"If we talk about the environment, for example, we have to talk about environmental racism - about the fact that kids in South Central Los Angeles have a third of the lung capacity of kids in Santa Monica" - Danny Glover
Environmental racism is a worldwide problem, it infects our individual home lands. Each day, environmental racism empowers itself as racialized environmental issues across the globe are hidden from the global media.
It’s time we bring these issues to light.
The Papuans, frequently bombarded with hurtful chantings relating to their race and colour, are openly vulnerable to pollution and health problems as a consequence of continuous mining on their lands - home to the greatest gold and copper mines on Earth.
Similarly, the Dayaks, a native group of Borneo, are also continuously exposed to virulent gases, which degrades their well-being. This was the result of deforestation as well as forest fires to clear out land for palm oil plantations.
That’s not all. A few years back in Riau, women from Sungai Berbari besieged a road leading to a palm oil plantation as a form of protest against the companies running the plantation. This was the result of a broken promise of watering the roads routinely to avoid dust from accumulating in the air as trucks pass by.
The accretion of dust in the atmosphere is a crucial threat to the respiratory health of the villagers. Though the protest gained the companies’ recognition, it only lasted a day and hardly any improvements were made.
The number of cases as a result of environmental racism has grown ever since the Indonesian government permitted adjustments within forests for agricultural practices without acknowledging the thoughts of and input from the native community. As written in Article 19 of the Minister of Environment and Forestry Number 24 of 2020, protected forest areas can be converted into food estate land as long as the protected area no longer fully functions as a protected forest.
The conversion of forests has barely given a positive impact on the ecosystem nor the health of communities. It is crucial to continue to educate and remind ourselves to be open-minded, understanding, and appreciative of any and all opinions in order to comprehend the significance of environmental justice. It’s time to speak up for impacted communities and bring justice to those unfairly impacted by environmental racism!
Bibliography
Greenpeace. “Indonesian Forests & Palm Oil.” Greenpeace, https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/issues/indonesian-forests-palm-oil/.
Nease, Patrick, and Octavia Payne. “In Riau, Indonesia, Women Organize for Environmental Justice.” World Resources Institute, 13 September 2017, https://www.wri.org/insights/riau-indonesia-women-organize-environmental-justice.
Nugraha, Rizki, et al. “Palm oil industry leaves Indonesian village struggling with loss and regret.” DW, 5 June 2020, https://www.dw.com/en/indonesia-palmoil-deforestation-peatlands-fires-climate-change/a-53587027.
S, Maria, and Anya R. “Does Environmental Racism exist in Indonesia?” Greenwelfare.id, https://www.greenwelfare.org/post/does-environmental-racism-exist-in-indonesia.
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