Customary rights in APRIL Plantations: Findings from a field study

An independent field study reveals that indigenous peoples in Indonesia lost large parts of their customary territories to a pulp and paper company’s (APRIL) plantations, without having their rights recognised, and without their Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC).

The study, carried out by Forest Peoples Programme and local partners Yayasan Masyarakat Kehutanan Lestari (YMKL) and Bahtera Alam (BA) found that the affected communities have experienced significant harms in terms of lost hunting and fishing areas, and access to sacred lakes, medicinal plants and other forest products. It has also resulted in some benefits, including access to markets, the provision of government services and Corporate Social Responsibility programmes, but the roads that bring these amenities have also opened up their lands to oil palm plantations.

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Since 2014, APRIL has policy commitments to uphold human rights, including the rights of indigenous peoples, and has made public commitments to conform to Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standards and re-enter the certification scheme. This is now possible under new FSC policies, but require APRIL to first provide remedy for social and environmental harms associated with prior deforestation in accordance with FSC’s newly adopted Remedy Framework. APRIL is currently applying a conflict resolution procedure to address land disputes, but this does not yet address communities with customary rights.

FPP, YMKL and BA have engaged in a dialogue with APRIL to explore how the company can apply its own policies, in conformity with FSC standards and policies and in line with international human rights law, to respect indigenous peoples’ customary rights.

The affected communities welcome APRIL’s recent commitments to provide remedy, and seek to recover their rights to their lands and negotiate agreements with the pulp and paper company based on respect for their rights.

Context: 

By international law, indigenous peoples have collective rights to their customary lands and territories, as well as the right to restitution and remedy when their land was taken without their Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC). These rights must be upheld by businesses, even if the country where they are carrying out business does not formally recognise them.

Although Indonesia has ratified and endorsed the main international human rights instruments, and the Constitution upholds customary rights, implementing laws are deficient. In practice, most indigenous peoples’ territorial and land rights have not yet been effectively recognised and protected. Without seeking to engage with – let alone seek consent from – the indigenous peoples who live there, the government has handed out extensive areas of land to businesses, resulting in widespread land conflicts.