Indigenous Population Displacement in Indonesia
Jamila, Ainun. 2020. Traditional Dance from Dayak Ethnic at International Dance Day 2019 . Photograph. Digulist Park, Pontianak, West Kalimantan, Indonesia. https://unsplash.com/photos/nwpGRTdDQRQ
By Katelyn Covey
Published Fall 2021
Special thanks to Erica Bassett for editing and research contributions
+Summary
Indigenous peoples in Indonesia continue to be displaced from their customary lands at high rates, with lands turned over to government and corporate entities. This continued displacement is due to legal barriers to securing recognition as indigenous peoples and indigenous land, deforestation and land degradation, and gaps between the implementation of laws and actual practices. Consequences for indigenous peoples include physical, social, economic, and political marginalization, a nutrition transition away from traditional food systems, and disconnection to traditional cultural, spiritual, and linguistic practices. Some possible alleviations to this issue include enacting laws and policies to ensure indigenous land tenure, as well as requiring certified sustainable palm oil production.
+Key Takeaways
+Key Terms
Adat—Local customary law of indigenous peoples in Malaysia and Indonesia. The law is a traditional and unwritten code governing personal conduct from birth to death.1
Autonomy—The quality or state of being self-governing.2
Customary land—Land that is owned by indigenous peoples and used in accordance with local customs. The land is often under common, rather than private, ownership.3
Dayak—Traditional hunter-gatherers on the island of Borneo in Indonesia.4, 5
Hectare—A unit of land equal to 10,000 square meters or 2.471 acres. Abbreviated as “ha.”6
Indigenous peoples—Peoples who self-identify as indigenous; have a distinct language, culture, or belief system; have distinct political, social, or economic systems; have a deep relationship with maintaining their ancestral environments and the natural resources within; and face marginalization and discrimination from the state.7
Implementation gap—When laws and regulations are not properly adopted, the discrepancy is called the implementation gap. Otherwise known as the difference between laws on the books and how these laws function in practice.8
Land demarcation—The defining of property boundaries, shapes, and locations.9
Land tenure—The relationship that individuals and groups hold with respect to land and related resources. Land tenure rules define the ways in which property rights to land are allocated, transferred, used, or managed.10
Logging—The activity of cutting down trees in order to gather and process wood.11
Marind—Traditional hunter-gatherers on the coast of the Indonesian province of Papua. Also known as Marind-anim.12
Nutrition transition—In indigenous communities, a rapid westernization of diet and lifestyle, often resulting in an increase of chronic diseases.13
Orang Rimba—Traditional hunter-gatherers on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. Forest peoples are also known as Orang Kubu.14 Specifically, they live in the provinces of Jambi, Riau, and South Sumatra, Indonesia.15
Palm oil—The edible vegetable oil that comes from crushing the fruit or fruit kernel of oil palm trees (Elaeis guineensis). Indonesia and Malaysia make up over 85% of the global supply of palm oil. Palm oil is found in almost 50% of packaged products.16
Context
Located on the Malay Archipelago, Indonesia spans 13,677 islands and is home to over 300 distinct ethnic and linguistic groups.17 According to Aliansi Masyarakat Adat Nusantara (AMAN), the official organization of indigenous peoples in Indonesia, an estimated 50 to 70 million18 of 270.2 million Indonesians19 are indigenous, making up approximately 18% to 26% of the total population. According to Amnesty International, indigenous peoples are those who self-identify as indigenous or native; have a distinct language, culture, or belief system; have distinct political, social, or economic systems; have a deep relationship with maintaining their ancestral environments and the natural resources within; and face marginalization and discrimination from the state.20 Aliansi Masyarakat Adat Nusantara (AMAN)’s categorizations align with this definition.21 For consistency, this brief will use the terms “indigneous” or “indigenous peoples” as defined by AMAN and Amnesty International.
Seventy percent of indigenous Indonesians are located in rural areas, living in mountains, forests, and on coasts.22 Some groups are sedentary, some nomadic; these groups practice fishing, shifting cultivation, hunting and gathering, or agroforestry for subsistence.23 To indigenous peoples, their ancestral land is common property that must be protected and sustained.24 Because of indigenous peoples’ unique relationship with their ancestral or customary lands, these groups have cultivated crucial familiarity with how to sustain resources on the lands (including oil, gas, timber, and minerals), acting as its guardian for future generations.25 These indigenous peoples view land as a shared and communal commodity, a belief that conflicts with the state’s growing emphasis on private land ownership rather than collective land rights.26
International law identifies the land ownership rights of indigenous peoples, declaring that indigenous peoples may not be relocated without fair compensation and free, prior, and informed consent.27 However, the Indonesian government continues transference of land ownership to private companies, particularly palm oil companies, without meeting the above requirements (See the Contributing Factor "Deforestation and Land Degradation" for more information on palm oil companies).28 Forceful relocation of these indigenous peoples is known as physical displacement. This brief will focus primarily on the physical displacement of certain indigenous groups in Indonesia from their traditional lands, although social, economic, and political displacement are issues also faced by indigenous peoples in Indonesia—often as a natural consequence of land displacement.
The exact number of displaced indigenous peoples is unknown; most countries do not separate them from the rest of the population, including Indonesia with its indigenous peoples.29 However, it is estimated that, just on the island of Borneo, about 2.5 million people have been displaced since the 1970s.30 Many indigenous peoples relocate to cities or nearby provinces. For indigenous peoples, a loss of traditional lands is akin to a loss of identity,31 as shared by Margereta, a community leader, after her customary land was degraded by a palm oil company: “Our identity as Iban Dayak is almost lost now, we have no forest.”32
Contributing Factors
Legal Barriers and Policies
Although the Indonesian government formally accepted the UN Declaration of the Rights of indigenous peoples in 2007, the government does not fully acknowledge the existence of indigenous peoples in its own country33; instead, the government defines “indigenous” broadly, as the native or original inhabitants.34 Under this definition, because all people in Indonesia, exempting immigrants, are the original inhabitants of the land, the Indonesian government considers all Indonesians as indigenous.35 Therefore, the notion of uniquely indigenous peoples does not apply to any group, and no Indonesians are entitled to special considerations when applying for ownership of their traditional lands.36 This policy is in opposition to Article 3 of the UN Declaration, which recognizes indigenous people’s right to self-determination (or the exercise of control over one’s life), and Article 8, which outlines that no state should deprive indigenous peoples “of their integrity as distinct peoples.”37 In Indonesian law, terms such as “traditional communities,” “remote communities,” “customary law communities,” and “communities governed by custom” describe groups internationally recognized as indigenous rather than the indigenous label.38 The Indonesian government’s efforts to omit the indigenous label allow the government to dismiss indigenous people’s right to traditional lands.
Discriminatory Registration Policies
Several laws and policies contribute to the discrimination that deprives indigenous peoples of rights to land and displaces these populations, particularly in registering lands.39 As discussed above, the Indonesian government’s lack of recognition for indigenous peoples has enabled the government to reject indigenous identification attempts as well as land demarcation efforts, allowing the government to safely alter traditional land boundaries.40 As a result, indigenous people are not able to redress their grievances, as the Indonesian government claims that uniquely indigenous peoples do not exist in their country and so therefore all forested land belongs to the state.41
Zero, Jeremy. 2021. Green Trees Under White Sky. Photograph. Danum Valley, Borneo, Malaysia. Unsplash. https://unsplash.com/photos/YKyr8mgeAKo
Indonesia’s national constitution recognizes “traditional communities” and their customary rights and also ensures their recognition by local governments,42 but only if the people register themselves through a legal process. As a result, indigenous people must be legally recognized to claim the land they have been living on, or risk it being usurped by the government or sold to private companies. The recognition process is processed by the district or province where the indigenous group lives, granting vast discretionary power to local power holders43 who may be reluctant to support laws that do not provide them an immediate political benefit,44 unlike allocating land to plantation or mining companies.45 Therefore, indigenous communities in conflict with local government authorities are unlikely to obtain recognition and, by extension, land claims.46
In addition, many areas simply do not have a working legal system existing to claim land,47 making it impossible for indigenous people to do so. Even with a working system to become recognized, the land demarcation and titling process is tedious and expensive, with some citing fees of $14,000.48 This process can take over five years to complete based on the current systems in place49 and is also often dependent on outside support from NGOs.50 Even when indigenous people have gone through the process of obtaining legal title deeds, the terms are not always respected. The territories are often leased out without free and prior informed consent,51 with indigenous peoples receiving little or no compensation or reparations for loss and damages.52
Obscure Recognition Laws
Other laws fail to recognize indigenous property rights. The Second Amendment in the 1945 Indonesian Constitution states that the government recognizes and respects “customary peoples” and their rights so long as they are in compliance with “community development” and are “in line with progress and human civilization.” It is not clear as to whose culture and civilization it is meant to be in compliance with, risking assimilation of indigenous communities and erasure of indigenous culture. If government officials decide that the way of life of indigenous peoples is not in line with “community development” or “progress,” indigenous peoples can be displaced from the land as they would no longer have a claim to it. Similarly, another legal provision outlines that adat, or the local customary law of indigenous societies,53 applies as long as it does not conflict with state interests, the unity of the nation, and “due respect to norms founded in religious laws.”54 The phrase “national and state interests” is not defined, which has led to an interpretation by the Indonesian government to interpret this phrase as any development activity, in similar fashion to the 2000 Second Amendment.55 Because the government can define “state interests” as any development, the state can enter into contracts with palm oil companies and consequently remove indigenous people from land now designated for development. Other regulatory plantation development laws work together to withhold from indigenous peoples the lands and resources that they have traditionally occupied. Because indigenous property rights are not recognized under law, the land is treated by the government as “available for conversion.”56
Inadequate Negotiations with Indigenous Peoples
In negotiation processes between indigenous communities and the government or private companies, the communities often agree on terms without free, prior, and informed consent. Free, prior, informed consent is required in the 32nd article of the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.57 This international criteria spells out that consent must be received without coercion, manipulation, or intimidation before the authorization or start of activities, and that indigenous people must have the knowledge of risks, scope, duration and impact of these activities.58 This consent and consultation with local peoples must be ongoing.59
Regarding misinformed consent, indigenous peoples in Indonesia have transferred their land rights with the mistaken perspective that they are just granting temporary use rights in exchange for compensation,60 or in other words, letting businesses build on their land. These instances have long-term impacts, as most business permits for land use and management last 35 years.61 However, in many instances once the land is converted into plantations, Indonesian law deems the land no longer customary and therefore locals no longer have claim to it. Such was the case with the company FTPN II Prafi—when the permit expired, only limited areas were returned to the original inhabitants.62
In another example, a palm oil company made verbal promises of compensation such as health clinics, schools, or houses. In one case, a company built houses as compensation for the Orang Rimba people, but most slept outside, so they were not a useful form of compensation to them.63 In several cases the compensation was less than $50 per hectare of land.64 Although companies or the government may promise jobs as compensation, they may fail to materialize or may rarely continue as long-term employment.65 Some indigenous individuals shared that they signed an agreement after the customary forest had already been cleared and felt that they had little choice.66 Susanti, a Dayak mother, shared “I had to sell my land or let them take it with no pay” and that the company “did not provide transportation for me to move my things” and “burned my wood and belongings I left behind.”67 These examples are in violation of Article 28 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, which states that indigenous peoples are entitled to fair compensation for lands taken from them without obtaining free, prior, and informed consent.68 The lack of free, prior, and informed consent leads to misunderstandings, coercion, and displacement, as the communities do not receive complete information on projects impacting their lives and livelihoods.69
Deforestation and Land Degradation
Indigenous people have experienced a loss of their traditional livelihoods due to deforestation and degradation of customary lands. Before 1950, an estimated 87% to 99.2% of the total land area of Indonesia was covered with forest. Deforestation, a type of land degradation, has rendered the total land area of Indonesia covered by forest to 49.8% as of 2015, with at least half of this deforestation attributed to human activities, and the rest to natural causes.70 This altered landscape has significantly impacted the livelihoods and lifestyles of indigenous peoples.
Logging is one of the most salient contributors to deforestation, although large-scale infrastructure projects and oil exploration play a part as well.71 New technologies, such as chemical fertilizers and pesticides, cash-crop cultivation, large dams, and mining activities have also contributed to this environmental degradation. Expansive exploitation of natural and subsoil resources and pollution contributes to the issue of displacement as well.72
Fisk, Tom. 2019. Drone Shot of Green Palm Oil Plantation. Photograph. Sukabumi, Indonesia. Pexels.https://www.pexels.com/photo/drone-shot-of-green-palm-oil-plantation-2950868/
Indigenous peoples are often displaced from traditional lands when their forest is leveled to make way for palm oil companies. Palm oil is a product found in almost 50% of packaged products as well as in global biofuel supplies.73 As recently as 2019, only a small portion of palm oil companies in Indonesia committed to respect indigenous land by certifying themselves as sustainable. Palm oil is certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) if meeting specific criteria for processes and production,74 which ensures that “the basic rights indigenous landowners, local communities, plantation workers, and smallholders and their families are respected and considered.”75 Growers certified by the RSPO make up 19% of the global palm oil production.76 RSPO certification principles delineate the requirement to consult with local communities before development on their land.77 Consequently, the hectares of forests cleared for palm oil has risen from 106,000 in 196778 to approximately 12 million total in 2020, although it is unclear how much of these forests indigenous peoples inhabited.79
Two palm oil companies in particular, PT Ledo Lestari and PT Saria Aditya Loka 1, have had a negative impact on the forests belonging to the Ibans and Orang Rimba indigenous peoples. These companies failed to consult with the people before sections of the forest had been significantly bulldozed and destroyed,80 and have continued to develop mining operations, roads, and plantations that upset indigenous communities’ way of life.81, 82, 83
Implementation Gaps Between Laws and Practices
Although proposals and sanctions regarding indigenous people’s rights to secure land ownership have been made at the international level, these decisions are not always concretely advanced at national or local levels,84 leading to indigenous land displacement. Legislation for indigenous people is often ignored by local governments.85 For example, a UNCERD (the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination) decision in 2007 deemed the Kalimantan border region of Indonesia as unfit for palm oil plantations because plantations would jeopardize indigenous land. However, local governments continued to develop the territory.86 It is also difficult to measure the effectiveness of the law’s application due to inadequate monitoring methods.87
Despite existing laws that would protect local rights while developing palm oil plantations, companies often ignore requirements without fear of legal repercussions. Laws were passed in Indonesia in 1999 requiring palm oil companies to consult with local communities throughout the entire operation. However, Human Rights Watch found no evidence that this required consultation was taking place until after forests had been destroyed. Government officials in Indonesia have disregarded these actions, leading to the displacement of indigenous populations despite laws that would protect their rights.88
Consequences
Marginalization
The displacement of indigenous peoples from their customary lands and into other lands and cities leads to geographic, social, economic, and political marginalization. Displacement creates a natural and unfortunate decline into poverty with the loss of traditional livelihoods,89 compelling indigenous peoples to leave their adat forests for urban life.90 Although there are several benefits to living in urban areas, the new environment creates considerable difficulties for indigenous peoples.91 Moving to nearby cities separates indigenous peoples from their traditional lands, rituals, and communities; indigenous families often relocate to cities and struggle to maintain social connections.92 These groups, lacking financial resources from lost lands, often end up living in city slums or informal settlements that are prone to erosion, mudslides, flooding, and poor sanitation.93 According to reports, these slums are also overpopulated and lack proper urban infrastructure.94
Indigenous families’ economic sustainability in these new settlements is hindered by lack of skill, capital, or capacity to access markets, discrimination, and insufficient alternatives.95 Before displacement, most indigenous peoples of Indonesia had their needs met through adat in customary lands.96 In these new environments, many work menial and low-paid jobs or beg.97 As a result, indigenous peoples have higher unemployment rates, and those who are employed earn considerably less than non-indigenous peoples.98 Although the data on income are not disaggregated for indigenous versus non-indigenous in Indonesia, in Australia, the United States, New Zealand, and areas of Latin America, the income of indigenous peoples is roughly 50% to 70% of the income of non-indigenous peoples in these regions. It is probable that Indonesia follows a similar trend as these areas given its relative population size of indigenous peoples.99 In the case of Orang Rimba, indigenous families report having no option but to steal oil palm fruits from plantations built on their customary land in order to make money, as their women and children beg for food or cash on the side of highways.100 Maliau, a member of the Orang Rimba peoples shared that “life was better before,” as “women could find many types of food” and “some wove mats from leaves and baskets.” Now, “we cannot find the materials to make these.”101 Poor economic conditions are also illustrated by Leni, a member of the Iban Dayak peoples: “Before our lives were simple, not rich, but enough. Since oil palm came there is more suffering. I can’t feed my family. I have a baby. I must put food on the table every day. How do I do that when both [my husband and I] are not working. Every day I must figure out how to do this.” These examples highlight the economic difficulties indigenous peoples experience following their displacement from traditional lands.
Indigenous peoples face political marginalization and a loss of autonomy as a consequence of displacement from their traditional lands.102 Political marginalization is often in the form of political suppression. For example, Effendi Buhing, the customary leader of the Laman Kinipan peoples, was arrested along with 5 others from the community for their efforts to protect the community from being evicted from their customary lands by the palm oil company PT Sawit Mandiri Lestari.103 Although he was released following public pressure, tensions remain in the region.104 Similarly, another customary village leader, Mormonus, was detained by the police for protesting the expansion of a palm oil plantation into his peoples’ land.105 When members of the Kapa peoples lodged a complaint, their leader, Alman Gampo Alam, was detained for 6 weeks. Eighteen customary leaders were compelled to travel 5 hours to be questioned by police. Five of them had to attend these meetings weekly for several months.106 Between January to August of 2020, 29 indigenous rights defenders were detained or faced intimidation.107 The detainment of indigenous leaders ultimately diminishes the political power of indigenous peoples, particularly for indigenous peoples who are displaced to urban areas.
Transition from Traditional Food Systems
Alienation from and destruction of traditional lands separates indigenous peoples from their traditional diets, which has had a direct and harmful impact on their health,108 particularly for those who resettle in urban areas.109 For example, before the loss of forests, the Orang Rimba peoples’ diet originated from resources available in the forest.110 Indigenous diets vary from group to group but often consist of types of leafy vegetables, nuts, cassowary, deer, wild pigs, sago, taro, yam, and fruits such as mangoes, papayas, and bananas.111, 112 Barks and saps are also used for medicinal purposes.113 Traditionally, indigenous peoples forage, gather, and plant on their lands for these resources.114 However, many areas in which these foods grow have been converted, and foraging is difficult or even illegal.115 Due to displacement, some indigenous communities are reliant on foreign and national governments food packages, consisting of processed commodities.116 The loss of traditional food systems have forced a “nutrition transition,”117 as indigenous peoples are compelled to become progressively more reliant on non-traditional foods (which are unfamiliar and of low nutrient quality118), such as instant noodles, rice, and biscuits.119, 120 Separation from traditional food systems have resulted in hunger, inadequacy of calories, and nutritional deficiencies in iron, iodine, zinc, and various vitamins.121, 122
These traditional foods cannot simply be replaced. For example, the foraging and processing of sago for the Marind peoples is a social activity, with different roles assigned to different members of the community—all taking part in providing food for the community.123 Indigenous diet in Indonesia is more than nutritional intake; it is often a medium for connection to the earth. For the Marind peoples, the plants and animals making up the indigenous diet are considered sentient kin with which they share ancestral spirits. They consider themselves as a link in a collective chain of nature, just as the plants or animals are also a link. Processed foods have unknown origins and are devoid of the social and spiritual meanings found in indigenous foods.124, 125
Zero, Jeremy. 2021. Green Trees and Plants. Photograph. Danum Valley, Borneo, Malaysia. Unsplash. https://unsplash.com/photos/6WsRfMtrlyI.
Disconnection from Traditional Cultural, Spiritual, and Linguistic Practices
Displacement from customary lands disrupts indigenous people’s cultural and spiritual practices and organization because many beliefs, customs, values, laws, and norms are tied to the earth.126, 127 For instance, indigenous peoples perceive the land as sacred: something they must steward over and preserve for future generations.128 Inability to live by these traditional cultural values is believed to result in barau, a Dayak word for a broken relationship with nature and ultimately a transgression of adat.129 Barau is considered chaos, failure, and impoverishment to the Dayak people.130 A displacement from these lands is akin to a loss of one’s identity and cultural heritage.131
Mimpi, Ibadah. 2019. Photo Of People Dancing Wearing Traditional Wear. Photograph. Indonesia. Pexels.
Because ancestral land is where sacred places are erected, visited, and venerated (and where ancestors are buried)132 rituals that are tied to the land or ancestral spirits can no longer occur once indigenous peoples are displaced, often resulting in social, spiritual, and cultural disintegration.133 For example, the Orang Rimba people delegate specific areas of the forest for sacred practices, such as for giving birth, planting crops, praying, or burying a loved one.134 These rituals and connections with their ancestors are disrupted with forest degradation and subsequent displacement.135
Furthermore, a majority of languages spoken by indigenous peoples are endangered. In many cases, when indigenous peoples, previously semi-isolated, are displaced from their land and seek employment elsewhere, the linguistic aspects of their culture tend to dissipate.136 Often, these threatened languages are not carried on by the younger generation, perhaps due to migration to cities and cultural adaptation.137 Therefore, as the older generation passes, so does the language. In Indonesia, 126 languages are threatened or nearly extinct, with 12 already lost.138 Many indigenous languages are only oral, and once lost cannot be retrieved.
Language is linked to the land, produces a feeling of community and belonging, and is a piece of collective and individual identity that causes grief and disorientation when lost.139 Therefore, displacement from customary lands has harmed and disrupted indigenous cultural, spiritual, linguistic, and political practices. Without traditional lands, indigenous people cannot continue to develop their traditional knowledge or undertake customary activities, depriving them of “spiritual sustenance” and threatening extinction of their cultures.140
Best Practices
Technical Assistance
The Tenure Facility is an organization that offers technical assistance to indigenous communities and to government officials in understanding and protecting indigenous people's land rights. Their focus is on diminishing climate change, reducing conflict, and furthering gender equality through the implementation of policies and legislation that secure indigenous land and forests tenure. Their projects consist of initiatives to recognize indigenous rights, legal documentation of these rights, forest management, community mapping, and conflict resolution in efforts to reinforce indigenous people’s ability to govern over and protect their customary lands and forests.141 Because tenure security is a necessary precursor to achieving both national and international benchmarks for indigenous rights, the Tenure Facility seeks to meet the needs of indigenous peoples and organizations through technical assistance and sufficient funding.
The Tenure Facility enacts projects that are 1 to 3 years in length and $200,000 to $5 million in the budget to combat land usurpation. The first of these projects succeeded in aiding local governments to draft 32 district-regulations that uphold land tenure rights. If passed, these regulations would lead to titles of 1.5 million hectares of land for indigenous peoples. The Tenure Facility was also able to establish and facilitate recognition at local and national levels for 3 indigenous forests of 6,000 hectares. Eighty-six government officials and indigenous or community organizations were trained by the Tenure Facility in legal pathways and regulatory processes. This replicable project created enabling conditions for quicker recognition of indigenous people’s land tenure.142
Another project is ongoing but includes consultations with local communities, advising decision-makers at the local government level about opportunities to protect indigenous rights, and training on how to document and map these rights. These documents and maps are then used to verify and register indigenous land rights in the Indonesian national database. The project facilitates planning for customary indigenous land use, and management agreements for these defined areas. The Tenure Facility also provides legal support to local governments to further regulation creation to recognize land tenure rights. They plan to communicate these project achievements and the program’s impact to inform national policymakers and expand the initiative, demonstrating the feasibility and benefits of securing tenure.143 The overall impact of these programs is ameliorated laws on tenure rights, improved livelihoods for indigenous peoples, and sustainable forest management. The Tenure Facility measures impact by creating a theory of change and metrics for results for projects. They have a monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) system that discloses outputs and outcomes and makes adjustments based on progress tracking as well as judging the program’s overall impact. They have developed a guide for the MEL system for the partners of the Tenure Facility.144
Unfortunately, even when indigenous land rights are recognized, the state often still has the power to override or cancel these rights in favor of other interests. It is also unclear if the implementation of laws can mitigate risks to indigenous peoples.145
Sustainability Certification for Palm Oil
Due to the land-intensive nature of palm oil production, much rainforest has been and continues to be cleared to be replaced by oil palm plantations. In 2019, 601.8 thousand hectares of land were cleared without having conducted a high conservation value (HCV) assessment, deeming the act as non-compliant land clearance.146 HCV is a term created by the Indonesian Forest Stewardship Council in 1999.147 Areas assigned one or more HCV have particular environmental or cultural value and are in need of protection,148 and no plantations can be developed in these areas.149 The HCV assessment process includes calculating threats to these values from proposed projects and implementing monitoring and management processes to ensure the values are preserved.150 Although legally supported in Indonesia as of 2017, no local or international body takes responsibility for validating the results of an HCV assessment.151, 152 HCV assessments can aid in sustainable land use. Sustainable palm oil production protects the environment and mitigates poverty as well as making the chain more transparent.153, 154
tristantan. n.d. Palm Oil Fruit. Photograph. Singapore. Pixabay. https://pixabay.com/photos/palm-oil-fruit-background-ripe-3001220/
Organizations such as the Tropenbos International Indonesia Programme and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil work on HCV assessments and sustainable palm oil production in Indonesia, respectively. The Tropenbos International Indonesia Programme is the dominant organization dedicated to the promotion of certification in Indonesia.155 Its areas of focus are the promotion of HCV identification, HCV training, HCV assessment consulting and assistance, reinforcement of the HCV network in Indonesia, and influencing policies or practices related to HCV. The organization also published the HCV Toolkit, a guide to HCV assessments. Additionally, Trobenbos has succeeded at spreading its trainings to a wider audience of actors and stakeholders.156
The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, an organization established in 2004, has created a set of global standards of social and environmental criteria for certification. Some of its criteria for certification include not building plantations on areas that have significant concentrations of biodiversity or on areas that are necessary to meeting the needs of customary communities—essentially any HCV areas. The certification also necessitates fair treatment of workers and the need to consult with local people before developing new palm oil plantations.157 The organization aims to bring together the stakeholders in palm oil, including government officials, NGOs, investors, retailers, manufacturers, producers, processors, and consumers. With 5,087 members worldwide, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil has certified 3.17 million hectares in 2021, making up 19% of the global palm oil supply.
Unfortunately, adherence to the criteria is not mandated by the law—at best, voluntary certifications are self-imposed rules.158 Lack of recognition and enforcement of sustainability certification from the government results in low commitment from actors.159 Naturally, corruption and lack of accountability limit the value of sustainability certification.160 In fact, it was found that since 2007, certified palm oil plantations have lost 38% of their forest cover to land degradation, while non-certified plantations lost 34%. Thus, some argue that the term “sustainable” palm oil carries little weight, as deforestation progresses.161 Therefore, actual sustainable palm oil production has not yet been implemented on a significant scale. Additionally, certification does not protect indigenous peoples that have already been displaced.
Preferred Citation: Katelyn Covey. “Indigenous Population Displacement in Indonesia.” Ballard Brief. November 2021. www.ballardbrief.org.
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