Harapan Rainforest conservation project urged to respect forest peoples' rights

Following sustained efforts to persuade the international rainforest conservation project to respect forest peoples' rights, local NGO Scale Up and Forest Peoples Programme have written a joint letter to the project managers (PT REKI) requesting effective follow up on their commitment to have mediated dialogues with the affected communities. The project, an Ecological Restoration permit issued in an old logging concession, overlaps the lands of forest peoples locally known as Batin Sembilan. The project has received support from international development agencies and organisations such as BirdLife International. To date the Batin Sembilan have not had an effective voice in the management of the scheme and disputes have arisen between the communities and the project managers. Despite promises by project staff to seek a mediated solution based on respect for the peoples' prior rights, there has been little progress on the ground. Scale Up and FPP urge the project to respect the forest peoples' rights and find a solution to the present dispute.

Scale Up and Forest Peoples Programme Letter to PT Restorasi Ekosistem Konservasi Indonesia (PT REKI) in English and Bahasa Indonesia