ASIATODAY.ID, KAPUAS HULU — Indonesia’s Kapuas Hulu Regency in West Kalimantan, long promoted as a conservation district, is facing mounting environmental and social pressure as palm oil expansion accelerates inside a critical ecological corridor.
Operations by PT Equator Sumber Rezeki (PT ESR)—a subsidiary of First Borneo Group—are linked to large-scale deforestation, threats to orangutan habitat, and escalating conflicts with Indigenous Dayak communities, according to findings released by the LinkAR Borneo Research Team qquoted on January 29, 2026.
PT ESR holds a Plantation Business Permit (IUP) covering approximately 16,867 hectares in Batang Lupar District. While the concession is administratively classified as Other Land Use (APL), it lies within a strategic ecological corridor connecting Betung Kerihun National Park and Danau Sentarum National Park.
The corridor functions as a buffer zone, wildlife movement route, and ancestral living space for Indigenous Dayak communities who have depended on forest ecosystems for generations.
Nearly 1,000 Hectares of Forest Cleared in One Year
Field monitoring conducted between October and December 2025 by the LinkAR Borneo Research Team indicates that PT ESR’s operations have intensified both environmental degradation and social tensions at the village level.
During 2025 alone, the company cleared 973.79 hectares of forest, including 825.06 hectares in Sungai Senunuk Village and 148.72 hectares in Sungai Setulang Village.
Land clearing occurred across high conservation value landscapes, including peatland ecosystems that play a critical role in carbon storage, water regulation, and climate mitigation. By December 2025, total forest loss attributed to PT ESR had reached 2,868.57 hectares, the research team reported.
More alarmingly, analysis based on the Population and Habitat Viability Analysis (PHVA) shows that approximately 66 percent of the cleared area overlaps with orangutan habitat. Cumulatively, between 2024 and November 2025, forest destruction reached 3,063 hectares—nearly equivalent to 4,400 football fields—with 1,984 hectares identified as habitat for the Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus), according to LinkAR Borneo’s assessment.
Field teams also documented at least 10 orangutan nests in forest areas of Labian Village, confirming that PT ESR’s concession remains an active habitat for this protected species.
The LinkAR Borneo Research Team warned that continued forest fragmentation within the Betung Kerihun–Danau Sentarum corridor could sever ecological connectivity, increase human–wildlife conflict, and accelerate biodiversity loss in Kapuas Hulu.
Low Compensation and Rising Social Tensions
At the community level, PT ESR’s expansion has triggered complex social impacts. In Sungai Senunuk Village, land clearing proceeded through individual land transfers.
Individual landholders reportedly received compensation of IDR 3.5 million per hectare, while collectively managed lands were compensated unevenly, ranging from IDR 11 million to IDR 20 million per household, distributed through local hamlet leaders.
According to the LinkAR Borneo Research Team, this compensation scheme has created information asymmetries, differing interpretations of land status, and uncertainty over the long-term consequences of land relinquishment.
In Sungai Setulang Village, cleared land has been used to establish Belida Estate, a nursery and early-stage planting site that has become a gateway for broader plantation expansion.
Indigenous Communities Push Back
Open resistance to PT ESR has emerged in several villages.
In Labian Village, residents, village authorities, and Dayak Iban customary institutions have formally rejected the company’s presence, citing the dominance of customary land managed intergenerationally and fears of environmental degradation and the erosion of traditional farming systems.
Similar opposition has been voiced in Labian Ira’ang Village, where communities objected to PT ESR’s planned entry into three hamlets. Residents argue that shrinking village territory amid population growth threatens future livelihoods and highlight the absence of meaningful consultation prior to the company’s operational plans, the research team noted.
In Mensiau Village, although PT ESR’s concession does not directly overlap with the Mensiau Village Forest, which is legally recognized under Indonesia’s Social Forestry scheme, residents—particularly in Enteubuluh Hamlet—have expressed concern over indirect impacts on buffer forests and community livelihoods. The Mensiau Village Forest Management Institution (LPHD) continues to play an active role in safeguarding forest sustainability.
Horizontal Conflict and Customary Land Claims
Tensions have also escalated into horizontal conflict, particularly in Ngaung Keruh Hamlet, Labian Village. PT ESR is alleged to have encouraged individual land claims within customary territories traditionally managed communally by the Dayak Iban Menua Ngaung Keruh Indigenous Community, according to LinkAR Borneo’s findings.
These customary lands have received formal recognition through Kapuas Hulu Regent Decree No. 346/DPPLH/2023 and the designation of Customary Forest under Decree No. 11954/2024.
However, offers of compensation at IDR 3.5 million per hectare, along with promises of employment and smallholder plasma schemes, are reported to have fueled divisions within the community.
Legal and FPIC Concerns
Beyond environmental and social impacts, PT ESR’s legal standing has also drawn scrutiny. The LinkAR Borneo Research Team noted that the company currently holds only a Plantation Business Permit (IUP) and has not yet obtained a Right to Cultivate (HGU)—raising serious questions about the legality of land clearing and plantation operations in several locations.
Communities also reported weak implementation of the principle of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC). In multiple villages, residents said they never received full and transparent information regarding concession boundaries, permit status, or operational plans prior to land clearing.
A Test for Indonesia’s Conservation Commitments
The findings compiled by the LinkAR Borneo Research Team underscore how PT Equator Sumber Rezeki’s palm oil expansion has resulted in extensive deforestation, peatland degradation, threats to orangutan habitat, and widening social conflict, particularly within the Betung Kerihun–Danau Sentarum conservation corridor.
Environmental observers warn that if plantation expansion in high conservation value areas continues unchecked, Kapuas Hulu’s status as a conservation regency risks becoming little more than a label.
Protecting forests, wildlife, and Indigenous land rights, they argue, will require concrete enforcement, transparency, and accountability—rather than policy rhetoric. (AT Network)
Follow Us at Google News and WA Channel