JAKARTA – It is true that there have been many reports on landslides in Indonesia. But it is not true that such natural disasters only occurred in oil palm plantation areas. Please read the following facts to prove it.

Besides flooding, landslides have been often attributed to the oil palm plantations. In reality, the landslides occurred not only in Indonesia, but in many other countries across the globle. And in Indonesia, the landslides have nothing to do with the existence of oil palm plantations.

Based on data 2022 from the national disasters mitigation board (BNPB), the total landslides occurred in Indonesia during the period of 2010-2021 were 3,952 incidences (Table-3). During the period, most of the landslides occurred in two provinces, namely Central Java with 2,655 incidences (63 percent) and Bali with 219 incidences (5 percent). Lower than the two provinces were East Kalimantan with 177 incidences (4 percent), South Sulawesi with 156 incidences (4 percent), and Yogyakarta with 132 incidences (3 percent).

Of the five provinces often hit by landslides, four provinces –Central Java, Bali, South Sulawesi, and Yogyakarta are not palm oil producing provinces in Indonesia, while East Kalimantan is a palm oil producing province.

The data confirms that there is no direct connection between many incidences of landslides and the existence of palm plantation areas. (*)

Reference :

BNPB (2022)

Source: Mitos & Fakta Kelapa Sawit –4^th Edition