Focus

Indonesia is a major producer of palm oil in the world, with palm oil produced from 8.4 million hectares of plantations in 2010. The Indonesian Government has planned to expand oil palm plantations to reach an 60% increase in production by 2020 to meet the increasing global demand. 18 million hectares of land have been identified and are planned for the expansion of oil palm plantations.

In recent years, the palm oil industry has attracted the attention of a broad audience because of its adverse impact on the environment caused by the conversion of forests and peatlands. The existence of oil palm plantations is also considered to have caused negative social impacts as a result of land conflicts and conflicts between companies and local communities and indigenous peoples.

Expansion of palm oil plantations is suspected to increase the incidence of land conflicts. This can be seen from the trend of land conflict in 2012, namely that more than half of 232 agrarian conflicts were related to the palm oil industry. In 2014, 591 land conflicts recorded in 22 provinces and 143 districts were also linked to palm oil plantations.¹ The number of communities in Indonesia involved in palm oil also increased, from 200 communities in 2004 to 680 in 2013.²