What is the "Merauke PSN project" in Indonesia?

The Merauke PSN project in Indonesia's South Papua province is a massive deforestation initiative that aims to plant several million hectares of rice and sugar cane for food and biofuel, displacing Indigenous communities without their consent.

How are "national strategic projects" (PSNs) impacting local communities in Indonesia?

PSNs in Indonesia are allowing the government to fast-track major infrastructure projects by bypassing environmental assessments and limiting input from affected communities. This has led to projects that displace Indigenous communities, cause environmental damage, and provide minimal domestic benefit.

Home / Environment / Indonesia's Growth Drive Accused of Causing Deforestation and Dispossession

Indonesia's Growth Drive Accused of Causing Deforestation and Dispossession

Q: What legal challenges are Indonesia's "job creation law" facing?

Indonesia's 2023 "job creation law" that enables the controversial PSN designation is facing legal challenges from environmentalists and rights activists who argue it is being used to legitimize big industrial projects that harm local communities and the environment.

17 Oct, 2025

•

Summary

Activists allege Indonesia's "eco-city", mining, and farming projects are causing deforestation and dispossession
Indonesia's "job creation law" faces legal challenges over its "national strategic project" designation that fast-tracks major infrastructure
Indigenous communities in South Papua and Riau Islands provinces face displacement and intimidation due to these projects

Indonesia's Growth Drive Accused of Causing Deforestation and Dispossession

As of October 17, 2025, Indonesia's efforts to spur economic growth through a range of ambitious projects have come under intense scrutiny from environmental and human rights activists. The government's "eco-city", mining complex, and massive food and biofuel production initiatives are part of a deregulation campaign that began in 2020 with an "omnibus law" aimed at boosting investment and creating jobs.

However, this law had to be revised just three years later after parts were ruled unconstitutional. Now, the 2023 "job creation law" that replaced the omnibus law is facing fresh legal challenges from environmentalists and rights activists who claim the drive does little to help ordinary people and is instead being "used as a pretext to legitimate big industrial projects."