World’s biggest deforestation project gets underway in Papua for sugarcane

Excavators have begun clearing land in the Indonesian region of Papua in what’s been described as the largest deforestation undertaking in the world.

A total of 2 million hectares ( 5 million acres ) of forests, wetlands and grasslands in Merauke district will be razed to make way for a cluster of giant sugarcane plantations.

Indigenous rights advocates have also flagged concerns over the sidelining of Indigenous Papuans by the project, including the imposition of an industrial agricultural model on peoples.

More than half of New Guinea’s total bird population is found in the Trans Fly ecoregion, including 80 species endemic to the island.

The Trans Fly savanna and grasslands are home to unique plant and animal species, many of which are rare or threatened.

There are also concerns that the rights of Indigenous Papuans will be violated in the process.

Frederika : “It’s very easy for the minister to come and earmark [lands] as he pleases,” Frederika said.

“Let me ask him, where do you have your ancestral right in [Papua]? Where did your ancestors live? You’re not Papuan , so how can you come [to Papua] and declare this region a place for investment?”.