Indonesia has some of the world's richest rainforests, but those ecosystems are increasingly being cleared for industrial agriculture.

What's happening?

According to Mongabay, a palm oil company has begun large-scale forest destruction inside a protected area in Borneo that is critical for endangered wildlife and Indigenous communities. 

PT Equator Sumber Rezeki (ESR) has cleared nearly 1,500 hectares of rainforest in Indonesia's West Kalimantan province. The clearing occurred inside the Betung Kerihun-Danau Sentarum Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO-recognized area that serves as a wildlife corridor between two national parks. Indigenous leaders say the damage is affecting daily life.

Mongabay reported that the permit to clear the forest overlaps with habitat used by the critically endangered Bornean orangutan, with a 2016 government-backed study finding that orangutans occupy about a quarter of the area.

Indigenous Dayak leaders told Mongabay they were not clearly informed or did not consent to parts of the land being included in the company's permit. 

"Already we see bears often near houses … The small black bears eat fruits like rambutan and durian. Orangutans are also increasingly seen down the road," Banying, an elder in a local Dayak Iban community, told Mongabay.

Why is the clearing concerning?

It's concerning because, according to the United Nations, biodiversity loss increases the risk of species extinction, disrupts ecosystems that provide clean water and climate stability, and is considered a national security risk by government officials in the United Kingdom. Forests play a key role in storing carbon and regulating rainfall patterns. 

Mongabay also reported that conservationists estimate that up to 80% of ESR's permission to clear out includes rainforest with highlighted conservation value. Clearing rainforest areas undermines Indonesia's stated goal of becoming a net carbon sink by 2030. 

"If the forest is destroyed, it's we who suffer," Bernadus Nandung, the head of Ukit-Ukit hamlet in Labian, told Mongabay. "If [springs] are replaced with oil palm, Kalimantan won't be Kalimantan anymore. Springs won't be springs anymore, but tears," Bernadus added. 

What's being done about the permit to clear?

Environmentalists, such as Phil Aikman at Mighty Earth, want the Indonesian government to revoke ESR's permit. The forestry ministry has the authority to issue stop-work orders, as it has in other deforestation cases, according to Aikman. 

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Mongabay also reported that ESR's parent company has landed on "no-buy" lists, yet its palm oil continues entering global supply chains through intermediary mills. Without official recognition of the Indigenous customary forest, the clearing could continue. 

Companies often make zero-deforestation pledges while still benefitting from destructive supply chains through indirect sourcing, making it important to identify greenwashing as well as possible to maintain power in investment decisions by knowing where to spend money.

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