Palm oil deforestation in Indonesia levels off in 2022

Analysis by TheTreeMap, conducted using Sentinel-2 and Planet/NICFI satellite imagery

In 2022, Indonesia experienced its second-lowest annual deforestation caused by industrial palm oil production, following a record 22-year low in 2021.

Industrial plantations grew by just 59,965 hectares in 2022, a 29% decrease from the previous year and a 22-year low (2001-2022).

Surprisingly, palm oil-driven deforestation increased 14% from the previous year, with 18,830 hectares of forest converted in 2022 compared to 16,530 hectares cleared in 2021.

The conversion of peatland for palm oil cultivation saw a 41% drop from 2021, with a total of 8,012 hectares cleared compared to 13,617 hectares the previous year. This marks the lowest level of peatland conversion for palm oil since 2002.

This is good news and demonstrates some commitment from the Indonesian government and the monitoring of NDPE commitments.

Nevertheless, satellite imagery has shown an increase in deforestation in Papua, the country’s final frontier. Palm oil-driven deforestation declined or stabilized in Kalimantan and Sumatra, but doubled in Papua from the previous year, with 2,123 hectares of primary forest converted. This number remained well below 2015, when the palm oil industry cleared >30,000 ha of forest.

The satellites and cadaster compiled in Nusantara Atlas also reveal that scores of companies still engage in deforestation and peat conversion for oil palm.

In 2022, > 41 companies engaged in deforestation for oil palm, and > 18 exploited peatlands, including on orangutan habitat (e.g. Permata Sawit Mandiri in Kalimantan), despite efforts to prevent deforestation and peat conversion.

Tables 1 and 2 at the end of this document report the complete list of companies converting forest and peatlands to industrial monoculture oil palm in 2022.

PT Permata Sawit Mandiri supplied NDPE markets in 2022 through the mill of the company Goodhope (until the end of January 2022), and Bumitama’s Bukit Belaban Jaya mill in West Kalimantan.

In 2022, Ciliandry Anky Abadi cleared the most forest, 1,894 ha in three separate concessions, including 1,452 ha in a newly acquired concession Inti Kebun Sawit in West Papua. The company is owned by Ciliandry and Wiras Fangiono, part of the wider Fangiono family behind Singapore-based First Resources. First Resources is the subject of a Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) complaint due to issues around ownership between Ciliandry Anky Abadi and First Resources and the affiliated FAP Agri. According to CRR, Ciliandry Anky Abadi enters NDPE supply chains through Grupo Bimbo and Mondelēz.

Ciliandry Anky Abadi keep disregarding the law by clearing the ancestral lands of indigenous peoples, even after their permits have been revoked, such as PT Inti Kebun Sawit and PT Permata Nusa Mandiri in Papua.

PT Permata Nusa Mandiri is an oil palm plantation owned by Indonesian businessman Anthoni Salim behind Salim Group, a company group that operates multiple business lines such as oil palm plantations (under Salim Ivomas Pratama and IndoAgri), media, grocery stores.

Indigenous People strongly opposed the development of oil palm in the area managed by PT Permata Nusa Mandiri because land overlaps with the ancestral lands of the Namblong People. On Feb. 28, the Jayapura government ordered the company to halt its forest clearing activities, to no avail.

Despite La Nina weather phenomenon, bringing rain to Indonesia, Large fires >6000 ha linked to palm oil expansion on peatlands still occurred in 2022 near several palm oil mills in West Sumatra supplying to international buyers. The four palm oil processing mills are the Tapan plant, owned by the company Kemilau Permata Sawit, and nearby Sodetan, Silaut and Anak Angkat mills, all owned by Incasi Raya.

Despite genuine and dedicated conservation efforts by Park Offices, deforestation for palm oil accelerated in 2022 in some key protected areas: Tesso Nilo national park in Riau, Rawa Singkil Nature Reserve in Aceh, and the Leuser Ecosystem, the home of orangutans, elephants and Tigers.

 A newspaper concluded in July 2021 that PT Mitrasari Prima mill is processing palm oil fruits from Tesso Nilo. MitraSari Prima supplies CPO and PKO to GAR and Musim Mas, and Wilmar.

PT. Nia Yulided Bersaudara continued to decimate lowland rainforests in 2022 northeast of the Leuser Ecosystem in Aceh. The company sold to a mill called PT. Bumi Sama Ganda. PT. Bumi Sama Ganda is listed as a palm oil supplier to Nestlé, Colgate Palmolive, PepsiCo, Nissin Foods and major traders including Wilmar, Golden Agri Resources, Sime Darby, ADM and Bunge Loders Croklaan.

Table 1. List of companies converting forest to industrial monoculture oil palm in 2022. This table only shows conversion >50 ha.

No	Company Name	Group	Concession (Ha)	Province	Deforestation
1	Inti Kebun Sawit	Ciliandry Anky Abadi	13,344	West Papua	1,452
2	Pipit Citra Perdana	Other/unknown	16,531	North Kalimantan	1,397
3	Permata Sawit Mandiri	Sepanjang (formerly Genting)	16,770	West Kalimantan	1,137
4	Lahan Agro Inti Ketapang	Alam Indah Sdn Bhd/Meadows Capital Ltd	12,472	West Kalimantan	704
5	Kartika Nugraha Sakti	Bengalon Jaya Lestari	14,422	North Kalimantan	697
6	USU	Asian Agri Group	6,769	North Sumatra	639
7	Citra Palma Pertiwi	Sulaidy	7,877	East Kalimantan	556
8	Khatulistiwa Agro Abadi	First Borneo	16,868	West Kalimantan	500
9	Anugerah Langkat Makmur	Alam	18,881	North Sumatra	470
10	Arthatama Prima Persada	Other/unknown	3,845	East Kalimantan	393
11	Inti Kebun Sejahtera	Ciliandry Anky Abadi (formerly Kayu Lapis Indonesia, Kalia Agro)	21,885	West Papua	342
12	No name	Bengalon Jaya Lestari	7,838	North Kalimantan	340
13	Sumber Rahmat Sentosa	Other/unknown	6,524	Central Kalimantan	337
14	Sawit Rokan Semesta	Other/unknown	10,108	Riau	268
15	Menthobi Mitra Lestari (PT Menthobi Sawit)	Bakrie	10,691	Central Kalimantan	260
16	Tridaya Hutan Lestari	Ciliandry Anky Abadi	2,696	East Kalimantan	244
17	Banyan Tumbuh Lestari	Buana Pratama Cipta (formerly Provident Agro)	18,720	Gorontalo	229
18	Citra Agro Abadi	Fangiono Family/Ciliandry Anky Abadi (CAA)	9,199	Central Kalimantan	216
19	Permata Nusa Mandiri	Salim/IndoGunta	17,396	Papua	202
20	Subur Karunia Raya	Salim/IndoGunta	38,600	West Papua	199
21	Taringin Perkasa	Other/unknown	4,821	Central Kalimantan	150
22	Palm Beach Indonesia	Other/unknown	14,419	West Kalimantan	145
23	Rendi Permata Raya	Other/unknown	3,740	North Sumatra	130
24	Sebuku Inti Plantation	Central Cipta Murdaya (Murdaya Family)	4,443	North Kalimantan	118
25	Agrindo Sukses Sejahtera	Starmas Sentosa Mandiri	5,384	East Kalimantan	110
26	Agrindo Green Lestari	Fangiono Family/Ciliandry Anky Abadi (CAA)	8,745	Central Kalimantan	103
27	Sawit Berkat Sejahtera	Salim/IndoGunta	7,123	North Kalimantan	100
28	Senabangun Aneka Pertiwi	Other/unknown	18,709	East Kalimantan	96
29	Anugerah Niaga Sawindo	Other/unknown	7,982	Riau	93
30	Mitra Sawit Makmur	Other/unknown	7,119	East Kalimantan	89
31	Setia Agro Abadi	Sulaidy	18,118	East Kalimantan	84
32	Menthobi Mitra Lestari	Bakrie	5,019	Central Kalimantan	84
33	Nabatindo Karya Utama	Bumitama	9,262	Central Kalimantan	84
34	Bulungan Citra Agro Persada	TSH Resources	19,320	North Kalimantan	82
35	Sandai Makmur Sawit	Other/unknown	10,084	West Kalimantan	80
36	Mitrakarya Agroindo	Sinar Mas (GAR)	22,929	Central Kalimantan	79
37	Tekukur Indah	Kuala Lumpur Kepong (KLK)	2,906	East Kalimantan	67
38	Borneo Citra Persada Jaya	Sulaidy	17,927	East Kalimantan	65
39	Nia Yulided Bersaudara	Other/unknown	2,207	Aceh	59
40	Kahayan Agro Plantation	Anglo Eastern	14,940	Central Kalimantan	59
41	Flora Nusa Perdana	Other/unknown	6,371	Central Kalimantan	58
42	Nunukan Jaya Lestari	Sinar Mas (GAR)	21,382	North Kalimantan	56
43	Ketapang Hijau Lestari	Other/unknown	13,918	East Kalimantan	54
44	Rana Wastu Kencana	Rana Wastu	13,372	West Kalimantan	52
45	Tanjung Sawit Abadi	Citra Borneo Indah	17,503	Central Kalimantan	51

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	1,702
2	Pipit Citra Perdana	Other/unknown	16,531	North Kalimantan	1,424
3	Lahan Agro Inti Ketapang	Other/unknown	12,472	West Kalimantan	811
4	Kartika Nugraha Sakti	Bengalon Jaya Lestari	14,422	North Kalimantan	703
5	Khatulistiwa Agro Abadi	First Borneo	16,868	West Kalimantan	621
6	Tania Binatama	Sampoerna Agro	5,108	South Sumatra	490
7	Borneo International Anugerah	First Borneo	20,016	West Kalimantan	229
8	Lestari Alam Raya	Other/unknown	10,290	West Kalimantan	185
9	Palm Beach Indonesia	Other/unknown	14,419	West Kalimantan	175
10	Sebuku Inti Plantation	Central Cipta Murdaya (Murdaya Family)	4,443	North Kalimantan	169
11	Andes Sawit Lestari	Cargill	15,091	West Kalimantan	139
12	Citra Agro Abadi	Fangiono Family/Ciliandry Anky Abadi (CAA)	9,199	Central Kalimantan	131
13	Sebakis Inti Lestari	Central Cipta Murdaya (Murdaya Family)	11,010	North Kalimantan	112
14	USU	Asian Agri Group	6,769	North Sumatra	78
15	Sungai Rangit Jaya	Sampoerna Agro	7,765	Central Kalimantan	69
16	Hamparan Sentosa	NPC Resources	10,274	East Kalimantan	62
17	Ichiko Agro Lestari	Other/unknown	7,673	West Kalimantan	59
18	Mulia Indah	Musim Mas	7,860	West Kalimantan	43

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.