14 May 2021

Lawmakers in Indonesia have expressed shock that a controversial bill they passed into law last year amid near-universal criticism legitimises illegal deforestation for oil palm plantations.

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Oil palm plantations are prohibited by law from operating in areas designated as forest, but many continue to do so illegally. One of the omnibus law’s key concessions to the industry effectively legalises this crime: It gives plantation operators a grace period of three years to obtain the proper permits, including the degazetting of the forest designation, and to pay the requisite fines, allowing them to resume their operations.

“This is a whitewashing,” Darori Wonodipuro, a lawmaker with the Gerindra Party, said at a March 30 hearing with environment ministry officials.

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