1) Complaint against a palm oil company in Papua held in limbo by RSPO

2) Protester crashes Dutch royal visit

3) Papuans mull over lost local cuisines on council’s birthday

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Article included photos/maps

https://news.mongabay.com/2016/11/complaint-against-a-palm-oil-company-in-papua-held-in-limbo-by-rspo/

1) Complaint against a palm oil company in Papua held in limbo by RSPO

2 November 2016 / Alice Cuddy 

The grievance was filed against PT Nabire Baru, an arm of Goodhope Asia that is accused of a raft of violations in Indonesia’s easternmost region. The company denies the allegations.

• In April, an NGO complained to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil about a plantation firm alleged to have grabbed indigenous land in Indonesia's Papua province.
• The official grievance has yet to be accepted or rejected by the RSPO's Complaints Panel, even after more than six months.
• Observers have noted that an executive from the parent company of the firm in question also sits on the RSPO's Board of Directors. The roundtable denies that there is any conflict of interest.
• The RSPO is the world's largest association for ethical palm oil production, whose members consist of palm oil companies, banks and NGOs that choose to join.

A complaint lodged earlier this year about alleged abuses by a palm oil company in Indonesian Papua has raised questions over the credibility of the industry’s largest certification scheme in investigating member violations.

n April, indigenous rights NGO Pusaka wrote to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) with detailed allegations that PT Nabire Baru — a subsidiary of Goodhope Asia, which is owned by Sri Lankan palm oil giant Carson Cumberbatch — had violated “both legal 

regulations and the customary law” of the Yerisiam Gua people, as well as the RSPO’s own principles and criteria, which ban unsustainable practices like the conversion of virgin rainforests and land grabbing that aren’t necessarily illegal in countries where palm oil is produced.

Central to the complaint were claims that Nabire Baru took communal land belonging to the indigenous group in Papua’s Nabire district without a collective decisionmaking process.

“The company only ever met and managed to gain the support of a small group of community members, causing disharmony to emerge within the Yerisiam indigenous community,” the letter states. 

Nabire Baru was also accused of using guards from the police special forces to intimidate the local community as it expanded its operations, destroying “ecologically important” and “sacred” sago forestland relied on by the Yerisiam people for food and trade.

“The sago groves in question have existed naturally since ancient times, and are sacred sago groves which have provided food for the people of Sima village from generation to generation up to the present day,” said a separate letter sent on behalf of the Yerisiam indigenous community.

An image from awas MIFEE’s West Papua Oil Palm Atlas shows PT Nabire Baru’s concession in Indonesia’s easternmost region.

Pusaka called on the RSPO, which was established in 2004 to develop and implement global standards for sustainable palm oil, to “immediately investigate the allegations” and “resolve the conflict in an open manner which involves the wider Yerisiam community.” If the 

violations were confirmed, it said the RSPO should revoke the certification of Nabire Baru and its parent company. 

However, more than six months later, the case against Nabire Baru is still yet to be either accepted or rejected by the RSPO as a formal complaint. 

According to its latest update, the RSPO is still registering the complaint under the status “reported case received.” 

But the grievance does not appear in the RSPO’s case tracker as an official entry, in which documents relevant to the case would normally be made available for public scrutiny.

Pusaka Director Franky Samperante said three meetings have taken place at the RSPO’s Jakarta office since he filed the complaint. In late September, a field visit to the area was organized, but Samperante said he is yet to receive any official information on its result from the RSPO.

In the meantime, he said, the problems in Nabire persist. 

The RSPO “is still very slow responding to our complaints. While in the field, the company is still not solving the problems [of the] indigenous Yerisiam,” he explained.

Pusaka’s letter to the RSPO is not the first time issues with the company have been raised.

In early 2015, a group of organizations calling themselves the “Coalition caring for oil palm victims in Nabire” urged the governor of Papua province to revoke the company’s permit over its alleged violations.

At the same time, online watchdog awas MIFEE described Nabire Baru as “possibly the most controversial plantation in Papua,” while the case was also featured in an inquiry into land conflicts affecting indigenous peoples conducted by Indonesia’s National Commission on Human Rights.

The company has denied all of the allegations.

Samperante in an email this week said he feared there were “bias (sic) interests” within the RSPO, as he called on the certification body to come to an “objective and independent” decision based on the facts of the case. 

The roundtable is composed of palm oil companies, NGOs and banks that choose to become RSPO members, requiring the firms to adhere to certain standards in their operations and allowing them to promote their products with the RSPO’s green label.

Jago Wadley, a senior forest campaigner with London-based NGO the Environmental Investigations Agency (EIA), which has done extensive research into the functioning of the RSPO, described the lack of decision as “both unsurprising and galling to all who seek to depend on RSPO impartiality.”

“Failure to process complaints in line with procedure indicates, at best incompetence, and at worst wilful intent to ‘protect’ violators from due process,” he said.

He added that the case suggests the organization “has essentially abandoned its essential procedures in ways that benefit a board member’s company by keeping its violations ‘off the books.’”

Edi Suhardi, sustainability director at Nabire Baru’s parent company Goodhope, is an RSPO vice president and sits on its Board of Governors.

Andrew Ng, a founder of the consultancy Grassroots, said the time taken to reach a decision on the complaint was “consistent with the pattern and track-record of RSPO in addressing complaints in general.”

“In a Secretariat of 60+ people they have one person handling complaints as the coordinator. It used to be far, far worse…But we’re still light years away from even basic satisfaction that the system functions according to RSPO’s own procedural requirements.”

According to the complaints system, which is described as a “fair, transparent and impartial process,” the RSPO “will only decline to investigate if the complainant is unable to provide adequate evidence or if the complaint can be resolved bilaterally.” 

Despite ongoing calls from Pusaka for the RSPO to process its complaint and claims that the violations are continuing, Stefano Savi, the RSPO’s global outreach and engagement director, said it is still “currently being treated as a reported case,” citing the willingness of both parties involved to “resolve the issues amicably.”

He added that the RSPO “highly values the necessity of the neutrality” of Complaints Panel members and ensures that there is no conflict of interest when it comes to such cases.

Suhardi, the Goodhope sustainability chief and RSPO vice president, said he was not aware of the delay in accepting or rejecting the complaint.

He explained that board members play no part in decisions over complaints relating to companies they are involved in, and noted that RSPO decisions on such cases in the past have sometimes taken “years for examination and more years to resolve.”

Suhardi added that the RSPO was finalizing its report on the September field visit, which he hoped would clear up all complaints.

Outside of the RSPO, a meeting was held last month between the two sides in which they discussed the issues. 

During the meeting, Sanjaya Upasena of Goodhope Asia vowed to “100 percent support the community…as long as they are not self-centered,” according to a transcript provided by Suhardi. 

“Not even point 1 percent we will abandon them if it is not personal but the interest of the whole community,” he added.

But as calls continue for the issues to be quickly resolved, Ng of Grassroots said the need for the RSPO to have an efficient complaints mechanism cannot be underestimated. 

“For an industry like palm oil, already known as controversial and high-risk in areas of environmental degradation and human rights violations, the need for RSPO to have a credible and transparent redress mechanism is simply magnified, if this organization 

wants to show that it is serious,” he explained.

Wadley of EIA agreed.

“Where the complaints procedure does not function, the RSPO does not function,” he said.

Banner image: The canopy of an oil palm plantation in Indonesia. Photo by Rhett A. Butler

Article published by Philip Jacobson on 2016-11-02

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http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2016/11/02/protester-crashes-dutch-royal-visit

2 NOV 2016 - 5:16PM

2) Protester crashes Dutch royal visit

The Dutch royals were welcomed to Canberra by a little half-Dutch girl, a protester for West Papua, and a slew of Australians with Dutch heritage.

It was a family gathering of sorts when the Dutch King and Queen met Australians with heritage from the land of tulips and windmills.

But King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima's visit to the nation's capital on Wednesday wasn't without controversy as a protester crashed their tour to demand rights for West Papuans.

The royals capped off their Canberra visit at the National Archives of Australia where they inspected the document which led to thousands of Dutchmen and women heading to Australia, the 1951 migration agreement.

They met Petronella Wensing, who was a 29-year-old mother of two when she arrived after a two-month boat journey in 1953.

She marked a new life Down Under when on her first day she gave birth to her third son, Ed.

"I think the connection will always stay there," she told AAP.

"I hope my kids appreciate the Dutch background."

The royals posed for a picture with a number other Australians with Dutch heritage, including sports journalist Stephanie Brantz.

"Family portrait," Ms Wensing chuckled to them.

But the royal visit didn't entirely go to plan, with the couple met by a protester outside the Archives reminding the Dutch of their colonial history in West Papua.

"Your royal highnesses, welcome to Australia!" he bellowed with a megaphone.

"Next time you see your government, could you please ask them to apologise to the people of West Papua."

In another unplanned moment, the couple earlier arrived at Parliament House to meet a half-Dutch toddler joyfully sitting on the road outside.

Nearly 20-month-old Eleanor Eschauzier waved the Dutch flag waiting for the king and queen after they laid a wreath at the MH17 memorial.

When the little girl in a red coat sitting on the road flopped over and began to cry, the king joked that's what he would do too.

Earlier, the couple visited the memorial for Australian victims of MH17 in a garden adjacent to parliament, laying sunflowers at its base.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and wife Lucy, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Speaker Tony Smith joined them.

The royal couple later met members of the federal police, consular staff and defence representatives who helped in the aftermath of the July 17, 2014 event.

Mr Smith noted 298 people lost their lives, including 196 Dutch citizens and 38 people who called Australia home.

"Australia is very grateful for your country's leadership and solidarity in the response to the MH17 tragedy," he said at a morning tea.

The royals are expected in Sydney on Thursday.

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/02/papuans-mull-over-lost-local-cuisines-council-s-birthday.html

3) Papuans mull over lost local cuisines on council’s birthday

Nethy Dharma Somba The Jakarta Post

Jayapura | Wed, November 2 2016 | 08:12 am

The Papuan People’s Assembly (MRP), an institution formed as part of the implementation of the 2001 Law on Special Autonomy for Papua, will focus on the rescue of Papuan culture, which is in crisis as a result of the rapid influx of other cultures.

“The MRP will focus on rescuing the culture of Papua and rescuing culture is the same as saving the people of Papua. All Papuan communities have been complaining about how their culture is starting to be ignored by outside cultures,” said MRP chairman Matius Murib during the 11th MRP anniversary in Jayapura on Monday.

One of the factors behind this cultural loss is the rapid, unfiltered flow of foreign cultures into Papua, he added.

The younger generation in Papua also seemingly yearns for cultural preservation. In a series of speeches delivered in their mother tongue from 10 youths representing the five cultural regions of Papua, they all wished for the preservation of culture and language to be included in school curriculums.

“If we, the younger generation no longer have culture, then we will lose our identity and no longer be recognized as Papuans. We hope the governor, the Papuan People’s Representatives Council [DPRP] and the MRP devise a regulation to preserve Papuan culture, one measure of which being setting Oct. 31 as Papuan Cultural Day,” said a young man from Asmat representing the Anim Ha culture in the southern Papua region.

MRP, said Murib, held a hearing to ascertain the views of all indigenous communities from the five cultural regions of Papua. 

“In the meeting, members of indigenous communities complained about local culture increasingly being eroded by foreign cultures, so there must be a concerted effort to save it,” he said.

The indigenous communities also reportedly complained about the long period of Papuans losing their own land, especially with the proliferation of regional division.

“Land is heritage, so land should also be maintained and preserved. I hope the regional administrations in Papua will make regulations to protect customary land. I urge indigenous people not to sell their land but only to lease it,” added Murib.

Papua Jungle Chief community head Charles Toto considers Papuan cuisine to be one aspect of the region’s culture that is nearly extinct. 

“I see that 80 percent of the special food of Papua is no longer cooked by Papuans. It’s a sign that the typical cuisines of Papua are being further neglected,” said Toto.

Toto and his colleagues are currently mapping out different cuisines in Papua. 

“Many of the typical cuisines of Papua are no longer prepared by the local community because of the many foreign cuisines consumed by people every day. Papua’s typical food must be preserved because it is Papua’s uniqueness,” said Toto.

He cited the fact that only vegetable salt in the world existed only in Papua, which is made by the community from the Korowai tribe. The vegetable salt is made from the leaves of young rattan.

“Such cultural wealth must be preserved because it is the wealth of the community,” said Toto.

Papua provincial secretary Heri Dosinaen said he would support the establishment of Oct. 31 as Papuan Cultural Day with a regulation. 

“A special bylaw will be made so that Papua Cultural Day is commemorated every Oct. 31. The regulation will soon be written and subsequently set into special provincial regulation,” he said.

Papua is made up of the cultural regions of Saireri, La Pago, Mee Pago and Anim Ha and 273 local dialects.