TAKE ACTION to save Indonesia's indigenous peoples in the Kalmantan Forest
19.05.12
When a neighbouring community sold their land to major palm oil companies, the people of Muara Tae didn't imagine that it would one day lead to the devastation of their own land, land that they are determined not to sell. However, after the clearance of surrounding land, the mining company started moving into the Dayak community territory and have claimed over half of the 10 thousand hectares of land. Backed by the police and army, the mining companies are stronger and more powerful than the tribe can handle.
According to Indonesian law, traditional communities are allowed to keep their ancestral forest if they can prove their long rights. In a recent film clip by Al Jazeera, Hadi Daryanto from the Indonesian Forestry Ministry said, ‘If the provisional government has recognised this forest as an ancestral forest, it means the government can take ownership on behalf of the community so nobody is allowed to sell these trees anymore. The government can intervene and tell the companies to stop working.'
Source: The Ecologist