L

Lord Harries of Pentregarth (CB)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 14 October 2025

Debate

West Papua: Deforestation

Contribution

I thank the Minister for his reply. West Papua has some of the greatest forests in the world. Unfortunately, they are rapidly being cleared to produce coconut oil and for other agri purposes. The other dimension is, of course, that West Papua is occupied by Indonesia and there is a heavy military presence. As a result of this, sometimes the local indigenous population are pushed off their ground to make way for these plantations. Will His Majesty’s Government make representations to the Government of Indonesia—the Minister just said they work closely with them—to protect the rights of the local people? As one placard of a protest group put it, West Papua is not an empty land.

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