JAKARTA, April 4 — Leonardo DiCaprio is off the hook.
Indonesian government officials clarified yesterday that the Oscar-winning actor and environmental campaigner was not “blacklisted” by the country for his criticism of its palm oil industry.
News broke on Friday that comments made by DiCaprio during a visit to Sumatra had angered the authorities so much that he faced the threat of deportation should he ever return to Indonesia.
Indonesia’s minister of the environment and forestry, Siti Nurbaya, said she believed he had acted “in good faith,” before reiterating that the government shared similar environmental concerns.
“My view is that DiCaprio’s concerns are both sincere and substantial, and he has certainly acted in good faith,” she was quoted as saying by foresthints.news. “In fact, we largely share his concerns on this matter.
“In light of this and to reciprocate his sincerity and good intentions, I am open to working together with DiCaprio in a joint effort whereby both of us can have our concerns addressed, including those that pertain to the Leuser Ecosystem.”
According to The Guardian, the 41-year-old actor arrived in Sumatra on March 26 by private jet from Japan and left the next day.
It is understood that he wants to establish a “mega-fauna sanctuary” in the Leuser rainforest ecosystem with local partners under the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation.
Palm oil plantations, mining, logging and other developments are said to be endangering local populations of Sumatran elephants, orangutans, rhinos and tigers in the lowland Sumatran national park.
A series of social media posts by the actor carried messages critical of the palm oil industry’s slash-and-burn practices.
In a post on Tuesday, for example, DiCaprio wrote: “The expansion of Palm Oil plantations is fragmenting the #forest and cutting off key elephant migratory corridors, making it more difficult for elephant families to find adequate sources of food and water.”
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Directorate General for Immigration at the Law and Human Rights Ministry, Heru Santoso, said no complaints had been lodged against DiCaprio for his comments.
“We support [DiCaprio’s] concern to save [Indonesia’s] Leuser Ecosystem. But we can blacklist him from returning to Indonesia at any time if he keeps posting incitement or provocative statements in his social media,” Heru told the Associated Press on Saturday.
On Friday, The Guardian quoted immigration director-general Ronny Sompie as telling Republika that DiCaprio faced deportation if he was still on Indonesian soil.
“If there are statements that discredit the government and the interests of Indonesia, he could be deported,” Ronny was quoted as saying.
“If he is in Indonesia for other purposes, by engaging in activities that disrupt public order and harm the interests of Indonesia, immigration authorities are ready to deport him,” he added.
But Siti was “keen to clarify that DiCaprio would not be deported,” according to foresthints.news.
“There was even an official from my ministry serving in the province who accompanied DiCaprio on his visit, in particular when he went to see the orangutans in the Gunung Leuser National Park. It’s really not relevant to link the concerns conveyed by DiCaprio with immigration matters,” she said.
Siti added that she would be visiting the United Nations, in New York, later this month to discuss climate change, and she would be happy to share the Indonesian government’s initiatives on deforestation with DiCaprio over a cup of coffee.
“Who knows, if DiCaprio is around New York when I’m at the UN Headquarters, perhaps we can catch up over a cup of coffee,” she said.
“I would take the opportunity to explain to him in greater detail about the efforts being undertaken by the [president’s] administration to address climate change issues.”
