2023 Marks a Surge in Palm Oil Expansion in Indonesia

In 2023, Indonesia saw an increase in deforestation caused by the expansion of intensively managed industrial monoculture palm oil plantations, following a record 21-year low in 2021 (White bars; Figure 1).

Industrial plantations grew by 116,000 hectares in 2023 (White and black bars; Figure 1), a 54% increase from the previous year. The associated deforestation increased by 36%, with 30,000 hectares of forest converted in 2023 compared to 22,000 hectares cleared in 2022.

Despite this increase, palm oil-driven deforestation remains significantly lower than in 2012, a year that witnessed the conversion of 227,000 hectares of forest to plantations.

There was a slight uptick in the area of peatlands converted to industrial palm oil, with a total of 10,787 hectares being converted in 2023, a 17% increase from the 9,180 hectares cleared in the preceding year.

When analyzed regionally, the increase in deforestation due to palm oil expansion (light bars; Figure 3) was most significant in Kalimantan and Papua, with a somewhat lesser rise observed in Sumatra.

The concession dataset developed by Greenpeace and compiled in Nusantara Atlas reveals that scores of companies still engage in deforestation and peat conversion for oil palm.

In 2023, 53 concessions cleared forest (>50 ha) for oil palm, and 20 exploited peatlands, despite efforts to prevent deforestation and peat conversion.

Similar to 2022, the company Ciliandry Anky Abadi led the way in forest clearing in 2023, clearing a total of 2,302 hectares across three distinct subsidiaries. This includes 1,702 hectares in the recently acquired Inti Kebun Sawit concession in West Papua, which was the top contributor to forest destruction for oil palm in both 2023 and 2022.

The “Chasing Shadows” article from The Gecko Project reveals that the Singapore-based First Resources, a major palm oil producer known for marketing its product as ‘sustainable’ and RSPO-certified, is covertly linked to Ciliandry Anky Abadi and Sulaidy. These companies are also implicated in the conversion of forests and peatlands into industrial oil palm plantations in 2023.

First Resources and its affiliated ‘shadow companies’ were responsible for clearing 3,285 hectares of forest in 2023.

The Gecko Project investigation revealed that First Resources utilized “shadow companies” to circumvent sustainability standards while still presenting an image of environmental accountability. Despite a complaint lodged against them in 2021 with the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), the RSPO has not addressed the issue with the seriousness it merits. Consequently, First Resources remains a member of the RSPO to this day.

Among other prominent contributors to forest destruction, Alam Indah Sdn Bhd/Meadows Capital Ltd stands out, having cleared 1,294 hectares of forest, including areas of peatland in its Lahan Agro Inti Ketapang Concession in West Kalimantan. This entity is a registered company based in Malaysia.

Tables 1 and 2 present a comprehensive list of companies involved in converting forests and peatlands into industrial oil palm plantations in 2023. Each of these companies is catalogued in the Nusantara Atlas, where users can view satellite animations to independently verify the changes. Additionally, there is a brief instructional video at the end of this document that guides users on how to create time-lapse visualizations for each listed company.

Table 1. List of companies converting forest to industrial monoculture oil palm in 2023. This table only shows conversion >50 ha.

No	Company Name	Group	Concession area (Ha)	Province	Palm-oil Deforestation (Ha)
1	Inti Kebun Sawit	Ciliandry Anky Abadi/First Resources	13.344	West Papua	1.702
2	Lahan Agro Inti Ketapang	Alam Indah Sdn Bhd/Meadows Capital Ltd	12.472	West Kalimantan	1.294
3	Borneo International Anugerah	First Borneo	20.016	West Kalimantan	930
4	Subur Karunia Raya	Salim/IndoGunta	38.600	West Papua	737
5	Sumber Rahmat Sentosa	Other/unknown	6.477	Central Kalimantan	703
6	Permata Sawit Mandiri	Sepanjang	16.770	West Kalimantan	685
7	Sepalar Yasa Kartika	Other/unknown	14.960	Central Kalimantan	547
8	Prasetya Mitra Muda (Block I)	Other/unknown	7.493	Central Kalimantan	479
9	Khatulistiwa Agro Abadi	First Borneo	16.868	West Kalimantan	384
10	Alam Sari Lestari	Other/unknown	12.446	Riau	384
11	Kaltim Hijau Makmur	CT Agro	15.157	East Kalimantan	368
12	Citra Palma Pertiwi	Sulaidy/First Resources	7.877	East Kalimantan	351
13	Tridaya Hutan Lestari	Ciliandry Anky Abadi/First Resources	9.588	East Kalimantan	326
14	Borneo Citra Persada Jaya	Sulaidy/First Resources	17.927	East Kalimantan	287
15	Inti Kebun Sejahtera	Ciliandry Anky Abadi/First Resources	21.885	West Papua	274
16	Mitra Kapuas Agro	First Borneo	7.229	West Kalimantan	240
17	Palm Beach Indonesia	Other/unknown	14.419	West Kalimantan	197
18	Krida Darma Kahuripan	Makin	13.508	Central Kalimantan	187
19	Mitra Sawit Makmur	Other/unknown	7.119	East Kalimantan	181
20	Usaha Sawit Unggul	Asian Agri/RGE	6.769	North Sumatra	174
21	Banyan Tumbuh Lestari	Buana Pratama Cipta	18.720	Gorontalo	155
22	Arjuna Utama Sawit	Other/unknown	15.651	Central Kalimantan	137
23	Berkah Sawit Abadi	First Borneo	34.000	West Kalimantan	123
24	Citra Permata Serundung	Other/unknown	8.174	West Kalimantan	120
25	Cipta Usaha Sejati	Pasifik Agro Sentosa	18.039	West Kalimantan	118
26	Nabire Baru	Goodhope	17.612	Papua	114
27	Bangun Batara Raya	DTK Opportunity	2.578	Central Kalimantan	113
28	Menthobi Mitra Lestari (PT Menthobi Sawit)	Bakrie	10.691	Central Kalimantan	112
29	Borneo Citra Persada Mandiri	Sulaidy/First Resources	11.899	East Kalimantan	108
30	Indokarya Gema Sakti	Other/unknown	4.192	East Kalimantan	104
31	Kalimantan Hamparan Sawit	Abdi Budi Mulia	12.034	Central Kalimantan	104
32	Kurun Sumber Rejeki	Other/unknown	9.481	Central Kalimantan	102
33	Palmdale Agroasia Makmur	Gozco Plantations	16.983	West Kalimantan	99
34	Wana Catur Jaya Utama	Rajawali/Eagle High	11.387	Central Kalimantan	97
35	Sandai Makmur Sawit	Other/unknown	10.084	West Kalimantan	92
36	Swadaya Mukti Prakarsa	Fangiono Family/First Resources	21.116	West Kalimantan	92
37	Kartika Nugraha Sakti	Bengalon Jaya Lestari	14.422	North Kalimantan	83
38	Tekukur Indah	Kuala Lumpur Kepong (KLK)	2.906	East Kalimantan	80
39	Karya Tama Bakti Mulya	Fangiono Family/First Resources	6.658	Riau	79
40	Watu Gede Utama	Unknown	6.015	Aceh	77
41	Kalimantan Agro Makmur	Unknown	5.967	East Kalimantan	70
42	Gumas Alam Subur	Jhonlin	10.462	Central Kalimantan	67
43	Gerbang Benuaraya	Abdi Budi Mulia	20.604	West Kalimantan	67
44	Brahma Bina Bakti	Rachmat/Triputra	12.998	Jambi	66
45	Borneo Citra Persada Abadi	Sulaidy/First Resources	14.303	East Kalimantan	66
46	Tantahan Panduhup Asi	STA	11.083	Central Kalimantan	65
47	Teladan Palma Perkasa	Unknown	4.014	East Kalimantan	60
48	Senabangun Aneka Pertiwi	Unknown	18.709	East Kalimantan	58
49	Bina Sarana Sawit Utama	Samuel	26.340	Central Kalimantan	56
50	Permata Hijau Sarana	Unknown	13.664	West Kalimantan	55
51	Sawit Desa Makmur	Unknown	13.571	Jambi	55
52	Ruta Jona Lestari	Unknown	20.729	Central Kalimantan	55
53	Permata Nusa Mandiri	Salim/IndoGunta	17.396	Papua	53
54	Katingan Hijau Lestari	Unknown	9.526	Central Kalimantan	52

Table 2. List of companies converting peatlands to industrial monoculture oil palm in 2022. This table only shows conversion >50 ha.

No	Company Name	Group	Concession (Ha)	Location	Clearing on peat (Ha)
1	Samora Usaha Jaya	Sungai Budi/Tunas Baru Lampung	40.073	South Sumatra	1.110
2	Borneo International Anugerah	First Borneo	20.016	West Kalimantan	999
3	Alam Sari Lestari	Unknown	12.446	Riau	671
4	Lahan Agro Inti Ketapang	Alam Indah Sdn Bhd/Meadows Capital Ltd	12.472	West Kalimantan	596
5	Gading Cempaka Graha	Unknown	5.385	South Sumatra	584
6	Arjuna Utama Sawit	Unknown	15.651	Central Kalimantan	335
7	Gerbang Benuaraya	Abdi Budi Mulia	20.604	West Kalimantan	191
8	Palm Beach Indonesia	Unknown	14.419	West Kalimantan	189
9	Uniseraya	Uniseraya	8.692	Riau	188
10	Borneo Sawit Perdana	Unknown	10.814	Central Kalimantan	136
11	Palmdale Agroasia Makmur	Gozco Plantations	16.983	West Kalimantan	133
12	Kartika Nugraha Sakti	Bengalon Jaya Lestari	14.422	North Kalimantan	124
13	Tani Swadaya Perdana	Unknown	4.270	Riau	116
14	Sumber Sawit Sejahtera	Unknown	2.891	Riau	113
15	Wana Subur Sawit Indah	Unknown	5.699	Riau	83
16	Menteng Kencana Mas	Citra Borneo Indah	19.876	Central Kalimantan	77
17	Sinar Dinamika Kapuas	Lyman	58.018	West Kalimantan	71
18	Pinang Witmas Abadi	Pinang Witmas Sejati	10.548	West Kalimantan	55
19	Berkat Nabati Sejahtera	IOI Corporation	17.335	West Kalimantan	49
20	Mitrakarya Agroindo	Sinar Mas (GAR)	22.929	Central Kalimantan	46

Creating satellite time-lapse animations on Nusantara Atlas for companies listed in the tables above

TheTreeMap endeavours to protect tropical forests through scientific research and advanced monitoring platforms. We are cartographers, remote sensing engineers, software developers, and field investigators.  We empower civil society with the tools to detect deforestation in real-time and ensure what happens on the ground is fair, transparent, and democratic. We build systems that check the deforestation footprint of agribusinesses in tropical forests to ensure sustainable production. Our work is based on the premise that no one wants food and other products to be the cause of forest destruction.