Palm-Oil-Driven Deforestation Stable in Indonesia in 2025 but Doubles in Papua

• Industrial oil palm expansion declined in Indonesia in 2025, yet associated deforestation remained stable.

• By contrast, forest conversion to industrial oil palm doubled in Indonesian Papua, reaching its highest level since 2018.

• 65 oil-palm concessions engaged in forest conversion, and 28 in peat conversion in 2025.

• The Fangiono Family was the largest driver of oil-palm-related deforestation in Indonesia in 2025, and led the observed shift of plantation expansion toward Papua.

• Peatland conversion fell in 2025, but persisted in sensitive landscapes, including around Danau Sentarum National Park, largely driven by the First Borneo Group.

• Even RSPO-certified concessions exploited loopholes to expand on peat despite NDPE commitments.

• The 2025 data also highlight the emergence of new actors, including Citra Sugi Aditya (CSA), a newcomer developing oil palm estates in the Riau Islands.

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Industrial oil palm expansion slowed in 2025, but associated deforestation did not. Satellite analysis using Sentinel-2 and Planet imagery reveals that industrial oil palm plantations expanded by 101,120 ha in 2025 (White and black bars; Figure 1), an 18% decrease from the previous year. Despite this slowdown, the associated deforestation showed no decline, totalling 31,073 hectares in 2025 compared to 30,956 hectares in 2024 (White bars; Figure 1).

At the regional level, both plantation expansion (light and dark bars; Figure 2) and associated deforestation (light bars; Figure 2) declined in Kalimantan and Sumatra; but increased in Papua, and to a lesser extent in Sulawesi.

In Papua, palm-oil-driven deforestation doubled, reaching 7,333 ha cleared compared with 3,510 ha in 2024, marking the highest annual level since 2018. This pattern suggests an eastward shift in plantation expansion from Sumatra and Kalimantan, where remaining land availability has become increasingly limited, toward Papua.

The conversion of peatlands for industrial palm oil cultivation saw a 35% drop, with a total of 7,593 hectares cleared in 2025 compared to 11,686 hectares the previous year (white bars; Figure 3).

At the concession level, 65 oil-palm concessions engaged in deforestation, and 28 in peat conversion in 2025 (Tables 1 and 2). This figure underestimates the total number of concessions involved, as the recorded forest clearing in concessions (21,823 ha), represents two-thirds of the 31,073 hectares deforested for oil-palm expansion in 2025.

Group-level aggregation shows that the Fangiono Family was the largest actor in oil-palm-related deforestation in 2025, for the third consecutive year, accounting for approximately 7,800 hectares of forest conversion through its network of companies, including Ciliandry Anky Abadi (CAA), New Borneo Agri / Sulaidy, and FNG Bona Nusantara. Nearly 80% of this clearing (~6,179 ha) occurred in Papua.

The Fangiono also own First Resources, a Singapore-based palm oil producer, that sells “sustainable” palm oil certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), the industry’s leading voluntary sustainability standard.

As early as 2021, civil society organisations lodged complaints with the RSPO concerning undisclosed relationships between these companies. The RSPO Secretariat dismissed allegations in 2025 and ruled that First Resources had not breached its membership rules. This decision has drawn strong condemnations from environmental organisations. In a joint statement, NGOs described the ruling as setting “a dangerous precedent,” warning that it may enable companies to retain RSPO certification and keep clearing forests. The observation that Fangiono-linked companies were the largest contributors to forest conversion in 2025 lends support to these concerns.

Another RSPO member, Bumitama, was associated with deforestation in 2025, clearing 390 hectares within its concession PT Karya Makmur Langgeng.

Similarly, RSPO member SIPEF converted 109 hectares of peatland within its RSPO-certified concession PT Dendymarker Indah Lestari. SIPEF notes that independent assessors had initially classified the affected area as unsuitable for development (“no-go”). The company subsequently disputed this conclusion, stating that its “No New Peat” policy applies only to new development areas and that the expansion we observe in 2025 on peat occurred within previously planted land, which it considers to be managed in accordance with RSPO requirements.

A longer historical satellite time-series indicates minimal prior development in the affected area prior 2025. About 30 hectares were cleared in 2013, followed by widespread fire at the end of 2015, visible in 2016 imagery. There is no evidence of established plantation patterns across most of the site before the recent 2025 clearing. There is, however, evidence of peat degradation by fire. This questions whether the 2025 activity can reasonably be characterized as legacy plantation management rather than new peatland conversion. Instead of restoring burned peatlands, this RSPO-certified company is converting them to oil palm. As such, the clearings raise concerns regarding alignment with RSPO’s no-deforestation and no-peatland conversion commitments. This case provides a clear example of how converting forests to oil palm on peatlands increases fire risk and results in substantial carbon emissions.

First Borneo Group ranked as the second largest actor, with 2,940 hectares of forest conversion. In contrast to Fangiono, whose clearing was concentrated in Papua, First Borneo’s expansion occurred predominantly in West Kalimantan across three concessions (PT Equator Sumber Rezeki, PT Borneo International Anugerha, and PT Khatulistiwa Agro Abadi). Much of this clearing is located within peat swamp forests surrounding Danau Sentarum National Park, a globally significant wetland ecosystem for climate mitigation and orangutan habitat. Satellite observations further suggest that clearing associated with PT Equator Sumber Rezeki extends beyond its mapped concession boundary.

The First Borneo Group is ultimately owned by Alexander Thaslim and his family through Chancellor Oil Pte Ltd (Singapore), itself wholly owned by Premier Palmoil Energy Pte Ltd (Singapore). The First Borneo Group does not own any mill in West Kalimantan, instead relies on third-party mills located up to 150 km away. This distance challenges the common assumption that plantation supply is typically limited to a 50 km radius around mills, suggesting that sourcing networks may extend significantly farther than often assumed, as road infrastruture improve.

The 2025 data also highlight the emergence of new frontiers. Citra Sugi Aditya (CSA), a subsidiary of Prima Antar Surya group, is developing new oil palm on Lingga Island (in Limbung and Teluk villages, Kabupaten Lingga). Past reporting in regional media has highlighted irregularities and disputes related to the company’s licensing history. Although the 2025 clearing occurred within a valid HGU, the case underscores the importance of considering both current land legality and historical permitting trajectories when evaluating emerging deforestation actors. This development signals a distinct coastal and small-island frontier for plantation expansion, geographically separate from the large forest blocks of Papua and Kalimantan.

PT Mulia Agro Utama stands out as an individual concession, having converted approximately 1,394 hectares of forest in North Kalimantan. The concession was sold to Longstar Investment in 2025 by the Chinese Julong Group. Longstar Investment Pte Ltd (Singapore) which is 100% owned by Zhang Ying (Chinese citizen), although little else is known about this group, underscoring the role of emerging or less scrutinized plantation investors from China and Singapore in driving frontier deforestation dynamics.

Beyond the Fangiono, First Borneo, and Prima Antar Surya groups, and Longstar Investment, forest conversion in 2025 was distributed across a diverse set of concessions operated by a wide range of companies. These concessions typically cleared between 20 and 700 hectares each and collectively represent a significant share of national oil-palm-related deforestation and peat conversion. Several belong to well-known plantation groups, including Jhonlin Group, Salim/IndoGunta, Korindo, Bumitama, DTK Opportunity/RGE, and Sinar Mas (GAR), while many others fall into “Unknown” ownership categories. The presence of numerous concessions with opaque parent-group affiliations highlights the persistent limited transparency of Indonesia’s plantation sector. Alongside dominant corporate networks, a broad constellation of smaller and mid-scale operators continues to contribute to forest loss across Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Sumatra, and Aceh.

Table 1. List of companies converting old-growth/primary forest to industrial monoculture oil palm in 2025. The table includes only conversion events exceeding 50 hectares that were confidently identified as deforestation for oil palm.

No	Company Name	Group	Concession (Ha)	Province	Deforestation for oil palm
1	Sorong Global Lestari (SGL)	FNG Boga Nusantara / Fangiono	13,052	Papua Barat Daya	2,383
2	Inti Kebun Sejahtera	Ciliandry Anky Abadi / Fangiono	21,885	Papua Barat Daya	2,024
3	Citra Sugi Aditya	Prima Antar Surya	2,970	Riau Islands	1,555
4	Mulia Agro Utama	Longstar Investment Pte Ltd/Julong group	14,024	North Kalimantan	1,394
5	Papua Agri Mandiri (PAM)	Ciliandry Anky Abadi / Fangiono	31,862	Southwest Papua	1,274
6	Equator Sumber Rezeki	First Borneo	12,051	West Kalimantan	1,152
7	PT Anugrah Surya Mandiri	Ciliandry Anky Abadi / Fangiono	2,676	East Kalimantan	765
8	Borneo International Anugerah	First Borneo	20,016	West Kalimantan	751
9	Bumi Agro Makmur	Unknown	5,495	Central Kalimantan	723
10	Khatulistiwa Agro Abadi	First Borneo	16,868	West Kalimantan	650
11	Tunas Hutan Mandiri	Jhonlin Group	12,484	South Kalimantan	639
12	Kaltim Hijau Makmur	CT Agro	15,157	East Kalimantan	509
13	Subur Karunia Raya	Salim / IndoGunta	38,600	Papua Barat	499
14	Inti Kebun Sawit	Ciliandry Anky Abadi / Fangiono	13,344	Southwest Papua	498
15	Nusamas Griya Lestari	Unknown	5,714	Central Sulawesi	467
16	Karya Makmur Langgeng	Bumitama	19,108	West Kalimantan	390
17	Loka Indah Lestari	Unknown	15,410	Gorontalo	366
18	Anugrah Niaga Sawindo	Other/unknown	7,982	Riau	347
19	Setia Agro Abadi	New Borneo Agri / Sulaidy / Fangiono	20,194	East Kalimantan	318
20	Sawit Jaya Makmur	Alas Kusuma	15,393	West Kalimantan	264
21	Borneo Citra Persada Jaya	New Borneo Agri / Sulaidy / Fangiono	12,526	East Kalimantan	261
22	Wana Subur Sawit Indah	Unknown	5,699	Riau	251
23	Jalin Vaneo	Pasifik Agro Sentosa	12,731	West Kalimantan	248
24	Iska Bekai	Tunas Sawa Erma (TSE) / Korindo	5,720	South Papua	232
25	Berkah Sawit Abadi	First Borneo	34,000	West Kalimantan	211
26	Mitra Sawit Makmur	Other/unknown	7,119	East Kalimantan	182
27	Cipta Papua Plantation	Ciptana Group	10,514	Southwest Papua	182
28	Agrindo Sukses Sejahtera	Starmas Sentosa Mandiri	5,384	East Kalimantan	181
29	Saraswanti Sawit Makmur	Saraswanti	5,428	East Kalimantan	171
30	Perkebunan Inti Sendawar	IMC Plantations	15,962	East Kalimantan	147
31	Alam Lestari Indah	Mekong Group Holdings / Tanoto/Royal Golden Eagle	9,871	Central Kalimantan	145
32	Citra Palma Pertiwi	New Borneo Agri / Sulaidy / Fangiono	11,081	East Kalimantan	143
33	Cipta Usaha Sejati	Pasifik Agro Sentosa	18,039	West Kalimantan	134
34	Uniseraya	Uniseraya	8,692	Riau	119
35	Bintang Sakti Lengana	Bangkit Giat Usaha Mandiri	5,906	Central Kalimantan	115
36	Wahana Hamparan Hijau	First Borneo	19,724	West Kalimantan	115
37	Permata Sawit Mandiri	Sepanjang (formerly Genting)	16,770	West Kalimantan	114
38	Palem Segar Lestari (Plasma)	Unknown	2,564	North Kalimantan	110
39	Nia Yulided Bersaudara	Unknown	2,179	Aceh	107
40	Blang Ara	Unknown	5,621	Aceh	100
41	Singkep Payung Perkasa	Unknown	17,643	Riau Islands	96
42	Tewah Bahana Lestari	DTK Opportunity / Tanoto/Royal Golden Eagle	7,390	Central Kalimantan	79
43	Citra Agro Abadi	Ciliandry Anky Abadi /Fangiono	9,199	Central Kalimantan	75
44	Putra Kurnia	Unknown	1,783	Aceh	74
45	Buruk Bakul	Unknown	1,983	Riau	71
46	Kalimantan Ria Sejahtera	DTK Opportunity / Tanoto/Royal Golden Eagle	12,335	Central Kalimantan	70
47	Harapan Hibrida Kalbar	Rachmat/Union Sampoerna Triputra Persada (JV between Rachmat and Union Sampoerna)	9,570	West Kalimantan	69
48	Surya Panen Subur	Rachmat/Amara	14,865	Aceh	68
49	Archipelago Timur Abadi	DTK Opportunity Tanoto / Royal Golden Eagle	14,992	Central Kalimantan	68
50	Permata Nusa Mandiri	Salim/IndoGunta	14,690	Papua	65
51	Bina Karya Nuansa Sejahtera	Panca Karya Marga Bhakti	2,336	East Kalimantan	65
52	Wana Catur Jaya Utama	Rajawali/Eagle High	11,387	Central Kalimantan	64
53	Pinang Witmas Abadi	Pinang Witmas Sejati	10,548	West Kalimantan	63
54	Kapuas Bio Agro	First Borneo	17,380	West Kalimantan	61
55	Marsam Citra Adiperkasa	Perkebunan Agro Keluarga Fangiono/Fangiono	12,297	East Kalimantan	59
56	Berkat Nabati Sejahtera	IOI Corporation	8,523	West Kalimantan	59
57	Sariwana Adi Perkasa	Goodhope	9,725	Central Papua	57
58	Brahma Bina Bakti	Rachmat/Triputra	5,684	Jambi	56
59	Batu Mas Sejahtera	Goodhope	10,248	West Kalimantan	55
60	Kalimantan Hamparan Sawit	Abdi Budi Mulia	14,810	Central Kalimantan	54
61	Ruta Jona Lestari	Other/unknown	20,729	Central Kalimantan	53
62	Hardaya Inti Plantations	Central Cipta Murdaya (Murdaya Family)	27,643	Central Sulawesi	52
63	Sumber Sawit Mitrajaya	Other/unknown	15,111	East Kalimantan	52
64	Nunukan Jaya Lestari	Sinar Mas (GAR)	21,382	North Kalimantan	51
65	Alam Sari Lestari	Other/unknown	12,446	Riau	51

Table 2.  List of companies converting peatlands to industrial monoculture oil palm in 2025. This table only shows conversion >20 ha.

No	Company Name	Parent group	Concession (Ha)	Location	Clearing on peat (Ha)
1	Borneo International Anugerah	First Borneo	20,016	West Kalimantan	801
2	Tempirai Palm Resources	Unknown	3,213	Sumatera Selatan	732
3	Uniseraya	Uniseraya	8,692	Riau	532
4	Dinamika Graha Sarana	Dinamika Graha Sarana / Sungai Budi	17,560	Sumatera Selatan	420
5	Wana Subur Sawit Indah	Unknown	5,699	Riau	383
6	Wahana Hamparan Hijau	First Borneo	19,724	West Kalimantan	282
7	Sawit Jaya Makmur	Alas Kusuma	15,393	West Kalimantan	279
8	Alam Sari Lestari		12,446	Riau	227
9	Inti Kebun Sejahtera	Ciliandry Anky Abadi / Fangiono	21,885	Southwest Papua	178
10	Surya Panen Subur	Rachmat/Amara	14,865	Aceh	171
11	Ricky Kurniawan Kertapersada	Makin	3,836	Jambi	149
12	Buruk Bakul	Unknown	1,983	Riau	136
13	Sawit Desa Kapuas	Surya Borneo Indah	26,278	West Kalimantan	113
14	Dendymarker Indah Lestari	SIPEF	17,083	Sumatera Selatan	109
15	Palem Segar Lestari (Plasma)	Unknown	2,564	North Kalimantan	93
16	Pinang Witmas Abadi	Pinang Witmas Sejati	10,548	West Kalimantan	89
17	Sumber Sawit Mitrajaya	Unknown	15,111	East Kalimantan	82
18	Arjuna Utama Sawit	First Borneo	12,827	Central Kalimantan	67
19	Sinar Karya Mandiri	Palma Agro Lestari	10,531	West Kalimantan	57
20	Tania Binatama	Sampoerna Agro	5,108	Sumatera Selatan	49
21	Kalbar Maju Dinamika	Unknown	6,259	West Kalimantan	41
22	Lahan Agro Inti Ketapang	Meadows Capital / Tanoto/Royal Golden Eagle	12,472	West Kalimantan	37
23	Koperasi Linggar Jati	Unknown	1,429	West Kalimantan	36
24	Toba Indah (Block B)	Unknown	2,376	Riau	31
25	Kalista Alam	Unknown	6,060	Aceh	29
26	Mitrakarya Agroindo	Sinar Mas (GAR)	22,929	Central Kalimantan	26
27	Perkebunan Nusantara XIII	Perkebunan Nusantara	74,073	West Kalimantan	24
28	Palm Beach Indonesia	Unknown	14,419	West Kalimantan	23

The TreeMap endeavours to protect tropical forests through scientific research and advanced monitoring platforms. We are cartographers, remote sensing engineers, AI Scientists, 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.