PARI ISLAND, INDONESIA — On a small island off the coast of Jakarta, a group of women is fighting to protect more than mangroves, beaches and fishing grounds.
They are fighting for the right to remain in the place they call home.
The Pari Island Women’s Group, a community organisation founded in 2017, has become a prominent voice in a decade-long dispute over land ownership on Pari Island in Indonesia’s Thousand Islands Regency. The group combines environmental work, community livelihoods and legal advocacy as residents challenge claims by private interests over large portions of the island.
At the centre of the dispute is PT Bumi Pari Asri, which claims ownership of about 90 per cent of Pari Island, according to the company. It says its claim is backed by 62 freehold certificates and 14 right-to-build permits issued through Indonesia’s land administration system. Residents and rights groups, however, have challenged the circumstances surrounding those documents.
For residents, the stakes are enormous.
Pari Island covers only about 43 hectares, roughly the size of 60 football fields, and sits just 1.5 metres above sea level. Climate change and coastal erosion are already adding another layer of pressure to a community whose economy is heavily dependent on the sea.
From Protest to Planting: Why Women Took the Lead
The women’s movement grew out of the land dispute.
According to founder Asmania, island men initially took the lead in opposing the company’s claims, while women supported them from the sidelines. She eventually created the Pari Island Women’s Group so women could play a more direct role in protecting their community and developing alternative livelihoods.
Their response has been practical as well as political.
Members have planted mangroves and seagrass, cleaned beaches, cultivated crops and produced local food products such as salted fish, fish crackers and seaweed-based sweets. Some members have also developed tourism-related businesses, including homestays and food stalls.
The goal is not simply environmental conservation.
The women see protecting the island’s ecosystems as a way of protecting the livelihoods of their families.
Around 1,200 people live on Pari Island, and many depend directly on fishing. Mangroves can help reduce coastal erosion while providing habitats for marine life, potentially supporting the fishing economy that residents rely on.
The Island Is Fighting Two Battles at Once
The land dispute is unfolding alongside a growing climate threat.
Pari Island’s low elevation makes it particularly vulnerable to rising seas, tidal flooding and coastal erosion. CNA reported that projections indicate rising sea levels could eventually submerge large parts of the island by 2050.
The island has already experienced significant erosion.
One member of the women’s group told CNA that about 9 metres of land had been lost at Rengge Beach. Indonesian oceanographer Widodo Pranowo of the National Research and Innovation Agency, or BRIN, explained that Pari’s coastline is influenced by seasonal water movements and the island’s physical characteristics.
He also described a natural coastal defence system involving coral reefs, seagrass and mangroves.
If coral reefs and seagrass beds are degraded, mangroves can become the remaining natural line of defence against erosion.
That makes the women’s environmental campaign more than a symbolic gesture.
For residents, every mangrove planted could represent another small barrier against a coastline that is already changing.
But the Land Fight Has Become a Legal Battle
The conflict dates back to 2014, when PT Bumi Pari Asri claimed rights over a large part of Pari Island.
The company maintains that its certificates were legally obtained from Indonesia’s National Land Agency. Residents, meanwhile, have questioned how some of the documents were obtained and have alleged that signatures were collected without residents fully understanding how they would be used.
The company has rejected those allegations, saying land transactions involved residents who wanted to sell their property.
The dispute has also produced criminal cases.
Local reporting cited by CNA says three islanders involved in ecotourism were arrested in 2017 after being accused of offences including extortion and illegal occupation of land claimed by PT Bumi Pari Asri.
But in 2018, the Jakarta High Court overturned their convictions and acquitted all three, finding that no crime had been committed.
The Jakarta Legal Aid Institute, or LBH Jakarta, has supported the islanders’ advocacy.
In a separate 2026 legal dispute involving maritime-use approvals near Pari Island, LBH Jakarta said the Jakarta High Administrative Court had rejected residents’ challenge concerning a marine spatial-use approval granted to PT Central Pondok Sejahtera. The organisation argued that reclamation and development associated with floating cottages and a pier posed ecological risks to the island’s coastal environment.
The case illustrates why the dispute is no longer simply about who owns land.
It is also about how Indonesia’s small islands are developed, who gets to make decisions about coastal spaces and whether environmental protection can keep pace with commercial activity.
Pari Island’s Climate Lawsuit Went Global
The islanders’ struggle has also reached an international courtroom.
In January 2023, Asmania and three other Pari residents — Arif Pujianto, Mustaghfirin and Edi Mulyono — filed a climate-related case in Switzerland against cement giant Holcim.
They are seeking financial compensation for climate-related losses, support for protective measures and an order requiring the company to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.
In December 2025, a Swiss court agreed to allow the case to proceed on its merits. Reuters reporting published by The Jakarta Post said the case concerns allegations that Holcim has not done enough to reduce emissions contributing to global warming.
Holcim has said it is committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 and has argued that climate policy should primarily be addressed through lawmakers rather than civil litigation.
The Swiss proceedings do not determine the separate Indonesian land dispute.
But together, the cases have placed Pari Island in a much larger international debate about climate responsibility, corporate emissions and the rights of communities facing the consequences of global warming.
Why the Women’s Fight Matters Beyond One Island
The Pari Island dispute reflects a broader problem across Indonesia, one of the world’s largest archipelagic nations.
Environmental and agrarian groups say conflicts can arise when permits for commercial activities overlap with areas traditionally used by fishing and coastal communities.
The Jakarta Post previously reported concerns over maritime business zones around Pari Island, including permits involving several companies, amid warnings from residents and civil society groups that reclamation and development could worsen ecological damage.
A 2026 study on community advocacy in Pari Island likewise described continuing tensions surrounding corporate land claims and the social pressures experienced by residents defending their living space.
For the women of Pari Island, however, the strategy remains remarkably simple:
Keep the community together. Protect the coastline. Create livelihoods. And stay on the island.
That is why their environmental work has become inseparable from their fight over land.
Every beach cleanup, community garden and mangrove planting campaign is also a statement that the island has a future worth defending.
And as climate change raises the pressure on low-lying coastal communities, the question confronting Pari Island is becoming harder to ignore:
Who gets to decide what happens to an island when the people who have lived there for generations say it is their home?
What to know about Pari Island
- Location: Thousand Islands Regency, Jakarta, Indonesia.
- Size: About 43 hectares.
- Elevation: Approximately 1.5 metres above sea level.
- Population: Around 1,200 residents.
- Women’s group: Founded in 2017 by Asmania.
- Main activities: Mangrove and seagrass planting, beach cleanups, farming, food production and tourism-related livelihoods.
- Land dispute: PT Bumi Pari Asri claims about 90% of the island, while residents and rights groups dispute aspects of the company’s claim.
- Climate case: Four Pari residents brought a climate-related lawsuit against Holcim in Switzerland; the case was allowed to proceed in December 2025.
- Environmental pressure: Coastal erosion, rising sea levels and development-related concerns are among the major issues facing the island.
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