Facility

Kalimantan (Borneo) Palm Oil Plantation Belt

Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo) is the world's single most concentrated region of new oil palm expansion. Kalimantan contains approximately 5.8 million hectares of oil palm plantations as of 2023 — approximately 35-40% of Indonesia's total planted oil palm area. Central Kalimantan and West Kalimantan are primary expansion frontiers. Kalimantan's oil palm belt is the epicenter of the deforestation crisis: WWF estimates that oil palm expansion has destroyed approximately 40% of Borneo's primary forest since 1990. The region's peat swamp forests — when drained and burned for plantation preparation — release massive carbon stores; Indonesia's peatland fires (2015 fire season alone) released more CO2 than Germany's annual emissions. Key plantation operators in Kalimantan: Golden Agri-Resources (GAR), Astra Agro Lestari, Cargill (PT Harapan Sawit Lestari, Central Kalimantan). Source: GAPKI Indonesian Palm Oil Industry Report 2023; WWF Borneo Forest Loss Report.