From Sukarno’s Guarded Sovereignty to Soeharto’s Era of Corporate Expansion

WALHI 2022 report highlights presidential land concessions fueling corporate control.

A 2022 study by WALHI Indonesia has again seized national attention, reigniting conversations about who truly controls the country’s land. The report, “Indonesia Tanah Air Siapa: Korporasi di Bumi Pertiwi,” traces the long arc of land concessions granted to corporations - from the Sukarno era to Indonesia’s modern presidencies. 

Its central message is stark: Indonesia’s forests, mines, and plantations have been shaped not only by global markets, but by the political choices of those who held power.

From Sukarno’s Guarded Sovereignty to Soeharto’s Era of Corporate Expansion

The report highlights a singular fact: Sukarno stands alone as the only president who, throughout 21 years in office, granted zero forest concessions to private corporations. His administration defined natural resources as a pillar of national identity and stability, not an asset to be traded.

That philosophy ended decisively with Soeharto. His New Order government opened Indonesia to aggressive domestic and foreign investment following the enactment of the 1967 Foreign Investment Law and the 1968 Domestic Investment Law.

Under Soeharto, concessions for mining, plantations, industrial timber estates, and palm oil surged across the archipelago. 

WALHI estimates that his administration distributed 78.6 million hectares of land - an area nearly the size of Germany - placing him at the top of Indonesia’s all-time concession-giving presidents.

The transformation was rapid, structural, and largely unrestrained, setting the stage for decades of environmental degradation and conflict over land tenure.

Megawati’s Unusual Pause on Palm Oil and the Policy Imprint of Each Presidency

In a political landscape often driven by economic growth narratives, Megawati Soekarnoputri represents an anomaly. According to WALHI, she is the only Indonesian president who issued no new palm oil plantation concessions during her term.

Her stance was echoed years later in a 2025 interview with Rosiana Silalahi on Kompas TV, where she described oil palm as “a spoiled and arrogant plant” - a metaphor that mirrored her administration’s reluctance to expand the industry.

WALHI’s findings underline a broader truth: each Indonesian president has left a deeply distinct signature on how land and natural resources are managed. These decisions - whether protective, permissive, or politically calculated - continue to shape the country’s ecological fragility, community land conflicts, and forest futures.

As Indonesia grapples with climate pressures, deforestation, and corporate influence, the report’s renewed prominence raises an urgent question:

In the struggle over forests, fields, and mineral wealth, whose country is Indonesia: truly?

by: Apai Deraman