Losing Ground

The report 'Losing Ground' documents the systemic human rights violations associated with the expansion of oil palm plantations in Indonesia. It details how the conversion of customary lands into industrial monocultures leads to land dispossession, violent conflict, and the erosion of indigenous cultures. The authors highlight the economic failure of many smallholder schemes, which often result in debt bondage rather than prosperity, and describe severe environmental degradation, including water pollution and the loss of biodiversity. The document calls for the adoption of the principle of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) and urges European governments to abandon biofuel targets that drive this unsustainable expansion.

• Indonesia has expanded its palm estates to 7.3 million hectares and plans to add another 20 million hectares by 2020, primarily in Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and West Papua.
• The expansion of oil palm is a primary driver of deforestation in Indonesia, contributing to the loss of orangutan and Sumatran tiger habitats and making Indonesia the third highest global contributor of CO2 emissions due to peat bog drainage and forest fires.
• Indonesian law frequently subordinates customary land rights to state control, allowing the government to classify traditionally owned lands as 'State Forest Areas' or 'wasteland' to facilitate plantation permits.
• The land acquisition process is marred by irregularities, including a lack of community consultation, the use of bribes for village chiefs, and broken promises regarding infrastructure like schools and roads.
• As of January 2008, Sawit Watch monitored 513 active conflicts between companies and communities, involving 135 companies across 23 groups.
• Security forces, including the police and military, are often involved in plantation conflicts, with reports of arbitrary arrests, beatings, and killings of protestors.
• Many estate smallholders are trapped in debt bondage, incurring debts between US$3,000 and US$6,000 for two-hectare plots, which they struggle to repay due to low yields and market distortions.
• Smallholder productivity is significantly lower than that of state or private estates; BAPPENAS estimates smallholder yields at 2.5 tonnes of CPO per hectare compared to 4.82 tonnes for state-owned plantations.
• Plantation workers often face low wages, with 84 per cent of agricultural workers earning less than the provincial minimum wage, and many are employed as casual labourers without benefits or job security.
• The conversion to oil palm monoculture leads to the destruction of intangible cultural heritage, including the desecration of ancestral graves and the loss of traditional ecological knowledge and languages.
• Oil palm plantations cause severe water shortages and pollution; palm oil mill effluent (POME) is frequently discharged untreated into rivers, killing fish and causing skin diseases in humans.
• The report argues that the European Union's 10 per cent biofuel target drives the unsustainable expansion of palm oil and should be abandoned in favor of vehicle efficiency and public transport.

APA

Marti, S. (2008). Losing Ground. Friends of the Earth International. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/losingground.pdf

Chicago

Marti, Serge. Losing Ground. Friends of the Earth International, 2008. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/losingground.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Marti |first1=Serge |title=Losing Ground |publisher=Friends of the Earth International |date=February 2008 |url=https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/losingground.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{marti2008losing, author = {Marti, Serge}, title = {{Losing Ground}}, institution = {Friends of the Earth International}, year = {2008}, month = feb, url = {https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/losingground.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }