Indonesia has been dubbed numerous times as the “earth’s lungs”, with the world’s third-largest area of rainforest, covering over half of the country and nearly 100 million acres of forest land. Sadly, that number is depleting quickly.
Numerous Indigenous communities have been living alongside and protecting these forests for years, greatly depending on them for sources of income, food, and air. The richness of these forests has attracted many unwanted parties, trying to rob and displace Indigenous communities. In Indonesia’s Timor Island, Indigenous Mollo people have had to witness many different mining operations destroy their forest and rob them of resources from their ancestor’s lands without their consent.
The government simply doesn’t care, there has been no action to mitigate this issue. Aleta Baun (or Mama Aleta) led over 150 women to block the entrance of these mining operations. This action had rallied the local Amanuban and Amanatun tribes, forcing all mining actions to halt.
Another case of nine women of Kendeng, better known as the “nine Kartini of Kendeng”, set their feet in cement blocks in front of Indonesia’s National Palace, protesting against the environmental damage caused by a cement factory, which threatens the Mountain of North Kendeng. The President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo has said he will ensure that the cement company will leave, however, this has not happened.
There are still many protests led by Indigenous women in Indonesia to fight companies destroying their homes. These actions of ecofeminism prove how important Indigenous women are to Indonesia. Ecofeminists continue to fight for a better future for their community and generations to come. To further understand their fight for climate justice, you can watch “Our Mother’s Land” by The Gecko Project on YouTube.
Written by Savannah
Artwork by Zara Masood
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