In a remote, forested region of Indonesia’s Papua province, the indigenous Awyu tribe is engaged in a high-stakes legal battle against major palm oil companies over the fate of their ancestral lands.
At the center of the dispute is a vast 270,000-hectare palm oil concession bloc, divided into seven separate concessions. Three of these concessions are now being legally contested by the Awyu people in the Indonesian Supreme Court.
The Awyu people, represented by Hendrikus ‘Franky’ Woro, are fighting against a 36,000-hectare concession granted to PT Indo Asiana Lestari (IAL). They claim this land, which includes the graves of their ancestors, is under their customary ownership.
Alongside the IAL case, other Awyu members are also seeking to revoke the permits of two other palm oil companies, PT Kartika Cipta Pratama and PT Megakarya Jaya Raya, which hold concessions within the larger bloc.
The legal battle carries high stakes, not only for the Awyu people’s way of life, but also for the environment. Lawyers argue that clearing the Awyu’s ancestral rainforest would release approximately 23 million tonnes of environmentally harmful carbon dioxide.
The Awyu’s fight represents a key “indigenous-climate nexus” in Indonesia, a country that has pledged to both protect its lucrative $30 billion palm oil export industry and improve governance amid allegations of deforestation and human rights abuses.
The Supreme Court’s upcoming verdict, expected this month, will set an important precedent in this complex tug-of-war over land rights and environmental protection.