Abdon Nababan
Batak people, Indonesia
In 2007 the UN’s main body against racism – the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) – expressed concern over plans to create oil palm plantations -for bio-fuels - on indigenous lands. The Committee asked the Indonesian government to consult with communities before going ahead with the project. Bio-fuel is being heralded as one of the main solutions to climate change but many indigenous communities are losing their lands to bio-fuel plantations. Abdon Nababan of the Aliansi Masyarakan Adat Nusantara (AMAN), an indigenous network in Indonesia, discusses these issues with MRG.
Does your community see climate change as a major issue?
Climate change has been around for some time but the problem is that now climate change is also affecting the west. Indigenous people have been dealing with climate change for 100s of years and they have the capacity and knowledge to adapt to it. It is not a new issue for indigenous people.
So in what ways is your community affected by climate change?
Why this is very important for indigenous people is because they live in ecologically sensitive areas they are already victims of the violations by governments climate change makes their daily life worse.
We can see the impact on the agricultural cycle. Now with climate change the rainfall is not like it used to be in the old times and also the weather, the seasons are not the same, so the agricultural calendar has changed. It is difficult to predict the seasons, people already have their own systems - when to cultivate rice and potatoes - but now they can’t rely on it any more.
The changing of agriculture also changes the rituals.
Every year before they plant rice they have their rituals but now they have no time to prepare that because they don’t know when the planting time will be. Some times if there are ceremonies where all their members from other areas come - now it is difficult to do this.
Indonesia is one of the countries where indigenous communities have suffered as a result of bio-fuel plantations, which international governments consider as a solution to climate change. Can you tell us what your experience has been?
Before bio-fuels, before climate change issues indigenous people already were forced from their land to develop oil palm territories. Now because oil palm is needed for bio fuel there is an expansion of the oil palm industry almost all over Indonesia so bio fuels now make indigenous peoples’ life worse, they are suffering.
'Bio-fuels are making our peoples' life worse'
The oil palm companies work together with the government to take over indigenous peoples’ lands and then they change the forest to build plantations, it is very simple.
Their habitats are changed, they don’t have social preparation, their environment changes but the social system does not change so there is a gap there and they get into a crisis. It could be a food crisis for instance because there are no animals, no vegetables, so their life gets into a cash economic system but their culture is not cash economic - so it’s a genocide.
But the UN Committee on racism in a landmark ruling criticized the Indonesian government for taking over indigenous lands for bio-fuel plantations. What is your view about the UN’s response to this issue?
UN system is helping a lot but it is not enough. UN can put pressure on our government but our governments also have their own agenda, they don’t say the truth of what is going on. The UN system cannot force our government to do anything.
The UN takes our reports and asks our government to respond. But if you see the response from the government they don’t respond to what really is our problem.
The oil palms are still there, violations to the human rights of the indigenous peoples are still there - nothing has changed on the ground.
They have to push UN members to adopt the declaration of indigenous peoples rights all member states must be legally bound by it.
Climate change is only a small issue for indigenous peoples the main issues is they are prevented from enjoying the bundles of rights they inherit - right to land, right to territory, self determination, culture and law. Climate change is only one of them.