Investigations

Read more reporting on "Chasing Shadows" from international media

Coverage builds on findings of The Gecko Project investigation

Chasing Shadows

Extensive evidence suggests corporation selling "sustainable" palm oil hid control of companies destroying rainforest

Success of Indonesian peatland restoration in doubt as fire season sets in

Government data suggests large areas of the country’s peatlands may be vulnerable to burning

'Green' finance bankrolls deforestation in Papua

Indonesian government support for biomass project raises questions over the consistency of its climate change policies

Promised prosperity, drowning in debt

How palm oil firms gamed a scheme to lift Indonesians out of poverty

Major brands bought palm oil from plantation rife with modern slavery and torture

Tricked into captivity in a “drug rehabilitation” facility, victims faced forced labour and death

‘The promise was a lie’: How Indonesian villagers lost their cut of the palm oil boom

Communities could be losing hundreds of millions of dollars each year as plantation firms fail to comply with the law.

Rainforests fall for Indonesia’s food estate programme

Politically-connected firm seeks to profit from stripped back regulations

Malaysian firm bidding to clear Papua forest loses court bid, but deforestation persists

A company that hoped to clear 80,000 hectares of rainforest in Indonesian Papua to plant oil palms has lost a court case over its control of the land.

‘Potentially lethal’ police assault on indigenous Papuan was caught on camera

Fresh questions raised in case of Marius Betera, who died around two hours after he was allegedly assaulted by a police officer.

The Consultant

Why did a palm oil conglomerate pay $22m to an unnamed ‘expert’ in Papua?

New player starts clearing rainforest in world’s biggest oil palm project

The Digoel Agri Group has begun operating in an Indonesia megaproject being fought over by investors from around the world

Revealed: Government officials say permits for mega-plantation in Papua were falsified

Officials have repeatedly raised the alarm over the controversial project, but are now allowing it to go ahead.

Saving Aru

The epic battle to save the islands that inspired the theory of evolution

Indonesia reboots effort to end corporate secrecy as anonymous firms destroy Papuan rainforest

Indonesian companies were given until March this year to disclose their “beneficial owners” under a 2018 presidential regulation, but less than 1 percent have complied.

The secret deal to destroy paradise

The story behind the single biggest threat to the rainforests of Indonesia.

Ghosts in the Machine

The land deals behind the downfall of Indonesia’s top judge

The making of a palm oil fiefdom

The story of money, power and politics behind the devastation of a forest-rich district in Indonesian Borneo.