I, Ellis Ambarita, am both a human rights activist and a licensed professional in legal compliance and environmental management. Beyond my formal qualifications, I am an active participant in the struggle to protect the environment and defend the rights of local and Indigenous communities.
My involvement in environmental activism began when I personally witnessed the rampant illegal logging that devastated the forests of Riau. These activities systematically destroyed primary forests, displaced wildlife from their natural habitats, poisoned the air with fire haze, and stripped Indigenous communities of their ancestral rights. This direct exposure compelled me to take an active stand on the ground and to collaborate with fellow environmental defenders across Indonesia.
I became involved with the International Deforestation Movement in Indonesia. One of the most pivotal moments in my advocacy came in 2007, when I publicly opposed the Minister of Forestry over a major scandal involving illegal logging and forest burning in Riau. My efforts were also directed at President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and later President Joko Widodo, as I observed little meaningful reform in forestry governance and enforcement.
Despite formally reporting these environmental crimes to law enforcement authorities, including to the office of the National Police Chief, my complaints were consistently recorded and subsequently ignored, disappearing without any follow-up investigation. As a result of my persistence, I became a target of intimidation: I was threatened, harassed, and subjected to systematic economic marginalization intended to silence me.
One of the most defining experiences occurred when a large corporation under the Sinar Mas Group, operating in Pelalawan, Siak Regency, invited me to its operations office. They sought to persuade me to endorse their plans to clear approximately 5,000 hectares of forest. I categorically rejected their proposal, insisting that land development must prioritize sustainable agriculture and plantation practices that do not destroy remaining forest ecosystems.
My refusal triggered a severe escalation of threats against my life. Nevertheless, I documented these events and submitted comprehensive reports to international organizations, including Greenpeace and other global environmental watchdogs. This case, I came to realize, was not an isolated local conflict — it was entangled with powerful national and transnational economic and political interests.
This struggle deepened my resolve never to retreat. I have become convinced that the destruction of our planet is being orchestrated by a small but powerful elite motivated purely by profit, with little regard for the well-being of future generations. The perpetrators of environmental destruction are not the forest-dependent communities but rather oligarchic actors who hide behind narratives of “development” and “tax revenue,” which in practice amount to sophisticated deceptions.
Although I may have lost certain battles within Indonesia, I have since mobilized international networks to exert external pressure on these destructive business practices. Gradually, their impunity is being exposed. My struggle may not deliver immediate structural change, but I remain confident that truth will ultimately prevail and that the fight for environmental justice will continue to gain momentum.
I never imagined that my involvement in environmental issues would one day threaten my life. But that is exactly what happened when I chose to resist the systematic destruction of Indonesia’s forests especially in Riau.
My fight began with anger. Anger at witnessing illegal logging devouring the primary forests of Riau, year after year. These forests, once lush and alive, were reduced to ash as fires raged, choking the population with toxic haze. The logging was not done by local communities seeking survival but by large corporations, hiding behind the rhetoric of “development” and “state revenue,” while displacing indigenous peoples and destroying wildlife habitats.
In 2007, I decided to confront this head-on. I openly criticized the Minister of Forestry at the time, as well as then-President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono—and later President Joko Widodo—for their failure to stop this crisis. I submitted reports to the police, even up to the national police chief. My reports were recorded but never acted upon. They simply disappeared.
Pressure against me came not only from a silent state but also from the very corporations I was exposing. One of the most critical moments was when I was invited to the operations office of a massive pulp and paper company—part of the Sinar Mas Group—in Pelalawan, Siak Regency. They tried to persuade me to support their operations, which meant legitimizing the clearing of about 5,000 hectares of forest.
I refused.
Instead, I argued for an alternative approach: developing land for agriculture or plantations without destroying forests. My refusal triggered an onslaught of intimidation. I was threatened, financially ruined, and hunted from multiple directions. But I did not stop. I reached out to international networks, including Greenpeace and other global environmental organizations, to take this issue beyond Indonesia’s borders.
This is not just a local issue. It is a global scandal about how oligarchs use state power to seize forests, how government policies bend to corporate interests, and how those who resist are silenced.
I may have lost ground in Indonesia, but I am far from defeated. Slowly, through international pressure, these companies are being held accountable. Their facade is starting to crack. And I believe the truth is moving forward.
My struggle is not over. I write this article not to seek sympathy, but to remind us all that resisting forest destruction is resisting the destruction of our future. We cannot allow a handful of profiteers to sacrifice the survival of future generations for short-term gains.
The forests are the lungs of the Earth. If we lose them, we lose our future.
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