02/04/2009 (Green Planet) - The various ongoing and newly-proposed Oil Palm projects in Indonesia to convert forests into plantations have caused the concern of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (UNCERD).

The UNCERD letter issued at end March criticized Indonesia for failing to respect indigenous peoples' rights in relation to oil palm plantations. It highlighted threats posed to indigenous territories by the Kalimantan Border Oil Palm Megaproject, a massive oil palm project planned in the heart of Borneo near the Indonesia-Malaysia border.

With no attempt whatever by the State to protect indigenous rights, Kalimantan threatens to displace an estimated 1.4 million Indigenous people, with up to 5 million adversely affected.

“The high number of conflicts arising each year throughout Indonesia between local communities and palm oil companies remains an issue of concern for the committee, in particular with regard to the protection of Indigenous Peoples’ rights,” the UNCERD declares.

Furthermore, concern was expressed that a scheme to promote forest conservation in Indonesia via the Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) mechanism could increase conflict over land if the government doles out forest-carbon concessions in the same manner that it has with logging and plantation concessions.

The committee stated that any concessions offered to companies for capturing carbon must respect the rights of native residents to own and control their land, which includes giving consent to the nation to issue such concessions.