00.08

Indonesia's ancient rainforests have been breathing for centuries. They absorb gases that contribute to climate change. These forests are the home of the endangered orang-utan and thousands of other life forms which are threatened by extinction.

00.36

The earth's lungs are in danger of being lost forever - due to the world's growing demand for palm oil.

Indonesia is well on the way to becoming the world's

largest producer of palm oil.

International investors, palm oil companies and the Indonesian ministry for agriculture are planning to turn 260-thousand square kilometers, an area roughly the size of the United Kingdom, into

oil palm monocultures.

The people of Sumatra stand to lose everything.

Din Perulak is the chief of the Orang Rimba. He‘s had

to  watch how the rainforest which until recently provided food

and shelter for his people, is being destroyed.

01.32

O-Ton Din Perulak - Trible head of Orang Rimba

Stop chopping down our forest. We can't allow them to

cut another tree. We've been here now for one hour and

it is unbearably hot here. Our bodies are suffering,

It's as if our mother is dying.  It pains us to watch how the forest is being cut, destroyed forever.

 T I T E L

02.06

Oil palms must grow for at least three years before the lucrative oil can be pressed out of them. Indonesian palm oil is the cheapest in the world. International investors have been the driving force behind the massive growth of Indonesia's palm oil production.

02.32

Large parts of the Indonesian Island of Sumatra are already covered by oil palm plantations. In recent years annual exports have skyrocketed. In 2007 they reached almost 20 million tons of palm oil per year, and that figure keeps rising fast . The plantations cover more than 6 million hectares (or 8,4 million football fields). While governments around the world discuss the problem of climate change and the Indonesian government promises to stop the destruction of the rainforest, (here on Sumatra) thousands of hectares of forest are chopped down every day.

It's an environmental disaster that scientists believe is irreversible.

Once the trees are gone, the damp peat of the forest floor is exposed to the sun, and the fertile ground dries out, releasing huge amounts of greenhouse gasses previously stored in the ground.

So oil palm monocultures do not help prevent climate change.

Against many scientists' advice monocultures are still being planted on the valuable forest floor that remains. Since palm oil has become a popular energy source, known as biofuel or agrofuel making the demand grow even faster.

04.00

O-Ton Din Perulak - Trible head of Orang Rimba

I'm so unhappy about these gigantic new oil palm

plantations. Our forest, in which we, the Orang Rimba,

have gathered fruit, which has sustained us, has

completely disappeared. There are plantations  everywhere. I ask you, how are we supposed to survive when there is no forest anymore?

04.55

In 2001:

We met Din Perulak and his clan for the first time. The forests surrounding the Bukit Dua Blas national park was then their home. At the end of the 1980s, 3.000 Orang Rimba families were still living in the forests of central Sumatra. They call themselves the

„children of the forest." The forest is like a father and mother to them. They firmly believe to be destined by their gods to live in the forest. They believe the spirits have given them the knowledge that enables them to survive in the heart of the forest and to live from the fruits it provides.

05.45

As they natural habitat began to shrink they were no longer able to sustain themselves from the forest, they began making baskets weaved with rattan. They began swapping them for food.

06.01

They would never dare to chop down a single tree, because they believe that if they harm nature, they will call upon themselves the wrath of the gods.

06.18

O-Ton  - Member of Din Perulaks Clan

Sometimes the spirits are evil and they enter the souls of our children. Then these children disappear or they become very sick. That's what happens when you destroy the forest.

06.38

O-Ton  - Trible head of Orang Rimba

It's the big companies who are behind all this. We know who they are. I believe it is Sinar Mas.

06.44

Din Perulak - Trible head of Orang Rimba

Yes I know Sinar Mas. It's mainly them, and Pa Yang and Pa Tan work for them. First they log the forest, then they sell the timber and then they prepare the ground and plant their palm plantations.

07.24

Since the start of the new millennium they've had to witness an alarming increase in the pace at which their forest is being destructed. At first they were still able to take shelter under the green roof of the forest. The first loggers were landless farmers, who had no choice but to make a living by selling wood, after the palm oil companies took away their land. As the sound of the chain saws drew closer, their traditional way of life of the Orang Rimba was ruined.

08.09

Din has been forced to stand by and watch. While the world's demand for palm oil has for ever ruined his home.

08.26

O-Ton  Din Perulak - Trible head of Orang Rimba

We can't work here. We just can't, this is the land where our ancestors live. We would lose our souls if we were to start working on this land. It's forbidden for us to do so, and anyway we don't have the physical strength.

08.46

Only few people find work in the plantations. Herbicides are widely used. Some don't just kill weeds, they also end up killing people. Worldwide, more than one million people are estimated to have died from this poisonous herbicide, Paraquat. Small dosages can cause burns and cauterization through skin contact.

Inhaling it can lead to lung cancer. Ingesting it is fatal.

In the US and in Europe it has been banned, but in Indonesia the Swiss biotech giant Syngenta is still able to sell it. It ends up not only on crops but also in the ground water.

None of this has stopped Syngenta from being a member of the "Round table for sustainable palm oil production", an organization that tries to give an ecological seal of approval to large scale oil palm plantations.

M U S I K

09.55

The palm oil industry shows a complete disregard for the wellbeing of its workers and the people who live around it. Not only through its use of toxic herbicides but also the excessive use of fertilizers. These phosphates end up in rivers and lakes. They contain heavy metals which harmful to man and the environment. The same is true for nitrates. The ground water here is so salty that no other fruit can grow on this land. All of this is  well known to Indonesian palm oil companies.

But still they aim to win over the European agrofuel market by selling their palm oil with an ecological seal of approval. Their business strategy is simple: to increase production as fast as possible with the help of herbicides and fertilizers and to pay their workers as little as possible.

11.00

The oil palm nuts that must be pressed and processed within 24 hours, or else, they rot.

Sinar Mas with its company headquaters in Singapur, is the largest producer of palm oil in Indonesia. It's financial backers are spread around the world, and they include well known European banks, such as the Banque National de Paris and Deutsche Bank. Sinar Mas

also owns the oil presses. The farmers have no means of transport. The price of raw goods is dictated by the company.

For the oil to stay runny, it must be constantly heated. More than 90 percent of palm oil is destined for the international market.

11.47

The palm oil dealers are in Europe. It is a sought after raw material as it is one of the healthiest vegetable oils.

M U S I K

12.34

As the raw ingredient for margarine it is an important contributor to our daily diet.

Compared to sunflower, mais and rapeseed oil, Indonesian palm oil is very cheap. Millions of people around the world rely on it. But consumers have a choice whether to buy vegetable oil produced locally, or cheap margarine from the Indonesian rain forest. The growing demand for cheap oil in Europe and in China is what's making things worse.

But palm oil is also used as a raw ingredient for washing powder, soap and dishwashing detergent.

13.21

Since the European Union decided that by 2030 transport fuel must contain at least 20 per cent of agrofuels, the market has exploded. The prices too have gone up by more than a quarter. If the current development continues, by 2030, some 8 million cars will consume the food of 2 billion starving people, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

13.47

The decision to use such a valuable and versatile footstock for energy purposes, was bourn out of the assumption that sustainable resources are more environmentally sound. Unfortunately there is nothing sustainable about palm oil production in countries like Indonesia. Palm oil is also increasingly used as fuel for renewable energy electric power stations.

14.13

It is a lucrative business, not only the fruits can be turned into money, but also their peal and pulp. These waste products are perfect animal feed. Large scale importers like the Alfred C. Töpfer in Hamburg supply the whole of Europe with palm kernel meal from Indonesia. The demand for agrofuels has also caused a strong increase in the price of animal feed. Palm kernel meal is still one of the cheapest types of animal feed.

14.40

Mixing animal protein into feedstuff was banned following the outbreak of BSE or mad cow disease. Farmers have had to find alternative protein sources. Palm kernel meal is cheap  and save for European and North American animal farmers.

15.04

And this is why even our dairy products are affected by the price hikes for Indonesian palm oil. Milk prices in Germany have risen considerably in 2007 . The reason is unknown to many, but the link is clear. The demand for agrofuels is making some of our basic foods more expensive.

15.25

Not only by-products are used in meat production, but also the oil itself. It is used as a substitute for animal fats. In order to meet the expectations of even the most demanding gourmets, the oil is often flavored with vanilla and coconut extracts before it is fed to the animals. The pigs fatten fast, in just a hundred days they are ready to be slaughtered. But the  question is, where should all the palm oil be produced to meet such rising demand?

16.20

Sinar Mas in Jakarta has the answer. The company makes its money by selling timber, paper and palm oil. It's recently also opened a so called green energy division. Daud Dharsono is the head of the Indonesian palm oil producer's association Gapki. He's in charge of the environmental department of Sinar Mas.

16.58

O-Ton Daud Dharsono - Deputy director of PT Smart, Sinar Mas

In Indonesia the forest is divided up into different categories. Category one is the first to be turned into  plantations, because it is unproductive land, that means it is unused. The second category is the so called transformable forest. This can also be cut down and turned into oil palm plantations.

17.46

With such high demand for palm oil the natural forest the forests the Orang Rimba call their home and the woodland used by local farmers has no chance of surviving. 

According to the land register, this forest belongs to the village of Karang Mendapo in Jambi province. But the palm oil giant Sinar Mas cut it down overnight.  

18.40

It's not just the carbon dioxide emissions from the

deforestation that are impacting the climate, but also

the forest fires. This turned the island nation is now the third

largest producer of greenhouse gases on the planet.

Slashing and burning is the fastest and cheapest way

to reclaim land for oil palm plantations. Despite a

ban on the practice,  fires blazed again in May, 2007.

The big palm oil producers have been convicted many

times of setting illegal fires.  

19.17

At the Sinar Mas headquarters in Jakarta, we asked why

the slashing and burning is still going on.

19.28

Daud Dharsono - Deputy director of PT Smart, Sinar Mas

I have to correct you there. Yes, in Indonesia, the

forest is burning, but when it comes to our company,

the PT Smart Group, there's been a fixed company

policy for more than 15 years. This policy says that

we do not slash and burn - not a single  area of

forest. Rather, we clear the forest with machines.  

19.58

On this Sinar Mas plantations in Jambi the last fires

burned in September 2006.

20.16

The forest where Din Perulak lived has long vanished. His clan has made a makeshift shelter under the trees along the trans Sumatra highway.

M U S I K

20.33

Even the wild animals have lost their habitat to the

palm oil investors, the Orang Rimba have to take care

of them. The family doesn't have enough. They are forced to beg from local farmers to survive.

20.44

O- Ton Din Perulak  - Trible head of Orang Rimba

We would like to ask your permission to dig for roots.

Please help us.  

20.53

They're in luck today. The farmers leave them a whole cassava.

The nutritious roots, called Ubi by the people here, are their main source of food. But vitamins and protein are missing. The Orang Rimba used to weave rattan baskets to sell, but now, there are no

more rattan plants. Even the forest animals suffer from hunger and have begun to approach humans. The palm oil boom has robbed Din Perolak and his clan of their dignity and the basis for their livelihood.

Because the industrialized world is turning to agrofuels to power the future, the Orang Rimba have to starve.

21.28

But not only these indigenous people are loosing out. Some 45 million forest-dependent people are suffering the same fate. As many as the entire population of England. The result: land conflict between farmers and palm oil companies.

21.56

O-Ton A. Somat - Farmer of Sarolongun in Jambi

I'm furious. These oil palms are on my land, but I

don't get anything from the harvest. Since they simply

came and took our woodlands away from us four years

ago, we go away empty-handed and there is still no settlement.

22.11

Sumatra's farmers are traveling to the provincial capital of Sarolangun with the support of the local chapter of the environmental group friends of the earth, known as Walhi Jambi. They want to demonstrate against the injustice inflicted upon them by Kreshna Dhuta Agriindo, or KDA, one of the companies running a plantation for Sinar Mas.

22.37

„Stop KDA from cheating! Give us our land!" the

farmers chant.  

They have been fighting for their rights for four years. Now they are finally pushing to be let into the town hall.

22.54

O-Ton Feri Irawan - Director of Walhi, Jambi

I am  Feri Irawan, the director of Walhi in Jambi.

I am sure that the police knows me here already. We have come with peaceful intentions and we are asking the police to make sure we get an opportunity to meet the mayor.

23.10

O-Ton Policies

Thank you for your trust. I will see if the head of district is in his office. Please wait here while I go inside.

23.27

O-Ton A. Somat - Farmer of Sarolongun in Jambi

Dear Policemen, we have come to press for our rights. The KDA has stolen our land with the help of the cooperative. That was four years ago now, and we still have no settlement. We are being cheated out of the fruits of our land. Give us our dues. We farmers have the right to our own land.

24.00

But the police only wants to let small delegations into the town hall and the farmers have little trust in their political leaders.

24.10

Feri Irawan - Director of Walhi, Jambi

We want to talk to the mayor in person. So far the previous mayor and his deputy have only cheated us.

24.27

Finally after hours of negotiating five farmers' representatives are allowed inside the town hall. Somat has the chance to present his case. Since 2005, the city officials have been directly elected - even the voice of the little people counts. Inside city hall, no one knows anything about the situation, as the managers from KDA do everything they can to cover up the land conflict. The farmers present

their ownership papers.

24.57

The army is always present during negotiations. Its generals still hold a lot of power. They are often paid by the companies themselves to provide security for them and keep the population at bay.

25.18

O-Ton A. Cekendra - Deputy mayor of Sarolongun in Jambi

Sinar Mas says they are open and transparent, and that they have no problems with the people. We have asked them several times for the numbers and how much they plant and harvested. Now the government wants a clear statement.

25.43

The farmers too finally want some transparency, they have suffered a lot already.

25.50

Feri Irawan - Director of Walhi, Jambi

Let the people go inside so they can tell others about the practices of the company. These people from KDA are criminals, I am not the representative of the farmers here. We took action so that finally everyone can find out what kind of crimes take place here. Let the people speak for themselves.

26.11

At its headquarters in Jakarta Sinar Mas presents as if they were providing development aid to farmers.

26.24

Question Inge

What about the farmers, who live from making rubber at the moment?

26.28

O-Ton Daud Dharsono - Deputy director of PT Smart, Sinar Mas

Well there are small farmers who plant the oil palm plantations where they also harvest natural rubber. We give the farmers land and make sure that they receive the necessary training. We call this our small farmers program.

26.53

However, farmer's land is being stolen by palm oil companies like Sinar Mas, as confirmed by government officials such as this one.

27.07

0-Ton H. Cekendra - Deputy mayor of Sarolongun in Jambi

These land conflicts were not started by the people

here. It's not as if they arise because of some

mistake made by the farmers. It's due to the way the

investors operate. It's not right, and the farmers

only stand to lose. I'm sure that this conflict will

be resolved and that the companies will improve the

way they operate in future, so that the investors

cooperate with these people, and everyone can profit

from the oil palm plantations.

27.33

The villagers of Karang Mendapo won a four year battle against the palm oil company. Sinar Mas is forced by the government to give the people back their land including the oil palm plantations on it.

It's a breakthrough for the farmers movement in Jambi.

But their struggle is not over yet. Sinar Mas now insists that the farmers pay back the loans for the oil palm plantations on the land they just won back. The people of Karang Mendapo are now confident that they will overcome this new challenge . Hopefully the times when businessmen simply stole farmers' land are over in Jambi.

Somat is their new hero. The success in Karang mendapo encourages thousands of other farmers to fight for their rights.

28.22

In the district of Jambi alone, more than 20.000 families have lost their land and forest.

29.00

Indonesian farmers are  fighting for what is rightfully theirs. Whenever the government issues a new logging permit, a new land conflict begins. This forest is being logged for a company called Bakri. It comprises more than 12.000 hectares of forest.

29.22

O-Ton Ucok - Foreman of Bakrie Plantage

This forest is unused forest. It was declared as unproductive by the government.

29.32

O-Ton Inge Altemeier

Was there once forest here?

O-Ton Ucok - Foreman of Bakrie Plantage

Yes the land was once rainforest a short time ago.

O-Ton Inge Altemeier

And where will you go when you are finished?

O-Ton Ucok - Foreman of Bakrie Plantage

First will are logging here for a while than we will go Mentawai.

29.52

For those planting new oil palm plantations there is plenty of work. But only for a couple of weeks. There are plans to create another 20 million hectares in the coming years. All that's left then is a huge palm tree desert, a dead forest without any animals or people.

30.12

O-Ton Din Perulak - Trible head of Orang Rimba

This is not good there is no co-operation. The local population doesn't benefit at all. When it comes to companies like this one everyone looses.  We have lost the forest where we once gathered food: Those who have money get the land.  We poor people loose the land we lived on. At the end there is only oil palm monoculture.

30.38

Everyone wants to profit from the palm oil boom: Deutsche Bank, ABN Amro, and the ING Bank among many others.

But Sinar Mas is doing the biggest business of all with some  5.5 billion euros invested: The madness is even sponsored by government loans.

31.01

0-Ton Daud Dharsono - Deputy director of PT Smart, Sinar Mas

There's undeveloped land all over the place here in

Indonesia, and we absolutely have to cultivate it. Big

plantations with crops such as oil palms make a lot of

sense. We Indonesians can no longer afford to just

look at forests or to regenerate the rainforest. It's

not Indonesia's responsibility and we can't afford to

have rainforest that is unproductive.

31.40

The largest untouched area of rain forest is in eastern Indonesia on the island of Papua. But now even here some 9 million hectares of plantations are planned.

32.01

The area earmarked for this development in the southern part of West Papua is home to the Kanume people. The crew receives a friendly welcome. The Kanume are warriors and their chief Kasimirus is weary of visitors. Officially their territory belongs to

Indonesia. More than 80 soldiers, an entire unit, are

stationed here to watch over 90 families. But still

Kasimirus sees himself as the ruler of this area.  

32.37

O-Ton Häuptling Kasimirus Sanggara - Trible head

Because I am a holy man and I possess psychic powers I

am the chief of the Kanume. I have the best

relationship with spirits. There is no limit to my

power. And I belong to the world of warriors. I decide

who I see. You I welcomed. Many others I turned away

and punished, because they set foot on my land and

ignored our laws.

33.24

Kasimirus is the leader of the men, his wife Augustina

Sanggara is he leader of the women. The meeting place

is by a big bamboo tree. Decorated with pigs' jaws

it's also a totem pole. Representatives of five clans, known as Margas gathered to share the latest news.

33.46

The currency of the Kanume are betel nuts and siri

roots. They serve as presents for visitors and they

are the drug which people use to reach a state of

ecstasy. The value of real money is still unknown to

people here. Nobody conducts trade. But everyone knows

the value of betel nuts.

They symbolize the peaceful union of the warriors.

34.15

O-Ton Häuptling Kasimirus Sanggara - Trible head

I welcome all the elders, the tribal chiefs, the clan

leaders and the spiritual leaders such as myself.

We have gathered today to welcome visitors and to

exchange news. Please be hospitable towards our

guests, they are here because they would like to get

to know us and because there are new developments."

34.43

Visitors from Europe are rare in the territory of

the Kanume. There is neither radio nor television in

their villages. News is only passed on by

Word of mouth. People like to hear anecdotes.

35.01

Albert Onoka Moyouend has come to the meeting.

He is the elected representative of the Papuan tribes

in the region around Merauke and he is their

spokesperson for dialogue with the Indonesian

government. He lives in the town of Merauke and

belongs to the few Papuans with a school diploma.

He too is only received if he adheres to the

traditions, such as bringing with him cigarettes and

salt and handing them out equally.  Only 300 people speak Kanume. Every clan speaks a different language. As far as they can the

people communicate in Indonesian but many can't read or write. They hear from Albert for the first time ever about a Sinar Mas plan to make turn one million hectares into oil palm plantations, the equivalent of 1,4 million football fields.

35.52

O-Ton  Albert Onoka Moyouend - Representative of the indigenous people of Meraukes

The government doesn't want to inform people about the

plans of Sinar Mas to turn much of this land into palm

oil plantations. They told us if we tell you about

this, you might disagree and cause trouble for Sinar

Mas. But we want investors to be treated well. I said: the land belongs to us the indigenous people. You do not have the right to negotiate with Sinar Mas.

36.21

The Papuans were not consulted when the location of the oil palm plantations was decided. Sinar Mas and the government claim that no forest is or will be cleared in West Papua to make way for plantations. They say that plantations here can be sustainable.

We would have had liked to have a look for ourselves but the authorities did not grant us permission to shoot in any West Papuan oil palm plantation and we have to rely on this secretly filmed footage.

36.55

For civilians, the oil mills of Sinar Mas can only be reached by sea. Companies have a good reason to hide their operations from the public: giant rainforest trees are logged especially to make way for the plantations. The illegal trade in tropical timber is just a lucrative side business next to palm oil production.

37.33

The Indonesian army is in on the business. The entire area is patrolled by the military. The soldiers are dependent on the extra income, as they can't live from their wages.

Sinar Mas however believes sustainable palm oil exists and a body like the round table for sustainable palm oil can give guarantees.

37.55

0-Ton Daud Dharsono - Deputy director of PT Smart, Sinar Mas

You can trust the RSPO and the round table for sustainable palm oil. If you believe in the criteria for sustainable palm oil, then you  will get sustainable palm oil (CUT THIS: believe it!)

38.20

This is the land that will be turned into so-called sustainable oil palm plantations. West Papua has an abundance of natural resources. A

unique fauna and flora. In the south of Papua, in Merauke, there are huge marshes.

The marshes are the only source of water for the

people here. If the palm tree monocultures are created

here, the marshes will dry up. The result would be

hundreds of thousands of hectares of unfertile land.

38.58

For the Papuans, trees are like fathers and mothers and the forest is he origin of all life. They are forest nomads. The Kanume only take from the forest and the marshes as much as they need to live. They never store food or hunt more than they can consume.

Augustina, the chief's wife is responsible for fishing

and for collecting the marsh plants to be used as

vegetables. This time she was unlucky and has not caught any fish. But the Kanume are patient people.

39.35

The forest in Papua has always been the home of the indigenous peoples like the Kanume but they never had any ownership papers. For them, man and forest belong together. They can't sell it or inherit it. All the ceremonies that serve the gods take place in the forest.

40.03

Despite this, the tribal area is exactly marked. In

the past, there were countless wars, and even today,

every stranger first has to await Kasimirus'

permission before he or she may walk upon the Kanumes

land.  

40.22

The clan has retreated to the forest today to induct

the boys into the world of the warriors. That's why

they are wearing special jewellery. The man as

protector and hunter - that was the way of the

ancestors, and that's the way it is done today.

M U S I K

40.53

But no ceremony, even the most holy, can be

celebrated without interruption in the forest of the

ancestors. The Indonesian army shows up, drawn by the

singing of the warriors. The chief allows them to

enter the sacred space to take a photo.  

As the leader of the Kanume Kasimiru says he will allow the representatives of the government to enter the land for a short time.

He then  asks the soldiers to leave. Their machine guns

do little to impress him.

41.33

O-Ton Häuptling Kasimirus Sanggara

These soldiers have been here for some time now and haven't been allowed to chop down a single tree, nor are they allowed to

shoot. I respect them as long as they don't destroy

anything, otherwise they'd be in trouble. They have to obey

my rules as do my entire people. Our ancestors

decreed that not a single tree here should be chopped

down. The forest is sacred and we, the people of the

Kanume, are the protectors of the world's forests.

That's our mission: to protect this forest for all the

people of this world.  

42.20

If the industrialized world keeps up its enormous demand for palm oil, Kasimirus and his people stand no chance of preventing further  forest destruction.

Kasimirus is a forest defender and protects the rainforest for us. But for now we are lost in palm oil.