Over 1,800 hectares of natural forest in Central Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo, are facing immediate clearance threats, according to an investigation by Earthsight and Auriga Nusantara. Babugus Wahana Lestari, the timber company responsible, plans to convert the area into a timber plantation for bioenergy. The company’s certification for timber legality was suspended in October 2023 after auditors discovered illegal logging outside permitted areas.
The investigation, backed by satellite imagery and field research, uncovered a grid of dirt roads across the 1,811-hectare area, suggesting preparations to clear the forest. The concession area includes key habitat for the critically endangered Bornean orangutan, with 5% of the Kahayan-Kapuas orangutan metapopulation — around 1,680 individuals — relying on this forest. Locals reported that an orangutan nest was found during road construction rituals, confirming the presence of wildlife in the area.
Logging has also been identified in other parts of the concession, with approximately 1,000 hectares of forest already affected. This logging, including selective cutting of valuable hardwood species such as meranti and keruing, was conducted in areas not legally designated for logging in 2023. Some timber was exported to Europe, the UK, and the US, heightening concerns over illegal deforestation practices tied to international markets.
Image: A company security post within the Babugus Wahana Lestari concession, August 2024 / Auriga, Earthsight
The Earthsight and Auriga investigation calls for urgent government intervention to halt further deforestation. It urges authorities to issue a ‘stop work order,’ as was done in West Kalimantan earlier this year, and for Babugus Wahana Lestari to restore logged areas. The case emphasizes the critical role of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which prohibits imports of products, including timber, linked to deforestation after 2020. The EUDR will take full effect in December 2024, making imports from deforested areas illegal without due diligence.
Since 2020, timber plantations have become the leading cause of forest loss in Indonesia, responsible for 42,521 hectares of deforestation in 2023 alone, compared to 24,634 hectares in oil palm concessions. This highlights the urgent need for the full and timely implementation of the EUDR to prevent European and global complicity in the destruction of irreplaceable tropical forests.
Image: An area in the Babugus Wahana Lestari concession, Central Kalimantan, where extensive logging has taken place between April 2023 (left) and February 2024 (right). Sentinel-2, via Sentinel Hub EO Browser / Earthsight
