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DTE's quarterly newsletter provides information on ecological justice in Indonesia.

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DTE publications

Peoples Plantations': help or hindrance in tackling deforestation?

Down to Earth No. 74, August 2007


Indonesia's forestry department is allocating millions of hectares of land to a new scheme aimed at increasing the supply for wood for the pulp and timber industries, as well as tackling poverty. But serious flaws with the 'peoples plantations' programme are raising concerns that the scheme could do more harm than good.


Indonesia's forestry department announced target figures for 'Peoples Plantations' (Hutan Tanaman Rakyat - HTR) in February this year.

In brief... DTE 72 - March 2007

Down to Earth No. 72 March 2007

CGI creditor group disbanded

Indonesia's creditor group, the Consultative Group on Indonesia, has been disbanded after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said it was no longer needed. The January announcement was officially welcomed the World Bank, former CGI chair and one of Indonesia's three main creditors alongside the Asian Development Bank and Japan.

Agrarian Reform: is it really pro-poor?

Down to Earth No. 72 March 2007

More than 5 years since the MPR Decree IX/2001 was passed (see DTE 52), it seems that agrarian reform is eventually going to see the light of the day. In his postponed New Year State Address at the end of January, President Yudhoyono announced that the long overdue Agrarian Reform Program or PPAN, will take place in 2007, adhering to principle 'Land for justice and welfare of the people'.

Sidoardjo mud keeps flowing

Down to Earth No. 72 March 2007

The arrival of heavy monsoon rains in Java has made life even more miserable for the thousands of people affected by the East Java mudflow disaster (see DTE 71). The Sidoardjo mudflow, referred to in Indonesian as 'Lumpur Sidoardjo', or simply 'Lusi', which first erupted in May 2006, continues unabated. It has displaced thousands of people, yet, despite overwhelming evidence of criminal negligence, the government has not taken legal action over the disaster.

A nuclear future?

Down to Earth No. 72 March 2007

The Indonesian government is putting in place arrangements to develop its highly controversial nuclear power programme - starting with a reactor on the Muria peninsula in densely populated Central Java.

In December 2006, Indonesia made an agreement with South Korea which paves the way for cooperation on Indonesia's nuclear power programme.

East Java mudflow disaster

Down to Earth No. 71, November 2006


Thousands of people have been forced from their homes since May 29th, when hot mud started spurting from the ground near a gas exploration well in Sidoardjo, East Java. Over the following weeks, villages were submerged, farmland was ruined, businesses and schools closed and livelihoods lost, as the mud inundated the surrounding area. The government has done little to help, although the mud continues to flow, perhaps because the company responsible was owned by a senior member of the government.

Disaster tourism in Sidoardjo

Down to Earth No. 71, November 2006


The following account is by a member of DTE's staff who visited Sidoardjo in October.


Disasters can become tourist attractions and that's what has happened at the Sidoardjo mudflow in East Java.

The hot mud, which has now inundated the villages of Siring, Jatirejo, Renolenongo, Kedungbendo, Mindi, Kedungcangkring, Besuki and Pejarakan, has been turned into a new source of livelihood by some local people.