Thread by @tempo_english

Tweeps, Tempo English this week publishes a cover story on #foodestate projects in Central Kalimantan and North Sumatra. This report is the first in a series of extensive coverage on deforestation in Indonesia. #TempoMagzThread

#Foodestate is a strategic project of President @jokowi administration in response to the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) warning about a potential food crisis due to the Covid-19 pandemic. #TempoMagzThread

@jokowi We start from the Gunung Mas Regency in Central Kalimantan. #foodestate #TempoMagzThread

@jokowi Here, the Defense Ministry is developing 33,750 hectares of land for cassava plantation. Until last September, 600 hectares of lush forest had been cleared and planted with cassava. #foodestate #TempoMagzThread bit.ly/3mQg1sW

@jokowi This forest clearing disrupts the cycle of two rivers which flow into the Kahayan River. As a result, four villages suffer from heavy flooding during the rainy season. #foodestate #TempoMagzThread

@jokowi The process of forest clearing and cassava planting took place when the regulation on #foodestate and environmental assessment have not been released. #TempoMagzThread

@jokowi Even though the harvest is ready when the cassava reaches eight months old, in the field, the five-to-six-month-old plants look thin and some even withered and died. The nutrient-poor soil in the Gunung Mas forest is not suitable for cassava plants. #foodestate #TempoMagzThread

@jokowi Under the protection of the lush forest, local residents have practiced agroforestry for generations. Besides, the forest is the habitat for wild boars and orangutans. #foodestate #TempoMagzThread

@jokowi Forest clearing also releases carbon emissions stored in trees and their biodiversity. Emissions released are estimated at 250,000 tons of CO2 equivalent. #foodestate #TempoMagzThread

@jokowi In Gunung Mas, the plantation operator is Agro Industri Nasional or Agrinas in short. Who manage this company? Mostly senior military officers and Gerindra Party politicians (led by Minister of Defense Prabowo Subianto). #foodestate #TempoMagzThread
bit.ly/3DFKfWk

@jokowi Meanwhile in Kapuas and Pulang Pisau regencies, the Agriculture Ministry plants rice on a former peatlands area. Landowners receive supplies and seeds and planting patterns recommended by the ministry. #foodestate #TempoMagzThread

@jokowi As a result, the harvest has decreased compared to using the traditional method used by the farmers who have been cultivating the land there for years. #foodestate #TempoMagzThread

@jokowi One of the operators of the rice fields is M-Tani, a company owned by the Presidential Chief of Staff Gen. Moeldoko. When asked whether there is a conflict of interest, Moeldoko gives his reason. #foodestate #TempoMagzThread bit.ly/2YPV9tC

@jokowi In North Sumatra, the harvest of potatoes and garlic also do not live up to expectations. Indigenous people complain that the boundaries of the food estate area are encroaching their customary territory. #foodestate #TempoMagzThread bit.ly/3ayqZxk

What does the Agriculture Ministry have to say about this food estate mess? Read the answer. #foodestate #TempoMagzThread
bit.ly/3lEKpqB

We also write an editorial about how the government should manage a food estate so that it doesn’t become the next ecological disaster after several presidents had tried to build a #foodestate before. #TempoMagzThread bit.ly/3BJsB3s

This report is a global collaboration with @geckoproj supported by @Rainforest_RIN @pulitzercenter, @internews @earthjournalism and @greenpeaceid. Happy reading.