Losing Ground

Losing Ground is a 2008 report by Friends of the Earth, LifeMosaic, and Sawit Watch detailing the human rights violations associated with the expansion of oil palm plantations in Indonesia. The report argues that the industry's growth, driven in part by European biofuel targets, leads to widespread land dispossession, environmental degradation, and the erosion of indigenous cultures.

• As of January 2008, Sawit Watch monitored 513 active conflicts between oil palm companies and communities in Indonesia, involving 135 companies from 23 groups.
• The Indonesian government's land acquisition system often ignores customary law, treating traditionally owned lands as 'State land' or 'wasteland' to facilitate plantation leases.
• Community consultations for land acquisition are frequently flawed, involving bribes to village chiefs, misleading promises of infrastructure, and intimidation by security forces.
• Many indigenous communities are misled into signing agreements they believe are temporary land loans, only to find they have permanently relinquished their land rights to the State.
• The transition to oil palm monoculture often reduces local economic resilience by destroying diverse forest-based livelihoods and common pool resources, leaving communities dependent on a single commodity.
• Estate smallholders often face severe debt bondage, with some debts reaching Rp. 60 million, which they are unable to repay due to low yields and market distortions in the pricing of fresh fruit bunches (FFB).
• Plantation workers, particularly casual labourers, frequently earn wages below the legal minimum, and women workers are exposed to hazardous pesticides without adequate protective equipment.
• Oil palm expansion leads to the destruction of intangible cultural heritage, including the desecration of ancestral graves and the loss of traditional languages and ecological knowledge.
• The industry causes significant water stress, including the drying up of rivers during the dry season and increased flooding during the rainy season due to land clearance and drainage canals.
• Palm oil mills frequently discharge untreated effluent (POME) into rivers, causing mass fish deaths and health problems for local communities, such as skin diseases and ulcers.
• The report identifies endemic corruption within the Indonesian judiciary and security forces, which often protects companies and leaves communities without legal redress.

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} }