Papuan women advocate for land and forest rights
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At the PAPEDA Summit 2026 in Sorong, West Papua, Indigenous Papuan women voiced the importance of protecting land, forests, and their communities’ way of life.
They explained that forest loss directly impacts food sources, health, traditional knowledge, and future generations. Barbalina Osok of Kwongke Kaban Salukh Moi highlighted decades of pressure on ancestral lands in the Moi region and requested that Indigenous communities participate in decisions about their land and natural resources.
The PAPEDA Summit officially discussed recognizing ancestral lands, and the central government committed to accelerating the mapping and formal acknowledgement of these territories. This mapping is crucial to align sustainable development goals with the land rights issues faced by Papuan Indigenous people. Barbalina Osok shared the long-standing challenges faced by the Moi people, whose lands have been subject to forestry concessions since the 1990s, later converted into palm oil plantations.
Marlince Siep, an Indigenous Papuan activist, emphasized the impact of land changes and lost forest access on women and children, noting forests provide food, medicine, and daily necessities. She urged officials to preserve remaining forests for future generations of Papuan women. Abner Mansai of FOKER LSM Papua stated that Papua’s land has been inherited by Indigenous people for generations and cannot be claimed by the state.
The summit concluded early on its final day due to protests against national projects and in support of Indigenous land rights.
