Mayawana Persada has carried out the largest and most aggressive deforestation by any timber plantation in Indonesia in the past decade. This is one of the most complex deforestation cases, involving not only environmental damage but also the destruction of orangutan habitat and peatlands, land grabbing, human rights violations, and even intimidation and criminalization of indigenous communities.
Civil society has been monitoring the activities of the Mayawana Persada timber plantation company since 2022. During this time, various efforts have been made to halt the deforestation and criminalization efforts carried out by Mayawana. Unfortunately, Mayawana has remained unmoved and continued land clearing, despite the Ministry of Environment and Forestry issuing a cease-and-desist order in March 2024.
From the outset, Mayawana’s business permit has met with resistance from communities in the 14 villages affected by its concession. This is because Mayawana’s concession encroaches on customary territories, customary forests, and privately owned land. Between 2016 and 2023, deforestation and land grabbing by indigenous communities and farmers increased rapidly. Between 2016 and 2022, Mayawana deforested 20,039 hectares, which was then aggressively cleared of another 17,839.96 hectares in just one year, 2023. Recent data shows that Mayawana continued deforestation in 2024, but most of it occurred before the order to halt forest clearing, with 3,890.31 hectares cleared in January-March 2024.
According to Hansen data as of May 2025, West Kalimantan Province has consistently ranked among the top five provinces with the highest deforestation rates in Indonesia over the past five years. This escalation increased in 2023, a figure consistent with findings from a civil society coalition, which also indicated that Mayawana’s land clearing activities peaked in 2023.
