The people of Aru have a long history of tenurial conflicts, fighting against large-scale land investment plans that threaten their living spaces. Since the 1990s, communities have faced corporations exploiting forests and fish resources in Aru. In 2013, the communities strongly refused the plans to make sugarcane plantation which covers almost 70% of Aru’s land area. Finally, in 2018, the permit for the largest cattle ranch in Indonesia, around 61,000 hectares in South Aru, also received a rejection response from the community.
Currently, all of these threats have returned in various new forms and faces. In 2021, PT Wana Sejahtera Abadi reactivated [1] natural forest utilization permits (PBPH-HA) covering an area of 54,560 hectares on the small islands of Wokam and Woham, Aru Islands. There are four districts affected by this company’s activities: Aru Utara Timur Batuley District (Kobamar and Kompane villages), Sir-Sir District (Bardefan and Goda-Goda villages), Pulau-Pulau Aru District (Gorar, Lau-Lau, Tungu, Tunguwatu, and Nafar villages), and Aru Tengah District (Selibata-Bata and Wakua villages). PT Wana Sejahtera Abadi has received strong resistance from the Aru community, so the company’s activities have not operated since the permit was issued in 2012.
In addition, in June 2022, the Maluku Provincial Government issued recommendation letters for PBPH permits for two companies with a total concession area of around 191,955 hectares [2]. PT Bumi Lestari International and PT Alam Subur Indonesia are subsidiaries of Muller Karbon Kapital, part of the large holding company Melchor Group Indonesia or Melchor Tiara Pratama (MTP) [3]. This company is trying to develop a carbon trading project called the Cendrawasih Aru Project, covering an area of 591,957 hectares [4].
Between September 2022 and April 2023, PT Wana Sejahtera Abadi and Melchor Group continued to make field visits to villages in Aru that were within their concession areas. The impact of these visits has caused unrest in the community with the potential for conflict. The two companies also did not conduct honest and transparent socialization with the community.
In November 2022, PT WSA visited Tunguwatu village. WSA officials asked for permission from the petuanan landowning clan of the Gorfan clan in Tungu Watu village. They borrowed a plot of land 50 x 50 meters to create a seedling nursery for nutmeg plants. There was no socialization from WSA regarding forest utilization permits and operational plans for the community. The landowning community was only asked to sign documents without being explained beforehand about the contents of the documents.
It was also the case with Melchor Group. Since their initial arrival in the Aru Islands in 2022, there has been no socialization about carbon trading to the community. Melchor only spoke about plans for mangrove crab and seaweed farming in several villages in Aru Tengah, Aru Tengah Timur, and Aru Utara Timur districts [5]. Only after the recommendation letter for PBPH permits was issued from the governor did the community finally express their rejection of the Melchor Group [6]. In fact, in March 2023, the community rejected the presence of Melchor’s expert team conducting an environmental impact assessment.
Currently, the wave of rejection of the presence of the two companies continues to grow in the Aru community. In early November 2023, representatives of the Aru Community submitted rejection letters from the affected villages to the Ministry of Environment and Forestry. Similarly, activists from the #SaveAru coalition consider this to be a plan to destroy forests and seize the customary land rights of the indigenous people of Aru.
To learn more about the root causes of the waves of forest threats in the small islands of Aru and its impacts on the indigenous people living in Aru, please read and download the documents below.
Editor Notes:
- PT Wana Sejahtera Abadi previously obtained a permit in 2012 and did not operate. In 2021, PT WSA renewed the permit.
- Governor of Maluku’s Recommendation Letter No. 522/1671, 1672, 1673, 1674 regarding the application letter for forest utilization permits in Aru Islands Regency. June 20, 2022.
- https://www.melchorgroup.co.id/
- https://www.roxi.earth/en/carbon-information
- The list of villages visited by the Melchor Group includes Lorang, Juring, Batu Goyang, Kumul, Karaway, Koba Selfara, Manjau, and Warloy.
- Based on the rejection letter from the community in the Fanaan indigenous group on August 10, 2023.