Indonesia has great natural wealth but many of its citizens live in extreme poverty. Democratic progress has been made since the resigation of former president Suharto in 1998, but many civil society organisations feel that far too little progress has been made towards sustainable management of the country's resources, and ensuring that Indonesia's diverse communities have a real say in decisions which affect their future.
By Yuliana Langowuyo, director of SKPKC Fransiskan Papua, who has been visiting the community in Susun Village at least once a month since 2011 to carry out research and provide assistance.
Guest article by GRAIN. This article was first published in January 2014 on GRAIN’s website, www.grain.org
DTE 98, March 2014
Sudarmin Paliba stands on a hillside, looking down through row upon row of oil palm trees. "This is where we had our fruit trees, and at the bottom we grew paddy rice," he says.
A crucial vote on biofuels in the European Parliament on September 11th 2013 has failed to fix a flawed policy which is driving deforestation, landgrabbing and human rights abuse, while undermining communities' food sovereignty in producer countries like Indonesia.
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