Two Companies Alone Cleared 10,600 Hectares of Indonesian Forest in 2022
Two well-known deforesters were responsible for 10,600 hectares (ha) of forest loss in Indonesia’s industrial forest plantation sector in 2022. The two companies are PT Mayawana Persada in West Kalimantan, which is operated by Alas Kusuma; and PT Industrial Forest Plantation in Central Kalimantan, operated by Nusantara Fiber.
The remaining eight companies among the ten largest deforesters in Indonesia as calculated by AidEnvironment, cleared an additional 3,000 ha. The figures are consistent with previous years, where analysis by AidEnvironment showed relatively low deforestation figures throughout the industrial forest plantation sector, while a handful of companies cleared huge swathes of forest. In 2021, just four companies cleared 11,000 ha of forest, and in 2020, five company groups cleared 13,000 ha.
PT Mayawana Persada (owned by Alas Kusuma)
PT Mayawana Persada and its parent company Alas Kusuma has been covered by AidEnvironment in several publications due to its active forest clearing in the last few years. Alas Kusuma was also among the largest deforesters in 2020 and 2021, when it was involved in around 2,800 ha and 5,300 ha of forest clearing respectively. In 2022, around 6,700 ha of forest was cleared on PT Mayawana Persada.
PT Mayawana Persada is an industrial forest concession in West Kalimantan, in the districts of Ketapang and Kayong Utara. Despite wide coverage of PT Mayawana Persada’s forest clearing activities, from 2014 to 2021, forest loss on PT Mayawana Persada has not slowed down, and AidEnvironment understands the company intends to clear the entire concession of forest. This also occurs despite significant opposition from local communities. PT Mayawana Persada was customarily sanctioned at the end of 2022 for failing to comply with local demands to stop clearing forest.
Despite this, Alas Kusuma retains two FSC-certified logging companies, PT Sari Bumi Kusuma and PT Suka Jaya Makmur. Japan remains a key destination for Alas Kusuma’s timber products. In a report by Chain Reaction Research in 2021, Alas Kusuma sold its products to Daiken Corporation, Sumitomo Forestry, Itochu Kenzai Corporation, Japan Kenzai, SMB Kenzai, and Sojitz Building Materials. All six of these Japanese importers are FSC-certified, and Itochu has a No Deforestation, No Peat Development, and No Exploitation (NDPE) policy covering commodities such as timber, raw materials for paper making, natural rubber, and palm oil.
Analysis by AidEnvironment has shown that PT Mayawana Persada is the industrial forest plantation with the most remaining forested orangutan habitat, which was approximately 69,000 ha at the end of 2021 but is now closer to 60,000 ha.
Figure 1 PT Mayawana Persada’s Deforestation in 2022
PT Industrial Forest Plantation (owned by Nusantara Fiber)
PT Industrial Forest Plantation is owned by Nusantara Fiber. In 2022, approximately 3,800 ha of deforestation was detected on PT Industrial Forest Plantation, which is located in Kapuas, Central Kalimantan. Nusantara Fiber was one of the largest deforesters in Indonesia’s industrial forest plantation sector in 2020 and 2021, clearing approximately 10,000 ha of forest.
Nusantara Fiber is an opaque company. However, AidEnvironment has identified several ways in which the company is connected to Royal Golden Eagle (RGE), the large paper and palm oil conglomerate. Nusantara Fiber’s Samoan holding company has a 100% subsidiary company that is also majority-owner of Nusantara Fiber’s plantation companies. This is the Hong Kong-based entity Green Meadows Fiber Products.
Additionally, two of the three first directors of “Green Meadows” were high ranking RGE employees. Another couple of the first directors are or were involved in various palm oil businesses (totaling 27 palm oil mills and/or kernel crushers), and RGE is a customer of all 27 companies. Historical ownership records of Nusantara Fiber companies reveal past control by entities that are part of or connected to RGE, before the companies were moved to secrecy jurisdictions. RGE has stated to AidEnvironment that it does “not have relations with the six companies that were mentioned in the report as part of Nusantara Fiber group”.
Analysis by AidEnvironment has identified PT Industrial Forest Plantation as the industrial forest plantation with the second largest amount of forested orangutan habitat, after PT Mayawana Persada. Both concessions demonstrate that some of Indonesia’s most important ecosystems and the last remaining forest of orangutans outside of protected areas are under industrial forest plantation permits.
Figure 2 PT Industrial Forest Plantation’s Deforestation in 2022
PT Sendawar Adhi Karya (owned by individuals known as Daniel and Charlie)
PT Sendawar Adhi Karya in West Kutai, East Kalimantan is an industrial forest plantation company owned by individuals named Daniel and Charlie. Not much is known about the owners, or any other companies associated with PT Sendawar Adhi Karyas. The company does not appear to have an official website or publish any sustainability policies. AidEnviroment’s analysis found that there was around 1,000 ha of forest clearing within the concession throughout 2022.
Figure 3 PT Sendawar Adhi Karya’s Deforestation in 2022
PT Hutan Produksi Lestari (owned by Iman Hartono and Willem Hartono)
In 2022, PT Hutan Produksi Lestari in Kapuas, Central Kalimantan cleared around 400 ha. The company has been a consistent deforester, among the largest in Indonesia’s industrial forest sector in 2020 and 2021. Almost 1,800 ha of forest loss was detected within the concession between 2020 to 2021.
PT Hutan Produksi Lestari is owned by two individuals named Iman Hartono and Willem Hartono. Not much is known about the two owners and public information about PT Hutan Produksi Lestari is limited. The owners are linked to a wood processing company in Karanganyar, Central Java, operated by PT Prima Parquet Indonesia. Indonesian export data from 2020 shows that plywood from this wood processing company was sold to companies in Singapore, Malaysia, and South Korea. Partners of AidEnvironment have been able to establish communication with PT Hutan Produksi Lestari and the company confirmed that they did not have sustainability policies and have never conducted any High Conservation Value (HCV) assessments.
PT Fajar Wana Lestari (owned by Tang Kok Heng)
PT Fajar Wana Lestari is registered as a foreign investment company in Indonesia. Notary acts for the company show that it is owned by a Singaporean citizen named Tang Kok Heng. PT Fajar Wana Lestari is located in Sambas, West Kalimantan. AidEnvironment detected around 400 ha of forest loss in the company’s concession in 2022. Public information about the company is limited. The company also does not seem to be associated with other companies in the same sector.
PT Intraca Hutani Lestari (owned by Hardaya)
PT Intraca Hutani Lestari in Tana Tidung, North Kalimantan is part of the Indonesian company Hardaya, which also operates palm oil business through Hardaya Inti Plantations. In 2022, the concession saw around 350 ha of forest loss. Its wood processing company associate, PT Intracawood Manufacturing, is FSC-certified and supplies to international markets such as Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Germany, and New Zealand. Hardaya is a company group owned by the Indonesian Murdaya family.
PT Bangun Rimba Sejahtera (owned by an individual named Johan)
PT Bangun Rimba Sejahtera operates industrial forest plantations in West Bangka, Bangka Belitung. The company is owned by an individual known only as Johan, for whom no public information can be found. The company cleared around 225 ha of forest in 2022. PT Bangun Rimba Sejahtera does not have any known sustainability policies.
Local media have reported on a land conflict involving the company and local communities. The conflict stems from local residents rejecting the concession, which they feared would lead to a loss of access to their current source of income.
PT Grace Putri Perdana (owned by Ciliandry Anky Mandiri)
Located in Lamandau, Central Kalimantan, PT Grace Putri Perdana saw approximately 220 ha of forest clearing in 2020. The company is part of a company group called Ciliandry Anky Mandiri. The company is operated by the Indonesian Fangiono family. Members of the family also operate the companies First Resources and FAP Agri.
PT Tanjung Redeb Hutani (owned by Prabowo Subianto)
PT Tanjung Redeb Hutani is owned Prabowo Subianto, Indonesia’s current Minister of Defence. The company is located in Berau, East Kalimantan. Over 2022, AidEnvironment detected around 180 ha of clearing within the concession. PT Tanjung Redeb Hutani does not have a website and there are no known sustainability policies.
PT Agrindo Persada Lestari (owned by Sampoerna Kayoe)
PT Agrindo Persada Lestari is operated by Sampoerna Kayoe, part of the wider Sampoerna group that also operates palm oil business through Sampoerna Agro. The concession is in Central Bangka, Bangka Belitung. According to Sampoerna Kayoe’s Sustainability Report 2021, Sampoerna Kayoe is committed to conducting HCV assessments within its concessions, by eligible third parties. However, the HCV assessment report of PT Agrindo Persada Lestari is not yet available on the HCV network website. Thus, AidEnvironmet could not verify whether the detected deforestation of around 170 ha fell within identified HCV areas.
