Campaigners from EIA are this week returning to the beleaguered forest community of Muara Tae in Indonesia’s East Kalimantan province, where villagers are attempting to take a stand against devastating encroachment by palm oil plantations
Sascha Von Bismarck, an investigator based in EIA’s US office, joins forces with a scientist to pose as a timber buyer and investigate whether there is a link between the endangered lemurs, illegal logging and expensive guitars in the USA
Environmental crime is recognised by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime as the third largest form of global crime, accounting for at least $3.5 billion a year. It exacerbates deforestation and climate change, threatens the existence of endangered species and affects the livelihoods of rural communities.
Last year, EIA and Telapak broke the news of how villagers in Indonesia’s East Kalimantan province found themselves in direct conflict with palm oil company’s bulldozers in an ongoing land rights dispute. Now the profile of the situation has been raised considerably by a report on Al Jazeera from Step Vaessen
Villagers in Indonesia’s East Kalimantan province are squaring off against palm oil company’s bulldozers in an ongoing land rights dispute which some observers fear may become violent. PT Munte Waniq Jaya Perkasa has moved into the forests around Muara Tae, and has started clearing land for palm oil production
Ambrosius Ruwindrijarto, President of EIA's Indonesian partner Telapak, describes a local community's struggle to protect its forests. Despite local opposition, Palm Oil company PT Munte Waniq Jaya Perkasa has entered the forest of the Muara Tae village in Indonesia and has started clearing land with bulldozers.