Indonesia sustainability monitor · English summaries of English and Bahasa reporting
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Adat land claims, national strategic projects and communities near industry.
Speakers from the Moi and other communities described losing forest access. Officials said 12 customary-law communities in Papua have been formally recognised, with dozens of claims still under review.
Why it matters: Recognition of adat forests is the slow legal track running underneath every land conflict in Papua.
Speaking at an Earth Day protest outside parliament, WALHI pointed to the Merauke sugarcane project as an example of forests and livelihoods lost to state-backed development.
Twelve representatives from Boven Digoel and Merauke filed an administrative objection to the forestry decree reclassifying the land, where they had already applied for customary forest recognition.