ARUSBAWAH.CO - The Indigenous peoples of the Aru Islands, Maluku, Indonesia, are calling for biodiversity protection in their ancestral lands.

This peaceful demonstration coincides with the global biodiversity conservation talks at COP16 CBD in Cali, Colombia.

Representing the Aru community, Monika Maritjie Kailey is present in Cali to advocate the urgency to protect biodiversity in her homeland. Meanwhile, on Kumareri Island in the Aru Islands, Indigenous leaders and youth are also staging a peaceful demonstration to support global biodiversity protection efforts, particularly in Maluku.

The Aru Islands are among Indonesia’s richest areas of biodiversity, comprising 832 island clusters with 800,000 hectares of land surrounded by 4 million hectares of seas and straits.

The region includes 156,000 hectares of mangroves, 550,000 hectares of lowland tropical forests, 22,000 hectares of savanna, 19,000 hectares of seagrass beds, and 53,000 hectares of coral reefs. The Aru Sea alone accounts for 21% of Indonesia’s national fisheries potential (771,600 tons per year).

Despite its ecological wealth, the Aru Islands face ongoing threats to biodiversity, as much of its territory is classified as conversion production forest.

Since the 1970s, at least four waves of permits have been issued in Aru, including for forest exploitation (1970-2000), sugarcane plantations, over-exploitation of marine areas, logging permits (IUPHHK-HA, 2007-2013), cattle ranching (2014-2021), and other forest utilization permits (carbon and natural forest permits, 2022-present). This history has motivated the Aru community to continue defending their natural resources and biodiversity in their ancestral lands.