing the Wheels of Colonialism: Palm Oil Industry in West Papua
A landmark study published in Global Studies Quarterly in April 2025 has revealed that the rapid expansion of the #palmoil industry in #WestPapua is not only fuelling #deforestation, #ecocide and environmental destruction but…
Load more posts
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Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email address
Sign Up
Join 3,172 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#boycottPalmOil #boycottpalmoil #cheetos #childLabour #childSlavery #doritos #food #gatorade #giant #humanRights #indigenous #indigenousRights #landRights #landgrabbing #ochoSur #palmOil #palmoil #pepsico #peru #poverty #slavery
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Did you know that gold kills indigenous people and rare animals?
Gold mining kills indigenous peoples throughout the world like the Yanomami people of Brazil and Papuans in West Papua. The bloody, violent and greedy landgrabbing that goes on for gold forces indigenous women and children into sex slavery! Mercury poisons the water, which kills people and puts 1000’s of species closer to extinction. To help indigenous peoples to fight for their ancestral lands and help endangered animals you should #BoycottGold #BoycottGold4Yanomami
#Gold #mining kills #indigenous peoples 🩸 forcing women and children into sex #slavery! Help #Yanomami people forced violently from their #rainforest homes for the #greed of gold! 🪙⛔️ #BoycottGold #BoycottGold4Yanomami 🫶🌳@BarbaraNavarro @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-8uY
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterDYK #Gold #mining 🥇🚫 is sending species like #Tapirs and #jaguars 🐅 towards #extinction? 😿It causes #ecocide and violently displaces #Yanomami of #Brazil and #Papuans of #WestPapa. Fight for them 🦥🌱 and #BoycottGold @BarbaraNavarro @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-8uY
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterGold mining in the Amazon devastates the Yanomami people’s ancestral land. Meanwhile, Illegal mining drives deforestation, violence, and human rights abuses. Sadly, successive governments in many South American countries, including Brazil, have failed to safeguard the rights of Indigenous peoples, turning a blind eye to the issue. A little known fact is that mercury used in gold extraction poisons ecosystems, wildlife, and people. Another horrifying fact is that indigenous women and children are often forced into sex slavery near mining sites. Major companies and criminals profit from this illegal trade, while the Yanomami suffer.
Gold mining also leads to the loss of biodiversity, disrupts traditional livelihoods, contaminates water sources, and contributes to climate change. You can help when you boycott gold and support Indigenous sovereignty. Share social media posts with the hashtags #BoycottGold and #BoycottGold4Yanomami and follow Barbara Crane Navarro to raise awareness.
ENDS
Read more about why you should boycott gold
Around 25% of Africa’s Land is Damaged: This is How We Fix It!
Almost 25% of all land in Africa has been damaged driven by climate change and deforestation for mining palm oil and cocoa. Take action and protect forests!
An Action Plan for Amazon Droughts: The Time is Now!
The fertile lungs of our planet, the Amazon jungle faces severe drought due to El Niño, climate change, and deforestation for agriculture like palm oil, soy and meat. This along with gold mining,…
Indigenous Empowerment to Reverse Amazonia’s Mineral Demand
Illegal mining for minerals like gold is driving Amazonia deforestation. Empowering Indigenous peoples to care for biodiversity-rich areas is the key!
New Research: Indigenous Communities Reduce Amazon Deforestation by 83%”
Although #deforestation rates in the Brazilian #Amazon have halved, this globally critical biome is still losing more than 5,000km² every year. That’s an area three times larger than Greater London. By combining satellite…
Dung Beetles Are Rainforests’ Diligent Regrowth Soldiers
The dung beetle may eat and nest in poop, but their role in nature is anything but humble. These hardshelled scarabs live on every continent except Antarctica, recycling feces and suppressing parasites that…
Load more posts
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email address
Sign Up
Join 3,172 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#barbaraCraneNavarro #boycottGold #boycottgold #boycottgold4yanomami #brazil #childLabour #childSlavery #ecocide #extinction #gold #goldMining #greed #humanRights #indigenous #indigenousRights #jaguars #landRights #landgrabbing #mining #papuans #rainforest #slavery #tapirs #westpapa #yanomami
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Chocolate is yummiest without the #ChildSlavery
Sad that this article didn't mention that choosing #FairTrade chocolate is good for your *conscience*
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Child Labour and Debt Bondage: A Reality For ‘Sustainable’ Palm Oil
According to a new report from the Bureau for Workers’ Activities (ACTRAV) at the International Labour Organization (ILO). About 80% of the world’s poor live in rural areas where they face a myriad of human rights problems which hamper their ability to survive.
Problems include inadequate safety at work, low pay, lack of stability and security of work, and excessive working hours, with women and young workers.
Child labor, slavery, low pay and debt peonage are a part of the #palmoil industry – even so-called ‘sustainable’ palm oil. Fight back with your wallet in the supermarket and #Boycottpalmoil
New report: #humanrights abuses affect 80% of the world’s poor, here’s how we help them #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife
Report summary and media release originally published by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), June 2022. Read original
The report, Decent work deficits among rural workers is based on 16 cases studies covering 15 countries in Africa, Asia, Central Asia, Europe and Latin America.
The report finds that:
- Chemical exposure poses serious health and other risks to agricultural workers, in particular to children and pregnant and lactating women.
- Women workers are disproportionately represented in the most precarious positions. Female workers also tend to be in low-paying, low skilled jobs, suffer huge gender pay gaps, and are more prone to may workplace harassment and abuse compared to male workers.
- Child labour, forced labour and debt bondage are still a reality. Up to 95 per cent of children engaged in hazardous work are employed in agriculture, notably in the cocoa, palm oil and tobacco sectors. Force labour is also a reality in some sectors and is linked to workers’ multiple dependencies on employers.
- Weak social dialogue and barriers to accessing worker’s organizations. In many sectors trade unions are either non-existent or face major barriers to interacting with other workers’ organizations such as farmers’ groups and cooperatives. Social dialogue and representation for female, informal, casual, seasonal, temporary and self-employed workers, are all areas of particular concern, as is the representation of smallholders.
- Social protection remains a dream. Inadequate social protection is a particular issue for workers in precarious arrangements, including informal, casual, temporary and subcontracted workers and day labourers who form the large majority of workers on agricultural plantations.
The report makes a number of recommendations to
- Strengthening labour administration in rural economies
- Improving the presence and capacity in rural economies of trade unions and other grassroots workers’ organizations
- Formalizing informal enterprises and employment arrangements
- Ratification of and adherence to relevant ILO Conventions and other International Labour Standards
- Integrating rural economic sectors into formal and institutionalized social dialogue processes
- Strengthening crisis preparedness and social protection in the rural economy
- More research and policy analysis for better understanding and response to the needs and expectations of rural workers and their organizations.
Report summary and media release originally published by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), June 2022. Read original
ENDS
Read more about human rights abuses and child slavery in the palm oil industry
Greasing the Wheels of Colonialism: Palm Oil Industry in West Papua
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New Research: Indigenous Communities Reduce Amazon Deforestation by 83%”
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The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
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“Haha, isn’t that cute. Now, photo time is over; we need you to reach into the machinery with your little child hands, boy, something’s clogging the gears.”
#slavery #childabuse #australia #ausgov #auspol #tasgov #taspol #politas #capitalism #fascism #sweatshops #sweatshop #childslaves #ChildSlavery -
@augieray I can't get my head around how blatant it is. Not even attempting to hide it. #childslavery #childabuse
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Disappearing children. Fingers all point to Cruella Braverman who
“…has failed to act on the repeated warnings she has been given about totally inadequate safeguards for children in their care”Is this her Rwanda 2? What’s her kickback?
#ChildSlavery #ChildTrafficing #ComplicitHomeOffice
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jan/21/revealed-scores-of-child-asylum-seekers-kidnapped-from-home-office-hotel?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other -
Eyewitness Story: The Last Village by Dr Setia Budhi
A lone Dayak village in Borneo surrounded by palm oil plantations has held out for 14 years and resisted
corporate infiltration by global palm oil giants. My name is Dr Setia Budhi, I am a Dayak ethnographer and human rights advocate. I visited this village recently to see how they were going.Pictured: The Barito River, the largest river in South Kalimantan Borneo by Aditya Perdana, Getty Images
“#Dayaks DO NOT want their lands turned to #palmoil. 1. They depend on rainforests for food/weaving. 2. They don’t want their roaming area disturbed 3. They don’t want to lose their land.” Dr Setia Budhi #Boycottpalmoil 🤬🌴🚫 https://palmoildetectives.com/2022/11/02/eyewitness-story-by-dr-setia-budhi-the-last-village/ @palmoildetect.bsky.social
Share to BlueSky Share to Twitter“In #Indonesia and #Malaysia’s media, people can’t distinguish #fact from #fiction. A positive narrative about #Dayaks and #palmoil is #greenwashing. This is NOT the lived reality for #Dayak people” @Setiabudhi18 #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🩸🧐⛔️ @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2022/11/02/eyewitness-story-by-dr-setia-budhi-the-last-village/
Share to BlueSky Share to Twitter Original tweetRecently, I stayed a Ngaju Dayak village for 15 days
During my visit I wrote a lot, chatted with villagers and visited palm oil farmers.
This remote village is 125 km from downtown Banjarmasin. It’s a distance of about two hours by motorbike to arrive in a neighboring village and from then there, three hours by boat.
Located on the banks of the Barito river, the people who live here are the Ngaju Dayak.
Pictured: Dayak long house in Kalimantan, PxFuel.
The first time I visited this village was 14 years ago in 2008
Since then, I’ve always followed its development by reading the news. Especially interesting is the development that the villagers have refused the presence of palm oil plantations. They have refused to give up their lands to global corporate palm oil companies.
Fourteen years ago, I thought that this village would eventually be besieged by the expansion of oil palm plantations. My suspicions were based on what happened in neighbouring villages. They had given up and accepted the omnipresence of palm oil. Many residents sold their land to the plantations.
In these other towns, some residents work with palm oil companies in a cooperative way. Their land is planted with palm oil and they, as owners, work for the company for wages. Their activities include land-clearing, planting palm oil, along with fertilising and liming the soil.
Pictured: Klotok traditional river boat on a river in Borneo by Guenterguni Getty ImagesSo these people work on their own land. At that time, their daily wages are around 50,000 rupiahs ($3.30 USD) per day.
There are three reasons why the villagers do not want their ancestral lands to become a palm oil plantation:
1. They depend on the rainforest and peatlands for natural resources such as fisheries, agriculture and rattan weaving.
2. They don’t want their roaming area to be disturbed.
3. They don’t want to lose their land.
By roaming area‟ you probably think of a suburban area near you. For Dayaks, their roaming area is vastly different.
Clockwise: The Barito River: The largest river in South Kalimantan Borneo by Aditya Perdana Getty Images; Wooden Dayak village – Long Iram on the riverbank Mahakam river East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Getty Images; Nature in Annah Rais Sarawak, Malaysia by Nyiragongo Getty Images; Barito River -The largest river in South Kalimantan, Indonesia by Aditya Perdana Getty Images; Borneo’s spectacular rivers and rainforests; Getty Images; A group of beautiful Dayak Fruit Bats Dyacopterus spadiceus perched inside a hut at the Way Kambas National Park in Sumatra via Getty Images Signature collection.
The Dayak people need a roaming area for hunting, fishing and foraging for herbs, building materials and medicines
Pictured: Dayak family, Central Kalimantan by IndoMet licensed under CC BY 2.0The palm oil industry is an unstoppable global corporate juggernaut that has become increasingly greedy for land in the past ten years.
When you hear about even a tiny piece of land that is about to be sold, global palm oil companies immediately and aggressively go after the land as buyers. They bargain and negotiate, driving the price down that they pay for the land – so the traditional landowners do not get paid what the land is really worth.
Pictured: Plasma Poverty, a joint investigation by Gecko Project and the BBC into major supermarket brands like Mondelez and Nestle (RSPO members) who are stripping smallholder farmers of their share of profit for palm oil.
To read the news in Indonesia and Malaysia is to read brazen lies and greenwashing about palm oil
Reading news about palm oil is an astonishing experience that will fill you with confusion and incredulity. Your newsfeed will be brimming with stories about the greatness of oil palm and the welfare of farmers.
Palm oil is considered “good” in a neoliberal sense of the financial and economic growth that it brings here as a country. Also palm oil is considered “good” as an environmentally-friendly and healthy ingredient for all to buy and consume.
There is a flood of greenwashing news across all media channels: TV, online media, and social media channels celebrating the virtues of this enormously destructive ingredient. This false narrative emphasises palm oil as a method of “care for the environment‟.
For this reason, nowadays I choose to distance myself from social media, as this content is dishonest about what palm oil is in reality.
Fake news and greenwashing example: Dayak indigenous palm oil smallholders
“Many of us grow rice, fruits and vegetables on our indigenous lands for survival and depend on the cash sales from oil palm fruits to buy what we cannot grow. Our oil palm trees empower us as indigenous peoples.”
‘Discrimination against palm oil is an injustice against indigenous people’, Borneo Today, 2018.
The reality of palm oil is vastly different for Dayak peoples
Reports carried out by news media in Borneo simulate the facts about the real events and the detrimental impact of palm oil on Dayak communities.
We as the audience must remain constantly vigilant and aware that this is bad news.
“An assistant manager came to my home. On that day my oldest son had fever. He said to my husband, “Your five hectares of land here is gone and two hectares here is gone. Go to the company and get your money.” My husband told them he doesn’t want to sell. Months later, while I was at my mother’s new house [in the plantation] and my husband was away in Malaysia, we heard a loud noise and could see smoke. I went to see, and it was crazy. My house was already burned. Everything was in there, my son’s bicycle, clothes, and all the wood we planned to build a house, all was gone.”
~ Francesca, a 28-year-old Iban Dayak mother of two, told Human Rights Watch about how she and her husband refused relocation. She said that company representatives torched her home, rendering them homeless. Story via Human Rights Watch
Pictured: Rainforest on fire, Getty Images
Pollution run-off in an RSPO member palm oil plantation in Sumatra. Craig Jones Wildlife PhotographyDeforestation for palm oil at ground level – Getty Images videoDeforestation for palm oil waste reservoirs- Getty ImagesThe difficulty of addressing and resolving oil palm conflicts is due not only to the inadequacies of Indonesia’s legal framework regarding land and plantations but also to the way in which Indonesia’s informalized state institutions foster collusion between local power holders and palm oil companies. This collusion enables companies to evade regulation, suppress community protests and avoid engaging in constructive efforts to resolve conflicts. Furthermore, this collusion has made the available conflict resolution mechanisms largely ineffective.
Anti-Corporate Activism and Collusion: The Contentious Politics of Palm Oil Expansion in Indonesia, (2022). Ward Berenschot, et. al., Geoforum, Volume 131, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2022.03.002
With the palm oil narrative in Indonesia – many people can no longer distinguish the real from the fake, the fact from the simulation
The media presents a seemingly diverse chorus of voices that all seem to be singing from the same songbook – all of them praising palm oil.
Interviews with field officers, researchers, seminar recordings, podcasts, PR and advertising campaigns are backed financially by the palm oil industry to glaze over and greenwash the immense environmental and social impact of palm oil.
Instead we are presented with a positive narrative about palm oil that offers improved living conditions for farmers. This is not the lived reality for Dayak people. We are told that palm oil is a lucrative crop that benefits the farmers. This is not the lived reality for Dayak people.
Pictured: A Dayak woman weaves pandan in a traditional longhouse, PxFuelThe greenwashing of palm oil deforestation intensifies as time goes on
News articles and reports talk about how this country is preparing to deal with climate change, so as not to damage forests and also to save forests from deforestation.
The news about child labour, child slavery and women working on oil palm plantations in horrific conditions gets little attention in media.
News about customary Dayak lands that are seized for palm oil illegally or by force is online only momentarily and quickly disappears. These violations human rights are rendered invisible by the media in here.
In our news hungry and busy world, most people don’t read beyond the headlines. The messy, corrupt and invisible world of massive land-clearing for palm oil goes on without the world knowing about it through the media. In the meantime, tropical rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia are silently disappearing.
Deforestation by Sean Weston https://seanweston.co.ukThe current era of fake news was predicted by Jean Baudrillard several decades ago
When we can no longer distinguish the truth, the facts and the real from a news. This is Hyperreality.
“The real has died and been replaced by Simulation”
~ Jean Baudrillard.
This is what Jean Baudrillard called the era of Simulacra, Simulation, and Hyperreality. When the news plays with symbols, and the public who consume or read the news only see and know about the simulation, we are existing in Hyperreality, in a Simulacra.
People who consume the news only know the simulation/ hyperreality in a Simulacra – Jean Baudrillard
A Simulacra is a combination of values, facts, signs, images and codes. In this reality we no longer find references or representations except the simulacra itself.
People who consume the news only know the simulation/ hyperreality in a Simulacra – Jean BaudrillardImage, originally tweeted by lookcaitlin (@lookcaitlin) on September 17, 2022.
Greenwashing and denialism in the media about the environmental impact of palm oil
A recent report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) found that the palm oil industry used the same aggressive tactics for greenwashing akin to the tobacco and alcohol industries. Read more
Read WHO reportResearch studies of SE Asian media reporting on palm oil show a denialist and greenwashing narrative that is similar to climate change denialism i.e. climate change greenwashing.
“We found that media reporting of the denialist narrative is more prevalent than that of the peer-reviewed science consensus-view that palm oil plantations on tropical peat could cause excessive greenhouse gas emissions and enhance the risk of fires.
“Our article alerts to the continuation of unsustainable practices as justified by the media to the public, and that the prevalence of these denialist narratives constitute a significant obstacle in resolving pressing issues such as transboundary haze, biodiversity loss, and land-use change related greenhouse gas emissions in Southeast Asia.”~ Liu, Felicia & Ganesan, Vignaa & Smith, Thomas. (2020). Contrasting communications of sustainability science in the media coverage of palm oil agriculture on tropical peatlands in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Environmental Science & Policy. 114. 162-169. 10.1016/j.envsci.2020.07.004.
Deforestation – Craig Jones Wildlife Photography Pictured clockwise: An orangutan grips helplessly onto a broken and destroyed tree, Craig Jones Wildlife Photography; River pollution, PxFuel; A freshly destroyed rainforest in Indonesia, Craig Jones Wildlife Photography; A vast and lifeless palm oil plantation, Greenpeace.Impact of the media Simulacrum on Dayak people
Media coverage about the “goodness of palm oil” has a deep psychological impact on Dayak communities. In the news, this is where the simulation or simulacra begins to occur.
Pictured: Dayak men in Kalimantan, Pxfuel.Some people cannot sort and distinguish the truth of the news content from the actual facts. Meanwhile, the village that I visited is still holding on to their traditional way of life – not to palm oil. This is the Last Village.
Dayak people in the neighbouring village tell them how they have lost their fishing resources. That now, because of the palm oil run-off and pollution there are no more fish to catch. Their roaming area has become too narrow.
They say: “Oh you are right! Keep on resisting the palm oil siege! For we are now labourers toiling for little money on our ancestral land.”
Dr Setia Budhi, Barito River, 25, July 2022
Further reading
Liu, Felicia & Ganesan, Vignaa & Smith, Thomas. (2020). Contrasting communications of sustainability science in the media coverage of palm oil agriculture on tropical peatlands in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Environmental Science & Policy. 114. 162-169. 10.1016/j.envsci.2020.07.004.
Manzo, Kate & Padfield, Rory. (2016). Palm oil not polar bears: Climate change and development in Malaysian media. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers. 41. 10.1111/tran.12129.
Morris J. Simulacra in the Age of Social Media: Baudrillard as the Prophet of Fake
News. Journal of Communication Inquiry. 2021;45(4):319-336. doi:10.1177/0196859920977154Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing (1998). Under the Shadows of the Queen of Diamonds: The Process of Marginalization in Isolated Communities. Indonesian Torch Foundation, Jakarta.
“The Forest is the father, land is the mother and rivers are blood
“That’s the spirituality of most Dayak people in Kalimantan. They understand the interdependent nature of everything in nature.”
~ Dr Setia Budhi : Dayak Ethnographer
Read Dr Budhi’s story Read ‘The Orangutan with the Golden Hair’Pictured: Untouched rainforest, Sumatra. Craig Jones Wildlife Photography
Here are some other ways you can help by using your wallet as a weapon and joining the #Boycott4Wildlife
Why join the #Boycott4Wildlife?
Greenwashing Tactic #4: Fake Labels
The Counterpunch: Consumer Solutions To Fight Extinction
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Palm Oil Detectives is 100% self-funded
Palm Oil Detectives is completely self-funded by its creator. All hosting and website fees and investigations into brands are self-funded by the creator of this online movement. If you like what I am doing, you and would like me to help meet costs, please send Palm Oil Detectives a thanks on Ko-Fi.
Say thanks on Ko-FiPalm Oil Detectives is 100% self-funded
Palm Oil Detectives is completely self-funded by its creator. All hosting and website fees and investigations into brands are self-funded by the creator of this online movement. If you like what I am doing, you and would like me to help meet costs, please send Palm Oil Detectives a thanks on Ko-Fi.
Say thanks on Ko-Fi#Borneo #BoycottPalmOil #childLabour #childSlavery #conflictCommodity #Dayak #Dayaks #DrSetiaBudhi #fact #fiction #greenwashing #humanRights #hunger #IndigenousActivism #indigenousRights #Indonesia #landRights #landgrabbing #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #pollution #poverty #violence #waterPollution #workersRights