Dr. H. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
President of the Republic of Indonesia
Istana Negara
Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara
Jakarta Pusat 10010
INDONESIA

RE: Palm plantation in Kalimantan

Dear President Susilo,

I join millions of concerned citizens in Indonesia and around the world in my great concern regarding your government’s pursuit of a massive oil palm plantation in Kalimantan that will destroy two million hectares of ancient rainforest along the Malaysian border. This Chinese-funded "agricultural development" is a thinly veiled ruse to access timber. It will devastate the habitat of countless species of rare birds, plants and mammals including the largest remaining wild orangutan population; while fouling much of Indonesian Borneo's water supply. For the sake of the future of your nation and its people, I urge you to cancel this project immediately.

Several studies have found the region is too mountainous to support effective palm oil farming and that it is economically unviable because it would cost the country billions of dollars a year. In the past many supposed oil palm developers have abandoned projects after completing rainforest clearance. Indonesia has huge land areas of abandoned, unproductive palm oil plantations and degraded forest areas that would be suitable for oil palm development.

Indonesia is already losing two million hectares of rainforest every year. This project would be environmentally devastating to Borneo - gravely impacting your country's ecological sustainability including water, climate and biodiversity. Orangutans need vast areas of interconnected forest to survive, and this project would push them closer to extinction. It is vital to Indonesia and the world's ecological sustainability that no more ancient primary rainforests are cleared for oil palm.

Mr. President, your country's long-term well-being depends upon maintaining and restoring rainforests. Please cancel the Kalimantan project and ensure new oil palm plantations are only planted in previously cleared and unused areas. You have a unique responsibility to care for your country's rainforests, and the world is watching with the hope that you will demonstrate the wisdom and the courage to do so.