Indonesia for Sale

Built around three main investigative reports into specific deals which saw local people’s land stolen for the development of palm oil plantations, the series was also supported by short films and picture stories, and included a series of articles outlining the policy implications of our findings. It was produced in partnership with environmental news site Mongabay.

The series received high-profile attention in Indonesia and internationally. The films and written stories were widely shared and viewed millions of times. The final installment, which exposed the corruption behind a vast palm oil plantation which represents the single largest current threat to Indonesia’s forests, made the front page of Tempo, Indonesia’s leading news magazine. Its investigative journalists won an award for their contribution to the story.

The series was published by Earthsight under the branding of The Gecko Project (Baca dalam Bahasa Indonesia). As of May 2019, The Gecko Project has become an independent organisation in its own right. However, Earthsight is continuing to investigate these issues in Indonesia, and their overseas connections, in partnership with The Gecko Project and Mongabay, and expanding this in-depth investigative work on land-grabbing, corruption and deforestation to Brazil.