- The Indonesian company PT Mayawana Persada has shifted focus from clearing peatlands in western Borneo to planting acacia on previously cleared lands in defiance of a government order to restore damaged peatlands.
- The lands are home to the critically endangered Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus), and any habitat loss pushes the animal closer to extinction.
- Mayawana Persada’s concession spans nearly 140,000 hectares (345,900 acres), overlapping with more than 83,000 hectares (205,100 acres) of carbon-rich peatlands and more than 90,000 hectares (222,400 acres) of Bornean orangutan habitat.
JAKARTA — The Indonesian company responsible for the largest amount of deforestation, PT Mayawana Persada, has largely ceased clearing peatlands in the western part of Borneo. However, it has shifted focus to planting acacia trees on previously cleared peatlands, defying a government directive to halt activities and rehabilitate degraded land.
Environmental activists warn that the company’s actions pose ongoing threats to the critically endangered Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus), whose habitats overlap significantly with the concession.
The Ministry of Environment and Forestry issued a directive on March 28, 2024, ordering Mayawana Persada to stop logging in its pulpwood concession and focus on restoring damaged peatlands. Despite this, the company has continued planting acacia trees on cleared peatlands, including in areas designated as protected.
“The forestry ministry should act tougher by ordering Mayawana Persada to halt all activities and begin rehabilitating the damaged land,” said Andi Muttaqien, executive director of the environmental NGO Satya Bumi.
Satellite imagery and field visits by Satya Bumi revealed young acacia trees planted in areas like Padu Banjar and Sungai Mata-Mata villages. Analysis in September 2024 also detected heavy machinery building canals in the Sungai Mata-Mata village, supporting further planting activities.
The age of the acacia trees indicate that the planting was done after the forestry ministry had ordered Mayawana Persada to halt activities, according to Restu Diantina Putri, a communication strategist from Satya Bumi who made the visit.
The latest satellite imagery analysis also found 57 hectares (140 acres) of cleared forests indicated to be prepared for planting soon in two different areas.
Herry Purnomo, a senior scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), said that peatland protected for conservation purposes should be restored with multiple species of plants, not just acacia trees.
And if the cultivated peatland in Mayawana Persada’s concession is zoned for production, then the planting shouldn’t be done in deep peatland that’s rich in carbon, he added.
“So it has to be made clear which areas [in the concession] are zoned for restoration so that they are planted with local and multiple species of trees, and which are zoned for pulp and paper production,” Herry told Mongabay.
Legacy of deforestation
The ministry issued the directive on the back of numerous NGO and media reports on Mayawana Persada’s deforestation activities.
Mayawana Persada has consistently ranked as the highest deforester among other industrial forest concessions in Indonesia in recent years.
Since 2021, Mayawana Persada has converted 33,070 hectares (81,718 acres) of rainforest to monoculture pulpwood plantations, an area nearly half the size of Singapore, a report alleged.
The company continued to clear forest in the first few weeks after the government’s stop-work order, with 434 hectares (1,072 acres) cleared.
Since mid-2024, the company has mostly ceased large-scale deforestation. But limited clearing of 6 hectares (15 acres) still occurred, according to a satellite analysis by U.S.-based Mighty Earth.
Environmental and biodiversity impacts
While Mayawana Persada has largely upheld the government’s order to cease forest clearing, this alone is not enough, Andi said.
Mayawana Persada should also focus on restoring parts of its concession that’s already been cleared, as ordered by the forestry ministry, he added.
Rehabilitating peatlands that have already been destroyed is particularly important, as the concession is a critical ecosystem for biodiversity and climate.
Mayawana Persada’s concession spans nearly 140,000 hectares (345,900 acres), overlapping with more than 83,000 hectares (205,100 acres) of carbon-rich peatlands.
The concession also includes more than 90,000 hectares (222,400 acres) of critical habitat for the Bornean orangutan, whose survival depends on intact forests.
With fewer than 100,000 Bornean orangutans remaining in the wild, any habitat loss pushes the species closer to extinction.
“If you remove enough forest [in Mayawana Persada’s concession] you might see a pretty rapid decline in the orangutan population,” said Caitlin O’Connell, deputy director of the Gunung Palung Orangutan Conservation Program, as quoted by The Gecko Project. “You’re not only removing their resources, you’re also shifting their social dynamics in ways that are potentially very deadly.”
Villager testimonies further illustrate the impact. Residents of Sungai Mata-Mata village reported that orangutans have been forced to venture into plantations and backyards in search of food. “The villagers had rarely seen orangutans before Mayawana Persada started clearing. Now, they see them in their plantations every few weeks,” said Restu from Satya Bumi.
Additionally, the extensive deforestation has been linked to severe flooding in Ketapang district, where parts of Mayawana Persada’s concession are located.
At the end of November 2024, heavy rains caused significant flooding in nearby hamlets, displacing residents and damaging crops. Activists argue that the clearing of peatlands, which naturally absorb and regulate rainwater, exacerbated the disaster.
“We suspect the floods to be caused by large-scale deforestation in Mayawana Persada’s concession,” Andi said.
A call for accountability
To address these issues, Satya Bumi and other NGOs are calling for tougher government action, including halting all activities by Mayawana Persada until comprehensive rehabilitation begins.
“Mayawana Persada should be responsible for the impact of its activities,” said Hendrikus Adam, the director of the West Kalimantan chapter of Walhi, the country’s largest green group.
And given the massive environmental impact already caused by the company, the government should also review Mayawana Persada’s licenses, he added.
“The social and ecological crisis caused by the presence of Mayawana Persada should’ve been followed by courageous action by the government to evaluate the concession owner,” Hendrikus said.
Mongabay reached out to Mayawana Persada for clarification on these findings but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
Banner image: An orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Image by Moses Ceaser/CIFOR via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).
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