136 individuals and organisations endorse joint statement on World Bank palm oil strategy
25 May 2010

AMAN members formed part of a group of over 136 indigenous peoples’ organisations, oil palm smallholders, NGOs and individuals who called on the World Bank to think carefully before it rushes back into funding palm oil developments.
 

Maps send a message to proposed development on indigenous territories
12 May 2010

Indigenous peoples in Indonesia are mapping their territories to defend their rights in the face of wholesale concessions granted for mining, forestry and other schemes. Indigenous peoples are not recognised under Indonesian law, and subsequently, their rights are often overlooked in favour of business and government interests.
Undertaken by the Ancestral Domain Registration Agency (Badan Registrasi Wilayah Adat - BRWA) under the auspices of AMAN in cooperation with Forest Watch Indonesia (FWI) and the Indonesian Community Mapping Network for Participatory Mapping (JKPP), the scheme is mapping the ancestral territories of indigenous communities all over Indonesia.
 

AMAN calls on UN to investigate “structural and systematic genocide” in Papua
28 April 2010

AMAN called on the Ninth Session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues to investigate the proposed Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE) in Papua, describing the Indonesian Government’s plans as “unacceptable” and akin to “structural and systematic genocide”.
 

Palm oil expansion on indigenous territory must stop
6 April 2010

AMAN and other leading Indonesian NGOs have intensified calls for a moratorium on the expansion of palm oil plantations, which is often on indigenous land leading to conflict and human rights abuses.
 

AMAN calls for ‘Free, Prior and Informed Consent’ in REDD schemes
15 March 2010

AMAN called on the Indonesian Government, International Financial Institutions and private sector players to uphold principles of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) when considering REDD schemes on indigenous peoples’ customary land at a seminar in Jakarta in March.

AMAN’s 11th birthday: Sovereignty, Sufficiency, Dignity for Indigenous People
17 March 2010

AMAN used its 11th birthday celebrations to strengthen calls for recognition of indigenous peoples’ rights in Indonesian law in order to end discriminatory practices and human rights abuses, at a major event held in Medan.

Indonesian NGOs criticize biofuel plantations & REDD
March 23rd, 2009

United Nations criticises Indonesia’s response to Forests and Climate Change: Expansion of biofuels plantations and plans to market forest carbon fail to respect indigenous peoples’ rights

In a statement made public on 18 March 2009, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination strongly criticises Indonesia for failing to respect indigenous peoples' rights in relation to oil palm plantations. Oil palm converts existing forests into plantations, in part for the production of biofuels, a process that has resulted in massive forest loss in Indonesia. The Committee also raised concerns about a draft regulation on Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD). The latter envisages the government handing out forest concessions to companies for the capture of carbon much as logging concessions have been handed out in the past, and is proposed as a measure to mitigate climate change by reducing pressure on forests.
 

Toward cultural Sovereignty
Mansour Fakih
Indigenous peoples are under siege

For the first time in our history, we are witnessing unprecedented shift of our global political economy that affect the livelihood of indigenous peoples. It is a changing of global mode of production system, from state-led subsidiary and price stabilization economic system, to free competition in trade and agriculture production. It is a trading that concentrated on the co modification of food as a globalized system, such as protection policies through the establishment of Agreement on Agriculture, which involves patent system and other policies of integrating our agriculture into global trade system is basically a new threat to the history of traditional agriculture where most of indigenous people depend on.

Recommendations regarding a bilateral cooperation between Norway and Indonesia on REDD

The Government of Norway has recently entered into dialogue with the Government of Indonesia on a potential bilateral cooperation on REDD. Deforestation in Indonesia is one of the world’s highest, with an annual deforestation rate of two percent. The deforestation of carbon rich peat forests contributes significantly to the emissions. Norway initiated talks with Indonesia after Indonesia’s President Yudhoyono in September 2009 pledged to reduce the country’s green house gas emissions with 26 % by 2020 compared to business as usual. The vast majority of the reductions are to come from the forestry sector.