On the International Day of Action on Big Biomass, EPN’s Biomass Action Network Asia-Pacific working group published a report on Indonesia’s Gorontalo forests and how they are being destroyed for the expansion of the biomass energy industry. This report was the work of Trend Asia, Solutions for Our Climate, Global Environmental Forum, Friends of the […]
Read MoreFormer Toba Pulp Lestari director suspect in US$ 113.3 million transfer pricing corruption case Jakarta, October 16, 2026 — Indonesia’s Attorney General’s Office has named Anwar Lawden, a former director and corporate secretary of the pulp & paper company PT Toba Pulp Lestari (TPL), as a suspect in an alleged transfer pricing corruption […]
Read MoreA call to immediately stop the heavy machinery At the opening of the International Sustainability Forum (ISF) in Jakarta on 6 October, Special Presidential Envoy Hashim Djojohadikusumo and Mari Pangestu announced that the Indonesian government would no longer expand ‘food estates’ in forest areas and would end deforestation for the expansion of food and […]
Read MoreA new spatial analysis by the Indonesian NGO WALHI Papua, suggests that the recent surge in fire hotspots across South Papua is far from accidental. Instead, the data points to a clear pattern: most hotspots are concentrated in areas designated for the government’s “Food Estate program” and within concessions linked to National Strategic Projects (PSN). […]
Read MoreHow voluntary commitments are used — and abused It is now official: after more than a decade of presenting itself as a deforestation-free company, the pulp and paper giant Asia Pacific Resources International Limited (APRIL) has effectively abandoned its own sustainability policy. APRIL’s Sustainable Forest Management Policy (SFMP 2.0) emerged in response to years of […]
Read MoreIn today’s global economy, sustainability sells. Corporations proudly promote “deforestation-free” commitments, and consumers increasingly expect ethical sourcing behind their everyday products. What happens when those claims don’t match reality? A recent investigation by The Gecko Project exposes a troubling pattern: major corporations may be maintaining clean reputations on paper while quietly benefiting from environmental destruction […]
Read MoreA troubling pattern of criminalizing forest defenders is once again unfolding in Indonesia. While large-scale deforestation continues in West Kalimantan, a traditional leader who sought to protect his community’s ancestral forest now finds himself facing criminal charges. Tarsisius Fendy Sesupi, the traditional leader of the Indigenous village of Lelayang (Kualan Hilir, West Kalimantan, Indonesia), recently […]
Read MoreOn January 20, 2026, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto ordered the revocation of business permits for 28 companies operating in Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra. The decision followed catastrophic floods and landslides that struck Sumatra in late 2025, killing at least 1,200 people, leaving 143 missing, and forcing more than 114,000 to flee their homes. […]
Read MoreOn Tuesday, December 9, the West Kalimantan police tried to forcibly arrest Mr. Tarsisius Fendy Sesupi, the Traditional Head of Lelayang Hamlet, Kualan Hilir Village, Simpang Hulu District, Ketapang Regency, West Kalimantan, Indonesia. For years, the community has resisted the encroachment on its customary land and the deforestation—largely illegal—carried out by the logging company PT […]
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