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Oil palm in Latin America: monoculture and violence

The rapid expansion of oil palm plantations across #SouthAmerica is causing significant environmental, economic and social problems. This growth is leading to #deforestation, #landgrabbing displacement of #indigenous and farming communities, and increased militarised and police #violence, particularly affecting Indigenous and Afro-descendant populations. Despite the global demand for #palmoil, the consequences of its production on peasant communities in South and Central America are raising serious questions about its viability and #humanrights rigour.

In this in-depth @GRAIN_org report, understand the #landgrabbing #violence and abuses in #palmoil #agribusiness in #SouthAmerica #LatinAmerica. Resist every time you shop #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🧐⛔ #HumanRights #LandRights @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-9cD

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Originally published by GRAIN. Republished under the Creative Commons Attribution Licence, read original.

The global oil palm craze

Oil palm plantations are rapidly gaining ground in Latin America, driving communities from their lands and causing deforestation, violence, and poverty.

Global production of palm oil has increased by almost 600% from 14.72 million tonnes in 1994 to 80.58 million tonnes in 2021. The cultivation area has also expanded drastically from 7.86 million hectares in 1994 to 28.91 million hectares in 2021. [1] The multiple uses of palm oil, together with its relatively low price, are factors that have driven constant demand, despite the problems and conflicts in peasant, Indigenous and Afro-descendant territories.

Figure 1: Global oil palm production and cultivation area (in millions of tonnes and hectares) in Latin America and worldwide (1994 – 2021)

Source: FAO, 2024 [2]. Production: GRAIN

Consumption of palm oil has increased over the last 30 years from 2% to 41% of total oil production worldwide, replacing soybean oil as the most consumed vegetable oil in the world. [3] This demand is due, in particular, to large food corporations seeking cheaper raw materials to manufacture ultra-processed products and agrofuels. In other words, demand for this oil is linked to profits, rather than providing people with healthy nutrition.

The industry continues to seek land to expand cultivation. This expansion is only possible in certain tropical areas with abundant rainfall. With 84% of palm oil production concentrated in Malaysia and Indonesia, and with a shortage of land to expand cultivation, the industry has been seeking new horizons. [4] Latin America and West Africa have become the new areas for expansion.

Figure 2: Top producing countries of palm oil as of December 2023 in metric tonnes.

Source: USDA, 2024 [5]. Production: GRAIN

Almost without exception, palm plantations lead to extreme poverty and an increase in violence. [6] In many cases, companies promote the expansion of plantations on land that encroaches on areas where communities have built their livelihoods on farming and other subsistence activities. Some of the impacts of these plantations include mass deforestation, illegal land grabbing, pollution, destruction of water sources and loss of land for subsistence farming. Moreover, women bear a disproportionate share of its consequences, and are now the main victims of this monoculture production model. [7]

Despite this, governments and corporations promote these plantations based on a series of false promises, such as job creation in rural areas, an increase in income for peasant communities, better infrastructure such as schools and health centres, among others. In most cases, these promises never come to fruition. [8]

Expansion of palm oil in Latin America

In this region, the area covered by palm plantations has continued to grow, particularly since 2000. Currently, the top palm-producing countries in the region are Colombia, Honduras, Guatemala, Brazil, and Ecuador. [9]

Figure 3: Tonnes and hectares of palm oil production in Latin America’s top producing countries in 2021

Source: FAO, 2024 [10]. Production: GRAIN

Moreover, palm oil exports from Latin America primarily go to the European Union, the United States and Mexico, to be used by large transnational corporations in the production of ultra-processed foods.

Table 1. Export destinations of the top oil palm producing countries in Latin America in 2022

European UnionUnited StatesLatin AmericaOthersColombia41.70%4.90%48.80%4.60%Guatemala67.10%0%31.90%0.01Honduras53.80%19.30%26.80%0.001Brazil53.60%9.30%30.30%6.80%Ecuador13.80%17.10%66.80%2.30%

* Most of the exports to Latin America are sent to Mexico for the production of ultra-processed foods, which has expanded in recent decades with the signing of NAFTA.
Source: Trade Map, 2024 [11]. Production: GRAIN

Colombia is the leading oil palm producer in Latin America. It has close to 500,000 hectares. These plantations and their expansion are located in areas where armed groups are present in the country. [12]

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Oil palm monocultures in Colombia tend to be dominated by large landowners. In many cases, they have expanded their plantations by displacing thousands of peasants from their lands, using violence and intimidation. In the Tumaco region, for example, it has been documented that landowners have seized peasant land through intimidation, legal trickery, and the corruption of local authorities. [13] A large number of palm-growing companies were established in conflict areas during the years of armed violence in the country. Oil palm cultivation has been linked to paramilitary groups and identified as causing acts of violence against peasants in the regions in which they operate. [14]

Many of the impacts caused by palm oil companies affect Indigenous territories. For example, the Sikuani people, who suffered various forms of violence due to the internal armed conflict, were ultimately displaced from their land by a palm oil company. This forced the Sikuanis to change their way of life. The loss of land to grow their own food led to displacement of members of the Sikuani people to surrounding urban areas, where they suffer from hunger and overcrowding. [15]

The most recent land grab in Colombia also involved palm oil companies, such as the Italian-Spanish company, Polygrow, which recently seized thousands of hectares to expand its oil palm plantations. [16] Land grabbing by palm agribusiness often occurs with the backing of favourable public policies, little state oversight and through violence and threats to peasants and Indigenous peoples.

In Ecuador, oil palm cultivation accounts for 4% of the agricultural Gross Domestic Product. Palm plantations have grown at an average annual rate of 8%, making it the country’s seventh largest agricultural export. [17]

Today there are almost 152,000 hectares of oil palm. [18] Large palm oil producers are primarily located in the provinces of Esmeraldas, Sucumbios and Los Rios. [19]

While several Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities, particularly in the province of Esmeraldas, received collective land deeds, legal loopholes have allowed individual deeds to the same land to be sold to palm oil companies, such as Energy & Palma. [20] This has led to at least two land disputes between Afro-Ecuadorian communities and the Energy & Palma company in recent years. [21]

In 2015, thousands of hectares of palm were affected by the outbreak of “bud rot” disease. Small-scale palm growers, who represent the majority of palm plantation owners in Ecuador, were the ones who fell into debt and lost everything. These smallholder farmers had acquired loans, put up their land as collateral and were then unable to sell their produce. Although large companies also lost some of their produce, they did not lose their land and had other economic resources to rely on. [22] They also took advantage of the crisis to buy land at below-market prices and further consolidate their control.

In Bolivia, palm plantations are being fiercely promoted by the government as a way of substituting fuel imports. As regards diesel, a 2022 decree created the “programme to promote the cultivation of oil-producing species”. [23] Its principal aim is to develop oil palm, jatropha and macororó crops for the production of biodiesel. [24]

The Bolivian government intends to expand the plantation area by over 60,000 hectares in the coming years. [25] The national coordination for the defence of Indigenous peasant territories and protected areas of Bolivia (Coordinadora Nacional de Defensa de Territorios Indígenas Originarios Campesinos y Áreas Protegidas de Bolivia) was one of the first organisations to denounce the expansion and impacts of palm monocultures. [26]

In Central America, Guatemala is one of the main producers of palm oil with 210,000 hectares of palm plantations. Numerous conflicts have been reported in the country as a result of this monoculture, mainly due to the displacement of Indigenous and peasant communities from their lands as a result of expansion of these plantations. [27]

In Honduras, almost 210,000 hectares of palm are registered. Palm expansion is taking place on Indigenous and Afro-descendant territories, particularly in Garifuna and Bajo Aguan communities. These communities are subject to violence, harassment, and threats by the military and paramilitary groups with ties to politicians in the country. [28] Oil palm plantations in Honduras benefit from a series of fiscal incentives and pro-expansion policies promoted by powerful groups. [29]

In Nicaragua, there are 35,000 hectares of oil palm. However, the figure is believed to be higher due to unauthorised expansion, with no oversight by local authorities. Many of the existing oil palm companies in Nicaragua have managed to expand plantations illegally, by leasing land to small farmers or through contract farming. They also displace communities and settle on state conservation land without incurring penalties.

Brazil has seen rapid expansion in recent years. Today, there are some 200,000 hectares of palm plantations in the state of Pará, with production currently earmarked for the domestic market. There are expansion plans in other states, for example 120,000 hectares in the municipality of São João de Baliza in the state of Roraima, for the Brazil Biofuel (BBF) project. It is used as an agrofuel in the country. [30]

BBF is the top company in Brazil dedicated to oil palm production. It has been accused of environmental crimes and violence against communities, such as the community of Virgílio Serrão Sacramento, linked to the Small Farmers Movement (Movimiento de Pequeños Agricultores – MPA). [31] For the most part, the company supplies palm oil to multinational food companies.

Companies, transnationals, and banks promoting the expansion of oil palm

In Latin America, companies growing oil palm are generally large family groups that control political and economic aspects of the countries where their plantations are located (see Table 2).

Table 2: Top oil palm producing companies in Latin America

CountryCompanyColombiaCargill, Louis Dreyfus Company, Fedepalma, Palmas y Extractora Monterrey S.A.S, Bunge LimitedHondurasIndustrias Chiquibán, Continental de Grasas, Grupo JaremarEcuadorEnergy & Palma, Palmeras del Ecuador, PALESEMA, Palmeras de los AndesBrazilBBF, Agropalma, AmaggiGuatemalaGrupo Natura, Reforestadora de Palma del Petén, Palmas del IxcánPeruPalmas del Espino, Ocho Sur, Plantaciones de PucallpaEl SalvadorGrupo Sol, Inversiones La Palma, Palmas del Salvador

Production: GRAIN, based on local sources of information available to the public.

A number of these companies have been involved in acts of violence and criminalisation in their countries, such as Energy & Palma in Ecuador, which has prosecuted and intimidated the Afro-Ecuadorian community of Barranquilla de San Javier. [32]

Some of the oil palm expansions in Latin America are financed by the Inter-American Development Bank, which grants a series of loans to expand plantations in countries such as Ecuador, Colombia, and Honduras. [33] Transnational banks such as HSBC and Rabobank offer credit for expansion. [34] Companies that use palm oil also market consumer goods for the palm oil sector and it is estimated that the financial market will invest over one hundred billion dollars in Latin America in the coming years. [35]

The expansion of palm growing and oil processing companies in Latin America is due to the pressure exerted by large transnational food companies, such as Nestlé, Unilever, Mondelez International, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Kellogg’s, Bimbo, Nutresa Group and Cargill. In cosmetics, companies such as L’Oréal, Colgate-Palmolive, Unilever, and Procter & Gamble also contribute to this expansion. Similarly, in the agrofuels sector, companies such as Cargill, BP, Shell, ExxonMobil, AAK, Wilmar, and ADM play a prominent role. Furthermore, large supermarket chains, like Walmart, Carrefour, Cencosud and Grupo Éxito, are also involved in this expansion process.

Conflicts over land

Currently, the expansion of plantations is particularly affecting Mexico, Peru, Nicaragua, and Brazil. The strategy follows the pattern already in place in other Latin American countries: violence and intimidation towards Indigenous, Afro-descendant and peasant communities, land grabbing, deforestation and, in some cases, contract farming.

In Mexico, in the Chiapas region, companies that have large-scale oil palm plantations are causing major deforestation, and intimidating peasant and Indigenous communities in the region. The women of these communities are now organising to speak out about the effects. [36]

In Peru, it has been reported that palm oil companies are expanding into the Amazon, displacing Indigenous peoples by means of threats, violence, and intimidation, as in the case of the Santa Clara de Uchunya Indigenous community. The Shipibo people in Santa Clara have lost a large part of their ancestral land as a result of constant threats and attempts on the lives of their leaders. [37]

In Nicaragua, the PALCASA company expanded its plantations without any checks, or permits granted, by the competent authorities. [38] This expansion took place by displacing peasants from their land, as part of a land grabbing strategy that the company has been implementing in the region.

Other impacts of the oil palm production model

The oil palm production model in Latin America is based on intensive monoculture on large areas of land with significant levels of pesticide use. This model has had severe effects on the environment and peasant farming.

The multiple impacts created throughout this process begin with deforestation (which in some cases involves forest fires to clear the land) and grabbing of peasant and Indigenous lands, through evicting communities by means of violence and intimidation. On many occasions, this is carried out by armed groups.

Furthermore, they are destroying the diverse peasant crops, converting the land into large-scale monocultures plagued by agrotoxins and setting up oil-extracting industries. Soil and water pollution due to the use of large quantities of agrochemicals in plantations affects not only the environment but also the local people who depend on these water sources for their survival. [39] There is also a possible link with the increasing wave of fires leading to deforestation, with subsequent use of this land to cultivate palm plantations.

Some communities give in to the companies’ demands, whereas other resist. [40] The expansion of agro-industrial crops also reduces the living space of local populations, leading to a decrease in hunting and gathering of natural fruits, forcing Indigenous people to buy food of little nutritional value. [41]

It is estimated that in Latin America, palm plantations are replacing 21% of forests and 79% of pasture and staple food growing areas in the region, displacing food production in many countries. [42]

Rapid expansion of this monoculture is resulting in arable soil becoming infertile, large-scale deforestation, loss of agrobiodiversity, increased greenhouse gas emissions and contamination of water sources. It also threatens the territories and food sovereignty of thousands of peasants and Indigenous families.
Another of the consequences of this farming model relates to the labour conditions for workers on plantations and in oil processing plants. In many cases, they work long hours in hazardous environments, handling chemical products that put their health and lives at risk.

Men are hired particularly for harvesting, fumigation, and plantation maintenance, whereas women are involved in planting, pollination, and phytosanitary control. In general, neither male nor female workers have suitable work equipment, clothing, or protective gear, which leaves them vulnerable to occupational illnesses and accidents. [43]

Jobs provided by palm oil companies are highly exploitative. On plantations on the Ecuadorian coast, for example, pay is US$6 per day for core jobs, and US$12 for supervisory positions. [44] Palm growers use contracting companies to employ and pay for labour, thereby avoiding direct responsibility. There are also cases of forced labour and human trafficking on palm plantations. [45]

With regard to health, the palm plantation workers are greatly affected by the use of pesticides, with very low levels of protection. In Ecuador, for example: “58% of workers show varying degrees of symptoms from exposure to pesticides. Additionally, communities living in proximity to palm plantations suffer higher rates of cancer, headaches, skin diseases, respiratory problems, childhood development disorders (lower than age-appropriate cognitive development), miscarriages and malformations, due to air- and water-borne pesticides.” [46]

Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and corporate greenwashing

Most transnational food and agrofuel companies claim that products come from plantations certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). The RSPO is a global, not-for-profit organisation founded in 2004 with the objective of “promoting the growth and use of sustainable oil palm products through credible global standards and engagement of stakeholders”. Its establishment was driven by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), following widespread complaints and public concern about the environmental impact of the palm oil industry.

Since the creation of the RSPO, the latter has not complied with the objectives for which is was created, but rather has served as a greenwashing tool for transnational companies that use this certification as a way to justify sourcing palm oil from plantations embroiled in environmental and social conflicts. [47] Many Latin American plantations shield themselves by using this certification to export oil to the European Union, thereby misleading millions of consumers.

In Colombia, for example, in many cases palm oil is exported with RSPO certification which claims that the palm oil is not from areas that have been deforested. The country’s palm growers’ union insists that oil palm does not cause deforestation. However, according to the Colombian Ministry of the Environment, between 2011 and 2017, palm cultivation led to the deforestation of 17,000 hectares, equivalent to 1.5% of all deforestation in the country. [48] Despite this reality, many palm growing companies in Colombia have signed “zero deforestation” agreements, to attempt to conceal the effects of their plantations.

In Guatemala, several communities have reported illegal grabbing of their land. [49] Nevertheless, the country’s palm growing companies boast the highest number of RSPO-certified hectares.

Palm monocultures have become a major driver of deforestation, especially of primary Amazonian forests, undermining the livelihoods of the people who depend on them. For example, over 90,000 hectares have been planted in Peru, which has registered the highest rate of deforestation for palm oil production in the region. [50]

In Brazil, over recent years, BBF has been held responsible for the deforestation of 667 hectares, despite commitments made by the company and its authorities to expand oil palm cultivation only in areas deforested prior to 2008. [51]

Since oil palm plantations began to be cultivated in Latin America, companies associated with this agribusiness have gained a track record in murder, labour crimes, and rights violations. [52] Yet despite this, companies claim to produce “sustainable” energy and palm oil. For example, Agropalma, owned by the Alfa Group, one of the largest business groups in Brazil, has been denounced for illegally occupying land, yet despite multiple complaints it is certified by the RSPO. Recently, it announced that it wanted to expand its plantations and resume biodiesel production. [53]

Despite the expansion of plantations, local people are resisting

Oil palm expansion promoted partly by governments and transnational companies in Latin America has been based on false promises to improve conditions in the communities and territories where they are established. However, the reality is that these plantations are provoking displacement, threats and the violation of Indigenous peoples’ and peasants’ rights.

Despite this, the affected communities are constantly resisting, through protests, public demonstrations, legal actions, and international support to prevent the expansion of oil palm from continuing to affect them and endanger their lives and lands. The entire process also involves political, territorial, and economic aspects. Their fight is now spreading through the different countries where oil palm plantations are found.

As with Asia and Africa, oil palm plantations in Latin America are not sustainable nor do they improve local people’s conditions. Therefore, agribusiness and corporations can no longer hide behind RSPO certification and allow expansion to continue.

The support that we can offer to Indigenous, Afro-descendant and peasant communities affected by oil palm monocultures is key to defending food sovereignty. Palm oil is not compatible with the development of food sovereignty promoted by the peasant and Indigenous movement. It is a monoculture that invades their lands, does not promote food diversity, and is based on the Green Revolution model promoted by governments and transnationals for so-called “rural development” whilst it simultaneously engulfs everything it touches in violence.

GRAIN would like to thank the World Rainforest Movement (https://www.wrm.org.uy/), Acción Ecológica (www.accionecologica.org) and the Global Forest Coalition (www.globalforestcoalition.org), who sent us important information for this document.

Cover photo: Santa Clara de Uchunya Native Community, Nueva Requena district, Ucayali. Photo: Diego Pérez via Mongabay.

Originally published by GRAIN. Republished under the Creative Commons Attribution Licence, read original.

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Read more about human rights abuses and child slavery in the palm oil industry

Oil palm in Latin America: monoculture and violence

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Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20

https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20

https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here

Pledge your support

#agribusiness #Andes #BoycottPalmOil #childLabour #childSlavery #deforestation #greenwashing #humanRights #HumanRights #hunger #indigenous #indigenousRights #landRights #landgrabbing #landrights #LatinAmerica #PalmOil #palmoil #poverty #slavery #SouthAmerica #violence #wildfires #workersRights #WorkersRights

Palm Oil Detectives Nov 29

Indigenous Peoples Fight Climate Change

In the wake of the worst wildfires in living memory in Mexico and Central America in 2024, news outlets were looking for someone to blame. Howler monkeys and many species of parrots perished in the blazes. Slash and burn farming practices by Belize‘s indigenous communities were singled out as a primary cause. Yet this knee-jerk reaction is not evidence based and doesn’t take into account forces like corporate landgrabbing for mining and agribusinesses like meat, soy and palm oil.

Belize’s indigenous Maya communities are rebuilding stronger based on the collective notion of se’ komonil: reciprocity, solidarity, traditional knowledge, gender equity, togetherness and community.

In the wake of horrific #wildfires in #Belize and #Mexico caused by #climatechange, #indigenous #Maya are rebuilding using the notion of se’ komonil: reciprocity #community and solidarity. #indigenousrights #landrights #BoycottPalmOil @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-924

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Written by James Stinson, Senior Research Associate and Evaluation Specialist, Young Lives Research Lab, Faculty of Education, York University, Canada and Lee Mcloughlin, PhD student, Global Sociocultural Studies, Florida International University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Driven by extreme heat and drought, some of the worst wildfires in living memory raged across Mexico and Central America through April and May 2024.

News agencies reported howler monkeys dropping dead from trees, and parrots and other birds falling from the skies.

In Belize, a state of emergency was declared as wildfires burned tens of thousands of hectares of highly bio-diverse forest. Farmers suffered huge losses as fires destroyed crops and homes, and communities across the country suffered from hazardous air quality and hot, sleepless nights. Many risked their lives to fight off the approaching fires.

As the wildfire crisis subsided with rains in June, public attention shifted toward identifying the causes and allocating blame. Many singled out the “slash and burn” farming practices in Belize’s Indigenous communities as the primary cause. This simple knee-jerk reaction ignores the underlying causes of the climate crisis, are scientifically unfounded and stoke resentment of Indigenous Peoples.

Young Mayan women. Image source: Wikipedia

Fanning the flames

On June 5, one of Belize’s major news networks ran a story with the headline “Are Primitive Farming Techniques Responsible for Wildfires?” The story placed blame for Belize’s wildfires on “slash-and-burn farming”, arguing that “there has to be a shift away from this destructive means of agriculture.”

The story was followed by an op-ed published online asserting that “because of the increased amounts of escaped agricultural fires, aided by climate change, global warming and drought, slash and burn has become more of a problem than the solution it once was.” This sentiment was further reinforced by Belize’s prime minister, who declared that “slash аnd burn has to be something of the past.”

While some of the recent fires in Belize were connected to agricultural burning — and poorly managed fire-clearing practices can have negative air-quality impacts — blaming “slash and burn” for the wildfire crisis ignores the larger context and conditions that made it possible, namely global warming.

May 2024 was the hottest and driest month in Belize’s history. This extreme heat is part of a broader global trend, with June 2024 marking the 13th consecutive “hottest month on record” globally.

More fundamentally, these statements confuse other forms of slash-and-burn agriculture with the distinct “milpa” systems employed by Indigenous people in Belize.

Indigenous knowledge undermined

Throughout Belize, Indigenous Maya farmers commonly practise a form of agriculture referred to as milpa in which fire is used to clear fields and fertilize the soil. Within this system, small areas of forest are chopped down, burned, and planted with maize, beans, squash and other crops. After being cultivated for a year or two, the field is then left fallow and allowed to regenerate back to forest cover while the farmers move on to a new area within a cyclical pattern where areas are reused after a regenerative period.

https://youtu.be/ok787HRp_gA

Commonly derided as slash-and-burn farming, milpa has long been perceived as environmentally destructive. This perspective has been perpetuated by long-standing myths and misconceptions that portray the farming practices of non-Europeans, and specifically the use of fire, as wasteful and irrational.

In Belize, this negative view of slash and burn has driven many colonial and post-colonial interventions to modernize Maya farming practices.

Recent research, however, has shown that the lands of Indigenous Peoples around the world have reduced deforestation and degradation rates relative to non-protected areas. The southern Toledo district of Belize, where the majority of Maya communities are located, boasts a forest cover rate of 71 per cent, significantly higher than the national average of 63 per cent.

Further research has found that the species composition of contemporary Mesoamerican forests has been shaped by the agricultural practices of ancient Maya farmers.

In Belize, fire has been found to play a role in promoting ecosystem health and resilience and intermediate levels of forest disturbance caused by milpa can increase species diversity. Well-managed milpa farming can support soil fertility, result in long-term carbon sequestration and enriched woodland vegetation.

Research has also shown that previous studies of deforestation in southern Belize significantly overestimated the rate of deforestation due to milpa agriculture by not accounting for its rotational process.

Many researchers now believe that milpa is a more benign alternative, in terms of environmental effects, than most other permanent farming systems in the humid tropics. Indeed, findings such as these have led to a growing appreciation for the role of Indigenous Peoples in advancing nature-based and life-enhancing climate solutions.

Unfortunately, research in the region has also found that climate change is undermining the ecological sustainability of milpa farming by forcing farmers to abandon traditional practices and adopt counterproductive measures in their struggle to adapt. In some cases, this has resulted in a decrease in the biodiversity and ecological resilience of the milpa system. This issue is compounded by the decreasing participation of young people, resulting in a further generational loss of traditional ecological knowledge.

Together, these issues are serving to alter and undermine a livelihood strategy that has proven sustainable for thousands of years. However, rather than call for Maya farmers to abandon slash and burn, we encourage support for the self-determined efforts of Maya communities to adapt to this changing climate. https://www.youtube.com/embed/ok787HRp_gA?wmode=transparent&start=0 A video documenting the Maya response to the 2024 wildfire crisis.

Planting seeds of collaboration

Since winning a groundbreaking land rights claim in 2015, Maya communities in southern Belize have been working to promote an Indigenous future based on principles of reciprocity, solidarity, traditional knowledge, gender equity and, most significantly, se’ komonil, the Maya notion of togetherness and community.

Led by a collaboration of Maya leaders and non-governmental organizations, work toward this has included efforts to revitalize traditional institutions and governance systems, as well as the development of an Indigenous Forest Caring Strategy and fire-permitting system. In an effort to encourage and support the participation of youth in this process, Maya leaders have collaborated with the Young Lives Research Lab at York University to develop the Partnership for Youth and Planetary Wellbeing.

Building on previous research with Maya youth, the project has produced innovative youth-led research and education on the impacts of climate change, the importance of food sovereignty, traditional ecological knowledge and the struggle to secure Indigenous land rights in Maya communities. This work has been shared with global policymakers at the United Nations and local audiences in Belize.

Rather than fanning the flames of climate blame, we must work together to revitalize Indigenous knowledge systems and plant seeds of climate collaboration and care.

Written by James Stinson, Senior Research Associate and Evaluation Specialist, Young Lives Research Lab, Faculty of Education, York University, Canada and Lee Mcloughlin, PhD student, Global Sociocultural Studies, Florida International University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

ENDS

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Indigenous Peoples Fight Climate Change

After wildfires, Belize’s indigenous people rebuild stronger based on “se’ komonil”: reciprocity, solidarity, gender equity, togetherness and community.

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Colonial palm oil and sugarcane causing the loss of West Papuans’ cultural identity. Land grabs force communities from forests, threatening Noken weaving

An explosive report by the Environment Investigation Agency (EIA) details how Indonesia’s Fangiono family, through a wide corporate web, is linked to ongoing #deforestation, #corruption, and #indigenousrights abuses for #palmoil. Calls mount for…

Indigenous Melanesian women in West Papua fight land seizures for palm oil and sugar plantations, protecting their ancestral rights. Join #BoycottPalmOil

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Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20

https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20

https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20

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#belize #boycottPalmOil #boycottpalmoil #childLabour #childSlavery #climatechange #community #goldMining #humanRights #hunger #indigenous #indigenousActivism #indigenousKnowledge #indigenousRights #indigenousrights #landRights #landgrabbing #landrights #maya #mexico #palmOil #poverty #slavery #wildfires

Palm Oil Detectives Sep 23, 2023

Choose Indigenous Trees Over Palm Oil In India

In an effort to combat #India’s edible oil shortage, the Indian government has heavily promoted the cultivation of exotic palm oil trees. This is a decision mired in controversy due to the associated severe ecological repercussions witnessed in other nations. The thirst for high rainfall, crucial for palm oil’s yield, threatens India’s already dwindling groundwater reserves. Notably, proposals to introduce palm oil in the ecologically sensitive regions of Assam and the North East have sparked significant backlash. Writer Bharat Dogra advocates for a shift in focus, suggesting that the solution may lie in harnessing the potential of indigenous trees capable of producing oilseeds for edible oil.

#India is turning towards #palmoil growth is a massive mistake for local #biodiversity #landrights and #climatechange, resist and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/09/24/instead-of-risky-palm-oil-in-india-indigenous-trees-should-get-more-attention/

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https://youtu.be/jer1UJbL_Kc?si=Gqd6gLsKD1JwfED_

Article originally published in Countercurrents on 18th June, 2023. Written by Bharat Dogra is Honorary Convener of the campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include India’s Quest for Sustainable Farming and Healthy Food, Man over Machine and Planet in Peril.

Recent government policy has resorted to huge promotion of exotic palm oil trees to end edible oil shortage in India. However, this is associated with highly disruptive ecological costs, as has been seen from the experience of several countries.

The kind of high rainfall conditions needed for its high yield are not readily available in India and this will lead to heavy extraction of already scarce groundwater. Plans for large-scale introduction of palm oil in India’s ecologically fragile regions of Assam and the North East have already faced much criticism.

Palm oil plantations at the foothills of Eastern Ghats near Srungavarapukota in Vizianagaram district by Adityamadhav83 on Wikipedia

A better option would be to explore the potential of several indigenous trees which yield oilseeds from which edible oil can be obtained.

There are several such indigenous trees which can provide edible oils, such as mahua, karanj, sal, kokum, kusum etc. (not to mention coconut, which is already well established as a supplier of edible oil). Some of these trees are known and some are not so well-known and need to be explored further. The edible oil contained from some of these trees is known to be very good for nutrition and to be rich in poly unsaturated fats, important for nutrition.

Availability of edible oils can increase significantly even from already existing trees. However once this importance is realised and conscious efforts are made to increase these trees, then edible oil availability for domestic use ( particularly in tribal community areas) as well as for export markets for niche uses, including medicinal value, can increase even more significantly.

It will be a mistake to grow these trees as plantation crops. This will be harmful for biodiversity, environment and food security. It will be much better for all families in a tribal community to grow two additional such trees each on their land. In this way about two to four hundred additional oilseed trees can grow in each village, and about 200,000 villages in India are likely to be suitable for growing these trees.

Bharat Dogra

A 2019 World Health Organisation (WHO) report into the palm oil industry and RSPO finds extensive greenwashing of palm oil deforestation and the murder of endangered animals (i.e. biodiversity loss)

As almost all of these trees have multiple uses for their fruits, flowers, seeds, leaves etc., benefits for these farmers and villagers will be many. Mahua tree can provide very nutritious and filling food which is all the more useful in lean season and drought years, its fodder is also very useful while at the same time the use of its flower as an intoxicant should be minimised.

Cooperatives of farmers and villagers to collect tree oilseeds can be set up to ensure a fair price. However instead of selling these to big processors, value addition can be obtained by local processing.

Local processing units in all these villages should be set up, particularly to extract oil but also to process other produce of these trees. This local processing will generate more livelihoods, while the residue (after oil extraction) will provide nutritive feed for animals and organic fertiliser for farms.

The potential for this is the highest in tribal communities, but certainly potential exists in other villages also for various communities.

Isn’t it irrational that the authorities are ignoring this potential but instead going in for the ecologically disruptive option of palm oil plantation?

There are also trees like neem whose oil may not be used for cooking but has important medicinal uses. Then there are other trees which provide non-edible oil with several uses such as for soap making and can be used for cottage scale units of soap or other products of everyday use.

In addition there is much potential for better protection and improvement of coconut trees which have so many different uses apart from providing edible oils.

There is a strong case for giving much more attention to all indigenous trees which provide edible oils and for providing many more sustainable livelihoods on the basis of their various products including oilseeds, with the added caution that these indigenous trees should be grown not as big monoculture plantations but instead in their usual natural way co-existing with all biodiversity.

Article originally published in Countercurrents on 18th June, 2023. Written by Bharat Dogra is Honorary Convener of the campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include India’s Quest for Sustainable Farming and Healthy Food, Man over Machine and Planet in Peril.

ENDS

Read more about Indian animals threatened by palm oil deforestation in India

Rivers are still people in South East Asia despite court showdown

Healthy rivers are essential for community wellbeing. India and Bangladesh legally recognise rivers as natural persons with rights and powers. Take action!

#India’s fifty year long Project #Tiger has been a successful conservation project. A new research study finds that protecting tigers and their rainforest home has additional benefits to #carbonemissions, saving 1 million tonnes…

The NCCAF raises grave concerns over palm oil expansion in Nagaland, India with threats to deforestation, biodiversity, livelihoods. Take action!

Sloth Bear Melursus ursinus

The sloth bear (Melursus ursinus), with their distinctive “Y” or “V” shaped chest patch and shaggy fur, are unique bears native to the Indian subcontinent. Once exploited as ‘dancing bears’ by the Kalandar…

Discover the intriguing Nicobar long-tailed macaque, intelligent and highly social survivors on India’s islands, help them to survive and boycott palm oil!

Phayre’s leaf monkey, also known as Phayre’s langur, are remarkable Old World monkeys distinguished by large, white-rimmed eyes that lend them a “spectacled” appearance. Known locally as ‘Chasma bandor’ they live mostly in…

#India’s aggressive push for #palmoil plantations in #Nagaland, #Assam and #Mizoram is wreaking havoc on both the environment and local communities. The government plans to ramp up oil palm cultivation in the northeast,…

Intelligent and social Irrawaddy dolphins, also known as the Mahakam River dolphins or Ayeyarwady river #dolphins have endearing faces. Only 90 to 300 are estimated to be left living in the wild. Their…

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Lion-tailed macaques hold the title of one of the smallest macaque species in the world and sport a majestic lion-esque mane of hair. They exclusively call the Western Ghats in India their home.…

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2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.

Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20

https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20

https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here

Pledge your support

#Assam #biodiversity #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #childLabour #childSlavery #climatechange #deforestation #humanRights #India #indigenousRights #landRights #landgrabbing #landrights #PalmOil #palmoil #slavery

Palm Oil Detectives Oct 21

SOCFIN’s African Empire of Colonial Oppression: Billionaires Profit from Palm Oil and Rubber Exploitation

An investigation by Bloomberg exposed that despite being RSPO members, #SOCFIN plantations in #WestAfrica are the epicentre of #humanrights abuses, sexual coercion, environmental destruction, and #landgrabbing. Operating in #Liberia, #Ghana, #Nigeria, and beyond, SOCFIN’s #rubber and #palmoil plantations continue historical colonial legacies of exploitation. Despite widespread evidence of abuse and deforestation, SOCFIN and its partners benefit from weak sustainability certifications such as #FSC and #RSPO. Europe and the US buy products directly linked to these violations, greenwashing the destruction in the process. Indigenous communities and workers are actively resisting this huge injustice —They seek proper redress in the form of stricter #EUDR regulations and better protections of their health, livelihoods and families. Consumers can boycott palm oil and rubber in solidarity. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife

#News: 🚨 #SOCFIN #palmoil and #rubber is linked to sexual #violence, forced #labour, #landgrabbing #deforestation in #WestAfrica🌴🔥🤢☠️🙊🚫 French tycoon Vincent Bolloré profits while communities suffer. 💀✊🏽 #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife https://palmoildetectives.com/2025/10/22/socfins-african-empire-of-colonial-abuse-how-billionaires-profit-from-palm-oil-and-rubber-exploitation/

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A recent Bloomberg investigation into SOCFIN, a plantation empire co-owned by French billionaire Vincent Bolloré, reveals ongoing human rights violations, sexual exploitation, deforestation, and colonial-style land grabs across West Africa. SOCFIN, based in Luxembourg and co-owned by Bolloré, operates sprawling palm oil and rubber plantations in Liberia, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, and elsewhere. The investigation uncovered systemic abuses and environmental destruction, exposing the toxic greenwashing reality behind RSPO corporate sustainability claims.

According to Bloomberg’s extensive report published in April 2025, SOCFIN plantations in Liberia and Ghana are sites of widespread sexual coercion, rape and sexual abuse.

Women workers at the Liberian Agricultural Company (LAC) plantation, one of SOCFIN’s largest operations, routinely face demands for sex from supervisors as a condition for securing daily work. Women like Rebecca (a pseudonym) describe daily harassment and abuse, forced to accept demands out of economic necessity. Contract workers earn as little as $3.50 a day and face threats of dismissal if they refuse sexual advances.

Similar accounts emerge from SOCFIN’s Salala Rubber Corporation (SRC), recently sold after violent worker protests over labour abuses, inadequate medical care, and poor housing conditions. Women workers have described supervisors openly demanding sexual favours in exchange for continued employment. Mamie, a former SRC worker, described being violently raped by her supervisor after repeatedly refusing his advances. Such experiences remain common, despite superficial anti-harassment measures like “No Sexual Harassment” signs erected by the company (Bloomberg, 2025).

SOCFIN’s operations are rooted deeply in colonial history. Established in the Belgian Congo in the late 1800s, SOCFIN expanded aggressively during colonialism, exploiting rubber and palm oil resources across Africa and Asia. Today, its co-owners, Vincent Bolloré and Belgian businessman Hubert Fabri, control vast landholdings, perpetuating neo-colonial dynamics of wealth extraction. According to an article by Tony Lawson for Shoppe Black, the plantations replicate exploitative plantation models, extracting wealth from African land and labour for European profit, reminiscent of colonial rubber plantations and antebellum slave operations like Louisiana’s Nottoway Plantation.

This neo-colonial exploitation is glaringly evident in Nigeria, where SOCFIN’s subsidiary, Okumu Oil Palm Company, operates 19,062 hectares of palm plantations and 7,335 hectares of rubber plantations. Palm Oil Detectives (2024) documented widespread displacement of local Indigenous communities due to plantation expansion. Villages such as Lemon, Agbeda, and Oweike have been forcibly dismantled, leaving hundreds homeless. The affected communities received no compensation or consultation—violating international human rights standards on Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC).

Austin Lemon, whose family established Lemon village in 1969, recounted witnessing his ancestral land seized by SOCFIN and converted into plantations without consent or compensation. The trauma from losing their homes, livelihoods, and ancestral heritage remains profound, with many residents still unable to recover decades later.

In Ghana, SOCFIN’s Plantations Socfin Ghana (PSG) has systematically destroyed vital rainforests, despite clear warnings from environmental assessments. PSG admitted clearing over 1,089 hectares of natural forest between 2012 and 2016. The loss of biodiversity and increased carbon emissions from these activities directly exacerbate the climate crisis, severely impacting local rainfall patterns and agricultural productivity. Farmers around PSG’s plantations suffer reduced yields, poverty, and food insecurity.

Meanwhile, the EU continues to import vast quantities of palm oil and rubber from SOCFIN, despite mounting evidence of human rights violations and deforestation. Europe’s reliance on SOCFIN’s supply chains for products such as Michelin tyres, Nestlé’s consumer goods, and numerous cosmetic brands implicates major companies in these abuses. Investigations show European tyre manufacturers purchasing rubber sourced from plantations like Liberia’s LAC and SRC, despite credible allegations of labour abuses, sexual coercion, and land theft.

SOCFIN and its partners rely heavily on weak and ineffective sustainability schemes like the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). But investigations repeatedly reveal these certifications as ineffectual greenwashing tools. For example, SOCFIN’s Cameroon plantations—RSPO-certified—face lawsuits alleging severe environmental damage and community displacement. Water pollution tests conducted near these plantations revealed dangerous contamination levels, threatening public health (Bloomberg, 2025).

Vincent Bolloré, despite his influential position as a major shareholder and board member, consistently denies responsibility, claiming limited involvement. Yet Bolloré’s role remains central. Known for his vast media empire and conservative political influence in France, Bolloré has maintained his SOCFIN stake despite decades of documented abuses. Lawsuits brought under French duty-of-vigilance laws now challenge Bolloré directly, arguing that his oversight constitutes effective control, making him legally responsible for SOCFIN’s actions.

Public pressure is growing. In 2024, Norway’s sovereign wealth fund excluded Bolloré Group and strongly recommended divestment from Bolloré and SOCFIN, citing overwhelming evidence of abuse. Luxembourg’s stock exchange delisted SOCFIN the same year, further isolating the company. Despite these actions, European governments and multinational corporations including the RSPO continue to support SOCFIN financially, facilitating ongoing abuses in Africa.

Communities across West Africa resist despite enormous personal risk. Liberian union leader Mary Boimah was jailed after protests against SRC’s labour conditions. Nigerian community member Iyabo Batu was shot by SOCFIN-affiliated security personnel while protesting environmental contamination and blocked access to her village. Despite these risks, communities persist in their demands for justice, compensation, and the return of their lands.

SOCFIN’s stated commitments to human rights and sustainability remain hollow. Decades of documented abuses, superficial responses to audits, and persistent denial illustrate systemic failure and wilful negligence. As long as global markets reward SOCFIN’s rubber and palm oil, the cycle of violence and exploitation will continue.

The time has come to demand real accountability. Regulators and law-makers in the EU and USA must recognise their complicity in human rights abuses and ecocide in palm oil and rubber supply chains. Until this time, people and landscapes will continue to suffer from forced labour, sexual coercion, and environmental destruction. SOCFIN’s ecocide and human rights abuses—must end now.

Learn more

Bloomberg. (2025, April 17). The Rubber Barons. Retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2025-socfin-plantations

Palm Oil Detectives. (2024, July 31). Socfin’s Destructive Empire: Palm Oil Deforestation and Human Rights Abuses in West Africa. Retrieved from https://palmoildetectives.com/2024/07/31/socfins-destructive-empire-palm-oil-deforestation-and-human-rights-abuses-in-west-africa/

Shoppe Black. (2025). Labor Abuses: Nottoway and Liberia Plantations. Retrieved from https://shoppeblack.us/labor-abuses-nottoway-and-liberia-plantations/

ENDS

Read more about human rights abuses and child slavery in the palm oil industry

SOCFIN’s African Empire of Colonial Oppression: Billionaires Profit from Palm Oil and Rubber Exploitation

Investigation by Bloomberg exposes that despite being RSPO members, #SOCFIN plantations in #WestAfrica are the epicentre of #humanrights abuses, sexual coercion, environmental destruction, and #landgrabbing. Operating in #Liberia, #Ghana, #Nigeria, and beyond, SOCFIN’s…

Colonial palm oil and sugarcane causing the loss of West Papuans’ cultural identity. Land grabs force communities from forests, threatening Noken weaving

An explosive report by the Environment Investigation Agency (EIA) details how Indonesia’s Fangiono family, through a wide corporate web, is linked to ongoing #deforestation, #corruption, and #indigenousrights abuses for #palmoil. Calls mount for…

Indigenous Melanesian women in West Papua fight land seizures for palm oil and sugar plantations, protecting their ancestral rights. Join #BoycottPalmOil

A landmark study published in Global Studies Quarterly in April 2025 has revealed that the rapid expansion of the #palmoil industry in #WestPapua is not only fuelling #deforestation, #ecocide and environmental destruction but…

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Take Action in Five Ways

1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.

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Join 3,528 other subscribers

2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.

Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20

https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20

https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here

Pledge your support

#BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #childLabour #childSlavery #deforestation #EUDR #FSC #Ghana #greenwashing #humanRights #HumanRights #indigenousRights #labour #landRights #landgrabbing #Liberia #News #Nigeria #PalmOil #palmoil #RSPO #rubber #slavery #SOCFIN #violence #WestAfrica

Palm Oil Detectives Aug 7, 2024

“Sustainable” Palm Oil No Different in Land Conflicts

New research published in the journal Political Geography reveals that there is no significant difference between RSPO-certified “sustainable” palm oil companies and non-certified ones when it comes to handling land conflicts with rural communities in Indonesia. The study, titled “Corporate Contentious Politics: Palm Oil Companies and Land Conflicts in Indonesia,” highlights how both types of companies employ contentious tactics to deal with land disputes, challenging the perceived benefits of RSPO certification.

New #research #study 🧐 reveals “sustainable” #palmoil isn’t any better for workers. RSPO-certified and non-certified co’s in #Indonesia use violence and intimidation for #landgrabbing. Take action and #BoycottPalmOil ✊ #humanrights🌴🚫 @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-8IK

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Regardless of RSPO “sustainable” #palmoil or not, companies don’t respect #landrights of farmers, finds a landmark #study into police/corporate collusion using #violence to suppress protest. #humanrights #BoycottPalmOil @palmoildetect @ward_berenschot https://wp.me/pcFhgU-8IK

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https://youtu.be/FC7qNRiw-qc

Berenschot, W., Dhiaulhaq, A., Hospes, O., Afrizal, & Pranajaya, D. (2024). Corporate contentious politics: Palm oil companies and land conflicts in Indonesia. Political Geography, 114, 103166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2024.103166

Our study of trajectories of 150 such conflicts identifies a big gap between the policies that companies (and RSPO) publicly announce, and their on-the-ground practices. Many companies do not live up to their stated intent of respecting land rights and resolving grievances. Instead, companies implement various measures to limit the capacity of rural Indonesians to voice their grievances and realize their claims. This involves violent suppression of protests. This suppression is made possible by extensive collusion between company managers and local authorities and police officials – ensuring that local governments side with companies against villagers. The result is that demonstrations often end violently, and that the arrest and criminalization of protest leaders is common, effectively undermining the capacity of communities to protest. Despite corporate policies and pious public statements, we found that companies are actually quite hesitant to come to an agreement with communities, and tend to avoid or stall mediation efforts.

Lead author, Dr Ward Berenschot

Key findings

Systematic Strategies: The research documents 150 conflicts between palm oil companies and rural communities in four Indonesian provinces. It highlights how companies engage in conscious and strategic efforts to realise their claims to land, employing tactics such as co-opting local leaders, cultivating connections with local authorities, suppressing community protests, and criminalising protest leaders.
Contentious Repertoire: Companies have been found to adopt a repertoire of contentious tactics, including providing gifts and inducements to local leaders, offering bribes to government officials and police, and using security personnel and hired goons to intimidate and suppress protests.
Limited Legal Recourse for Communities: The study highlights the challenges faced by rural communities in Indonesia, where the lack of formal land titles and the curtailing of land rights by the state create a vulnerable position for locals. This environment allows palm oil companies to exploit informal networks and circumvent regulatory measures.
RSPO Membership Impact: Surprisingly, the study found no significant differences in conflict behaviours between companies that are members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and those that are not. This suggests that the RSPO’s code of conduct has limited influence on reducing contentious tactics by its member companies.

Research Implications

The authors, Ward Berenschot, Ahmad Dhiaulhaq, Otto Hospes, Afrizal, and Daniel Pranajaya, call for more comparative research on corporate contentious politics, particularly in regions with informalised state institutions. They argue that a contentious politics perspective provides valuable insights into the often-secretive tactics of corporations in land conflicts, challenging the benign image projected by CSR policies.

Conclusion

This groundbreaking research reveals the dual-faced nature of palm oil companies’ operations in Indonesia. While these companies publicly pledge to uphold high sustainability standards, their on-the-ground tactics often contradict these commitments, exacerbating land conflicts and community grievances. The study urges policymakers, stakeholders, and researchers to scrutinise corporate behaviour more closely and advocate for stronger regulatory frameworks to protect vulnerable communities.

Berenschot, W., Dhiaulhaq, A., Hospes, O., Afrizal, & Pranajaya, D. (2024). Corporate contentious politics: Palm oil companies and land conflicts in Indonesia. Political Geography, 114, 103166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2024.103166

https://twitter.com/ward_berenschot/status/1813888824659075426

Berenschot, W., Dhiaulhaq, A., Hospes, O., Afrizal, & Pranajaya, D. (2024). Corporate contentious politics: Palm oil companies and land conflicts in Indonesia. Political Geography, 114, 103166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2024.103166

ENDS

Read more about human rights abuses and child slavery in the palm oil industry

Palm Oil Threatens Ancient Noken Weaving in West Papua

Colonial palm oil and sugarcane causing the loss of West Papuans’ cultural identity. Land grabs force communities from forests, threatening Noken weaving

An explosive report by the Environment Investigation Agency (EIA) details how Indonesia’s Fangiono family, through a wide corporate web, is linked to ongoing #deforestation, #corruption, and #indigenousrights abuses for #palmoil. Calls mount for…

Indigenous Melanesian women in West Papua fight land seizures for palm oil and sugar plantations, protecting their ancestral rights. Join #BoycottPalmOil

A landmark study published in Global Studies Quarterly in April 2025 has revealed that the rapid expansion of the #palmoil industry in #WestPapua is not only fuelling #deforestation, #ecocide and environmental destruction but…

Indonesian palm oil workers expose industry practices that mirror colonial exploitation: land grabbing, bad conditions, ecocide. Systemic change is needed!

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Take Action in Five Ways

1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.

✓ Subscribed

2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.

Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20

https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20

https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here

Pledge your support

#BoycottPalmOil #BoycottPalmOil #childLabour #childSlavery #humanRights #HumanRights #indigenousRights #Indonesia #landRights #landgrabbing #landrights #PalmOil #palmoil #research #slavery #study #violence

Palm Oil Detectives Sep 23, 2025

Palm Oil Threatens Ancient Noken Weaving in West Papua

A powerful new indigenous art exhibition has highlighted the tragic loss of #WestPapua’s cultural identity due to #deforestation for #palmoil and #sugarcane monoculture plantations. A situation perpetuated by the illegal Indonesian colonisation of Melanesia. The ancient Melanesian tradition of noken weaving is under threat, as military-backed land grabs force Indigenous Muyu communities from their forests. Protect people and culture, when you shop make sure you #BoycottPalmOil #HumanRights #IndigenousRights

#News: Exhibition highlights vanishing of West Papua’s UNESCO recognised #noken weaving for #palmoil and #sugarcane in #WestPapua. Reject corporate #landgrabbing for palm oil in when you shop! #BoycottPalmOil #HumanRights #IndigenousRights @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-bmj

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Asia Pacific Report. (2025, March 28). Researcher warns over West Papuan deforestation impact on traditional noken weaving. Evening Report. https://eveningreport.nz/2025/03/28/researcher-warns-over-west-papuan-deforestation-impact-on-traditional-noken-weaving

West Papuan doctoral candidate Veronika T. Kanem has issued a stark warning about the cultural and ecological destruction unfolding in Indonesia-occupied West Papua. As the region faces what may be the world’s largest deforestation project—two million hectares for palm oil and sugarcane—centuries-old Indigenous traditions are being pushed to the edge of existence.

Veronika T. Kanem, whose exhibition “Noken/Men: String Bags of the Muyu Tribe of Southern West Papua” opened at Auckland University, says the forced removal of her people from their forests has endangered not only biodiversity but the sacred art of noken weaving—a practice deeply embedded in the identity and social fabric of her father’s tribe, the Muyu.

Known locally as “men,” the noken is more than a string bag. Made from inner fibres of the genemo tree and other natural materials, noken symbolises a woman’s womb, a vessel of life used in ceremonies, food gathering, child-rearing, and cultural gift-giving. It holds economic, spiritual, and ancestral significance across Melanesia.

Now, industrial agriculture and military occupation threaten the entire cultural landscape. These new plantations are not only destroying forests; they are severing communities from their knowledge systems, their land, and each other.

Kanem’s research applies Indigenous Melanesian methodologies, using the act of noken weaving as a metaphor for knowledge, kinship, and resistance. Her work captures the lived experience of displacement and climate injustice at the intersection of colonial occupation, corporate extraction, and Indigenous resilience.

The Auckland exhibition also screened a documentary showcasing noken weaving traditions from across West Papua, including Asmat, Nabire, and Wamena. Speakers at the event, including Pacific scholars and artists, praised the project as a vital act of cultural preservation and defiance.

As Indonesia accelerates its colonial development schemes, the voices of West Papuans like Kanem are essential. Indigenous peoples must lead solutions to environmental destruction. Without indigenous justice, there can be no climate repair.

Defend West Papua’s forests and ancient indigenous cultures. Reject palm oil-driven genocide. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife #HumanRights #IndigenousRights

Asia Pacific Report. (2025, March 28). Researcher warns over West Papuan deforestation impact on traditional noken weaving. Evening Report. https://eveningreport.nz/2025/03/28/researcher-warns-over-west-papuan-deforestation-impact-on-traditional-noken-weaving

ENDS

Read more about human rights abuses and child slavery in the palm oil industry

Palm Oil Threatens Ancient Noken Weaving in West Papua

Colonial palm oil and sugarcane causing the loss of West Papuans’ cultural identity. Land grabs force communities from forests, threatening Noken weaving

An explosive report by the Environment Investigation Agency (EIA) details how Indonesia’s Fangiono family, through a wide corporate web, is linked to ongoing #deforestation, #corruption, and #indigenousrights abuses for #palmoil. Calls mount for…

Indigenous Melanesian women in West Papua fight land seizures for palm oil and sugar plantations, protecting their ancestral rights. Join #BoycottPalmOil

A landmark study published in Global Studies Quarterly in April 2025 has revealed that the rapid expansion of the #palmoil industry in #WestPapua is not only fuelling #deforestation, #ecocide and environmental destruction but…

Palm Oil Workers Expose Industry Practices Resembling Colonialism | A coalition of palm oil workers in Indonesia has unveiled industry practices that mirror colonial exploitation, including land grabbing, poor working conditions, and environmental…

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3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20

https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20

https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

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Palm Oil Detectives Sep 16, 2025

Family Ties Expose Deforestation and Rights Violations in Indonesian Palm Oil

An explosive report by the Environment Investigation Agency (EIA) details how Indonesia’s Fangiono family, through a wide corporate web, is linked to ongoing #deforestation, #corruption, and #indigenousrights abuses for #palmoil. Calls mount for governments to act immediately to strengthen the #EUDR. Consumers can act when we #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife #HumanRights

#News: Shady family ties underlie Fangiono family’s #palmoil empire, peppered with #deforestation, rights abuse in #Indonesia 🌴☠️🧐 Demand change! #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife #HumanRights @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2025/09/17/family-ties-expose-deforestation-and-rights-violations-in-indonesian-palm-oil/

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EIA & Kaoem Telapak. (2025, August 20). When deforestation, corruption and rights violations are just another palm oil family affair. [EIA]. https://eia-international.org/news/when-deforestation-corruption-and-rights-violations-are-just-another-palm-oil-family-affair/

A new investigation by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) UK and Kaoem Telapak exposes widespread alleged deforestation, corruption, and human rights abuses permeating Indonesia’s palm oil sector, tracing these patterns to the powerful Fangiono family and their sprawling corporate network. Despite public denials and ostensible sustainability commitments, the report finds disturbing evidence that companies linked to the family have persistently violated laws, destroyed forests, and displaced local and indigenous peoples.

Indonesia, the world’s largest palm oil producer—exporting products worth nearly $28 billion in 2024—remains a hotbed for land-grabbing and habitat loss. The report, A Family Affair, catalogues cases across Sumatra, Kalimantan, and Papua, each area inhabited by unique indigenous communities and affected by complex ecological shifts driven by industrial expansion.

Martias, the family patriarch, was convicted in 2007 for acquiring palm oil permits through corruption and bribery. Despite serving a sentence and paying fines, his relatives have increased their influence, now holding leadership positions in major groups such as First Resources, FAP Agri, and Ciliandry Anky Abadi. The report highlights a series of persistent issues, including illegal plantation expansion, continued deforestation after permit revocation, and land acquisition without proper consent.

“The Fangiono family’s activities are spread far and wide across Indonesia’s palm oil industry and all too often we find routine, flagrant violations of the law, human rights and the environment.”

Senior Forests Campaigner Siobhan Pearce (EIA)

“This report reveals a governance failure that has enabled the Fangiono family’s corporate network to engage in deforestation, legal violations and the criminalisation of indigenous peoples. As long as groups… continue to operate without oversight, accountability or legal consequences, indigenous and local communities will keep losing their land, livelihoods and fundamental rights.”

Olvy Tumbelaka, Kaoem Telapak’s Senior Campaigner.

Corporate denials have done little to resolve the controversies. Although First Resources is a member of the RSPO, renowned for its so-called “sustainability” standards, the RSPO suspended its membership for three months in August 2025 after the company failed to demonstrate transparency regarding cross-ownership and shadow companies. The case reflects the broader limitations of voluntary industry certification and the persistent use of offshore entities to shield beneficial ownership from scrutiny.

The EIA and Kaoem Telapak strongly urge authorities, companies, investors, and certification bodies to address these ongoing violations and demand accountability for persistent environmental and social harm. The findings serve as an urgent warning for policymakers, buyers, and consumers on the global risks of unchecked palm oil expansion. Learn more via EIA.

EIA & Kaoem Telapak. (2025, August 20). When deforestation, corruption and rights violations are just another palm oil family affair. [EIA]. https://eia-international.org/news/when-deforestation-corruption-and-rights-violations-are-just-another-palm-oil-family-affair/

ENDS

Read more about human rights abuses and child slavery in the palm oil industry

Family Ties Expose Deforestation and Rights Violations in Indonesian Palm Oil

An explosive report by the Environment Investigation Agency (EIA) details how Indonesia’s Fangiono family, through a wide corporate web, is linked to ongoing #deforestation, #corruption, and #indigenousrights abuses for #palmoil. Calls mount for…

In the colonised region of #WestPapua, Indigenous Melanesian women’s rights are being forgotten as companies and the Indonesian government seizes ancestral land for palm oil and sugar cane plantations — without owners’ consent.…

A landmark study published in Global Studies Quarterly in April 2025 has revealed that the rapid expansion of the #palmoil industry in #WestPapua is not only fuelling #deforestation, #ecocide and environmental destruction but…

Palm Oil Workers Expose Industry Practices Resembling Colonialism | A coalition of palm oil workers in Indonesia has unveiled industry practices that mirror colonial exploitation, including land grabbing, poor working conditions, and environmental…

In #WestPapua, on illegally colonised and disputed land taken by violence from Melanesian Indigenous peoples last century by Indonesian forces, authorities label indigenous lands as “empty”. This is done in order to justify…

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Take Action in Five Ways

1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.

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2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.

Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20

https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20

https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here

Pledge your support

#BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #childLabour #childSlavery #corruption #deforestation #EUDR #greenwashing #humanRights #HumanRights #indigenousRights #indigenousrights #Indonesia #landRights #landgrabbing #News #PalmOil #palmoil #slavery

Brett Harper Sep 8, 2025

#AndrewBailey ingored the cries of #survivors of #ChildSexAbuse #ChildSlavery #ChildAbuse in #MO, protected our #Christian #fascist #abusers, and will now do the same for his #ChristianNationalist buddies nationwide as co-director of the #FBI. #TroubledTeenIndustry brett-harper.com/2025/09/07/a...

Andrew Bailey Is A Child Traff...

Andrew Bailey Is A Child Trafficking Pedophile Supporter & Now Co Director of the FBI

If you have read my writtings you likely know I have no respect for Andrew Bailey or the FBI for good reason. I call the FBI Fuck Boys INC because they ignored us survivors of Agape Boarding School…

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Brett Harper Sep 7, 2025

This was how #Missouri was handling the situation. This is now how the #FBI will be operated nationwide. #Christian #Evangelical and #Jewish #ChildAbusers will get away with #ChildSexAbuse #ChildSlavery #HumanTrafficking and other crimes against children under #AndrewBailey.

Brett Harper Aug 11, 2025

My 1st book on #Amazon #AmazonKindle is about the shadowy network of #TroubledTeenIndustry programs that take advantage of desperate parents with so called " #TroubledTeens" & the #abuse, #ChildSlavery, & #ChildSex abuse that occurs in them due to a chronic lack of laws & enforcement of current law.

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