“We are hungry for rights, not years of waiting”

At the Forest Stewardship Council’s (FSC) General Assembly in Panama, Indonesian activist Mangarah Silalahi spoke quietly but firmly about the long wait for forest justice.

“Since the company opened the area 25 years ago, the forest was taken from the people,” he said. “Now this remedy process is the first real chance for them to get their rights back.”

Silalahi represents the Indonesian Communication Forum on Community Forestry (FKKM), which supports 12 villages in Sumatra and Kalimantan involved in the FSC’s Remedy Framework — a mechanism to address social and environmental harm caused by logging and plantation firms.

More than 5,000 people, including women and marginalised groups, have signed petitions authorising him to speak for them. “Mostly they want the remedy process to happen on the ground,” he said. “They are tired of procedures. They want results.”

Before commercial logging, the area was forest. “People took non-timber forest products, hunted, gathered,” Silalahi said. “When the company got the licence, they lost their forest and their homes.”

Debate over Motion 28

The Remedy Framework, launched in 2022, allows companies previously disassociated from FSC certification to regain it after verified remedy. In Indonesia, it is being tested with major pulp and paper producers.

A new proposal — Motion 28 — dominated discussions in Panama. Supporters said it would make the framework stronger and more accountable; critics warned it could delay justice for communities already waiting. 

“If Motion 28 passes,” said Silalahi, “there are nine new requirements. It means that the community’s rights will be delayed.”

Gemma Tillack, Forest Policy Director at the Rainforest Action Network, said the motion was misunderstood.

“There’s been confusion that Motion 28 would stop the Remedy Framework from being implemented — but it won’t,” she said. “The amendments made in Panama make clear that remedy continues, while the process is strengthened in parallel. Motion 28 ensures that companies which have caused serious harm must deliver real social and environmental repair before they can re-enter the FSC system. It’s about building credibility and trust while keeping the work moving.”

Patrick Anderson, of the Forest Peoples Programme, who works with affected communities in Indonesia, agreed.

“Communities have waited long enough, but they’ve also been left out of the process,” he said. “At the moment, independent assessments are taking place before people on the ground even know what’s being assessed. Motion 28 requires support for communities to participate effectively — training, information, the ability to negotiate. That will make the remedy faster and fairer in the long term.”

What remedy could mean

For some communities, remedy may involve land restoration; for others, compensation or livelihood support. “Some might get their forest back,” Silalahi said. “But for those displaced, it will be difficult to rebuild. They want a new life.”

He pointed to local examples where agroforestry projects are being developed on restored land. “Our role is to make the process transparent and accountable — guiding and monitoring the company so that remedy works well.”

Fragile trust

Asked whether he trusted companies such as APRIL to deliver, Silalahi was cautious. “There is pressure from the market — so press them to do it. We need to build trust and make them respect community rights.”

That trust, he said, depends on whether people in those 12 villages see tangible progress, not more paperwork.

As the Panama meeting closed, Silalahi made a simple appeal:

“We need respect for Indigenous people and communities. Whatever we decide tomorrow will go back to them.”

For the 5,000 people in Sumatra and Kalimantan still waiting for remedy, that decision could determine whether decades of loss finally give way to restitution — or just another round of promises.