Balikpapan Bay is one of the most biodiverse areas of coastal Borneo – home to 1,400 of the critically endangered proboscis monkeys, as well as other endangered species such as clouded leopards, Malaysian bears, hornbills, pangolins and marbled cats. In addition, orangutans have been reintroduced to the area.

The endangered fauna is losing more habitat every day – for the production of biodiesel and chemical products from palm oil. Due to the Indonesian company PT Wahana Prima Sejati (a subsidiary of the international group First Resources Limited) is currently razing coastal forest on the beach of Sanro Mutti to the ground in order to build another palm oil refinery and a biodiesel factory there. Several dozens of hectares of rainforest have already been completely razed to the ground – bulldozers left behind a dead moonscape.

The destruction of biodiverse rainforest and the important habitat of endangered proboscis monkeys and other endangered species violates even the principles and criteria of the RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) label. The parent company First Resources Ltd. is a member of the RSPO. Already in 2015, they committed themselves to ban deforestation and human rights violations from its operations. But to date, implementation has been poor, as the current example confirms. The corporation must immediately stop further clear-cutting and the planned construction work and instead ensure reforestation of this valuable land!