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Indonesia

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.

The Neglectful State

DTE 99-100, October 2014

By Mia Siscawati[1]

This article was prepared for the National Commission for Human Rights as part of its 2014 National Inquiry into the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to their Territories in the Forest Zone.[2] DTE’s translation was done with kind permission of the author, and with her assistance.

Indigenous Women decision-makers

DTE 99-100, October 2013

Too often indigenous women are prevented from making key decision for themselves, leaving them powerless to ensure gender-related injustices which directly affect them, their families and their communities are understood and addressed.

Solidaritas Perempuan: Gender and Natural Resources

DTE 99-100, October 2014

The following article is based on a discussion with Solidaritas Perempuan (SP) in July 2014, with some additional information by DTE.

Participatory Mapping: presenting in full information on the management of indigenous territories

DTE 99-100, October 2014

DTE asks Kasmita Widodo, director of the Ancestral Domain Registration Agency (BRWA[1]), about his experience of gender in participatory mapping with indigenous communities in Indonesia.

BHP Billiton's Indomet Project; Digging deep into the Heart of Borneo

Joint briefing by WDM, LMN, WALHI, FoE Australia and DTE

October 2014

For centuries, the indigenous Dayak peoples of Indonesian Borneo lived from the abundant forests and rivers that blanketed the
region. Now, BHP Billiton is planning to build a series of massive coal mines that would destroy primary rainforest, deprive indigenous peoples of their customary land, and pollute water sources relied on by up to 1 million people.

Click on the link below for the full text.

Indonesia on the front line:impacts of biofuel expansion for people, forests and climate

Joint briefing by Down to Earth, 11.11.11, Friends of the Earth Europe, Watch Indonesia!, Sawit Watch, Lembaga Gemawan and Rettet den Regenwald.

October 2014

Peasants' long fight to roll back palm oil land grab in Indonesia

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.