Translated by Jennifer Di Giacomo
While Indonesia is still mourning the victims of the recent and devastating floods in Sumatra, Jakarta government has launched a massive deforestation operation in Papua for an ambitious state-led agricultural project. The news paints a picture of deep contradiction: on the one hand, during the National Teachers’ Day commemoration on November 28th, the president spoke in favour of preventing forest destruction and emphasized how crucial forest protection is; on the other hand, his actions involve the direct participation of the military in the conversion of millions of hectares of pristine forest.
A colossal project under military oversight
At the heart of the government’s strategy is the creation of a so-called “food estate” in the province of Papua, aimed at ensuring food and energy security for the world’s fourth most populous nation. The plan envisions the cultivation of rice and sugarcane across an area of 3 million hectares. The most controversial aspect concerns the active role of the armed forces: five battalions have been deployed to the region to support operations, with soldiers—according to local testimonies and videos circulating on social media—directly operating heavy machinery to fell trees. Although the Ministry of Defence claims that the military presence is solely intended to guarantee the security of a strategic national project, Indigenous communities report land expropriations and a climate of intimidation caused by the presence of armed soldiers, which, according to Ambrosius Mulait, a researcher at Pusaka, prevents residents from freely exercising their right to protest.
According to the Financial Times, in Indonesia’s South Papua region about 50,000 Indigenous people live in 40 villages across a territory exceeding one million hectares. However, the construction of a 135-km road and the plan to convert nearly 1.2 million hectares into rice paddies threaten the habitat and livelihoods of almost 80% of these communities.
This acceleration in deforestation appears paradoxical when compared with the disasters that have struck other parts of the country. In recent weeks alone, Indonesia has recorded more than 1,000 victims due to floods and landslides, particularly in Sumatra. Scientists are unanimous: the loss of forest cover has eliminated the land’s “sponge effect,” making monsoon rains—whose intensity has increased by up to 50% due to global warming—catastrophic events.
Beyond the global climate impact, with estimated CO₂ emissions from the project potentially exceeding 600 million tons, there is a concrete risk of ecological and economic failure. Experts and organizations such as The TreeMap warn that the wetlands of southern Papua have highly acidic soils, making them unsuitable for rice cultivation. A previous similar project on the island of Borneo was abandoned precisely because of soil unsuitability, after vast areas of forest had already been destroyed.
The current project threatens protected areas, nature reserves, and the habitat of endemic species such as tree kangaroos and rare birds. The companies involved, including the mining giant Jhonlin Group, have already come under scrutiny from international markets: some global food producers have suspended these companies from their supplier lists due to their involvement in the Papua project.
Ultimately, Indonesia stands at a dramatic crossroads: the pursuit of food sovereignty through intensive agricultural models risks destroying the country’s last great frontier of biodiversity, thereby exacerbating the very climate crisis that is already claiming hundreds of lives across its provinces.
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