Ahmad Arif, Jakarta – Civil society organisations in Indonesia are asking the European Commission to consider deforestation and threats to the rights of indigenous peoples in Papua in assessing country and regional risks within the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) benchmarking scheme.

Based on this scheme, the European Union will classify countries or regions as low, standard or at high risk of deforestation and human rights violations.

Twenty-two Indonesian civil society organisations have sent a letter to European Union Commissioners to express their concerns over the worsening condition facing Papua's rainforests. The region faces the threat of deforestation of 2 million hectares of forest, alongside increasing risks to the Indigenous Malind and Yei communities.

The letter was addressed to Teresa Ribera, Executive Vice President for a Clean, Fair and Competitive Transition; Kaja Kallas, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the European Commission; Jessica Roswall, Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and the Competitive Circular Economy; Jozef Sikela, Commissioner for International Partnerships and; Maros Sefcovic, Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, Inter-institutional Relations and Transparency.

In the letter, the organisations urged the European Commission to seriously consider the deforestation crisis and threats to indigenous rights in Papua as part of its country risk assessment within the EUDR benchmarking system. Under this scheme, the EU will classify countries or regions as low, standard or at high risk of deforestation and human rights violations, with classifications to be determined before June 30, 2025.

Article 29 of the EUDR states that risk assessments must consider deforestation rates and agricultural land expansion. Furthermore, Article 29(4)(d) requires the European Commission to consider the existence of laws protecting human rights, indigenous rights, anti-corruption measures and transparency in data as necessary to comply with the EUDR.

"We urge the European Commission to ensure that Article 29b(4d) is applied consistently and strictly across all countries and regions, including West Papua. Without a strict approach to forest and Indigenous rights protection, the EUDR framework risks failing to achieve its goal of preventing deforestation and human rights violations in global supply chains", said Satya Bumi Executive Director Andi Muttaqien representing the organisations that sent the letter on Tuesday March 4.

In a previous report submitted to the European Commission in 2024 and supported by more than 30 Indonesian civil society organisations, it was clearly explained how the expansion of large-scale plantations in Papua threatens the sustainability of ecosystems and the rights of Indigenous communities who depend on the forests. More than 2 million hectares of forest reserves in Papua are currently allocated for plantation industries in Indonesia, including palm oil and timber.

Therefore the organisations are urging the European Union to ensure that the risk classification under the EUDR benchmarking scheme considers the vulnerability of Papua to deforestation where this reflects the realities on the ground.

Indigenous rights

Pusaka Bentala Rakyat Foundation (Pusaka) Director Franky Samperante said that that forest clearing in Papua clearly violates the rights of indigenous communities in the vicinity of plantation concessions, particularly the Malind and Yei peoples.

"The European Union must consider the destruction of livelihoods, the dispossession of economic rights and the social fragmentation in several districts in South Papua, including intimidation by the military. Europe's clean consumption should not only be free from forest destruction but also free from the destruction of human dignity", he said.

According to Samperante, the Indonesian government has already designated 1.5 million hectares for rice fields and 500,000 hectares for sugarcane plantations. Although these two commodities are not included in the EUDR, there is a risk that timber from forest clearing could enter the European market. Furthermore, deforestation potential should be calculated based on the total forest area cleared – not just the seven commodities covered by the EUDR.

Research carried out by Satya Bumi and earlier teams showed that the limit for oil palm plantations in Indonesia, using a calculation of the environmental support and carrying capacity, is 18.1 million hectares. Meanwhile Indonesia's oil palm plantations already cover 17.7 million hectares. There is concern that the government's plan to open up 20 million more hectares of land for food and energy plantations, including for rice cultivation, will expand deforestation in Papua, with has the largest remaining natural forests in Indonesia.

Aside from asking the European Union Commission to maximise the use of the EUDR to stop the rate of deforestation and protect indigenous peoples in Papua, representatives of the civil society organisations also asked the UN Human Rights Council and other related bodies to investigate whether the situation in West Papua is a violation of Indonesia's international human rights obligations.

Furthermore, they support Indonesia finding sustainable ways to increase food and energy security, including increasing agricultural productivity in existing land, reducing food waste, and prioritising the use of degraded land for expansion.

[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Organisasi Masyarakat Sipil Adukan Deforestasi di Papua ke Uni Eropa".]

Source: https://www.kompas.id/artikel/organisasi-masyarakat-sipil-adukan-deforestasi-di-papua-ke-uni-eropa