The Transformation of the Namblong Indigenous Movement Against Deforestation Practices in the Grime Nawa Valley, Papua

This study analyzes the transformation of the Namblong Indigenous movement against deforestation driven by PT Permata Nusa Mandiri's oil palm expansion in the Grime Nawa Valley, Jayapura Regency, Papua. The study explores why and how the movement changed, maps its stages, and identifies key actors. The intrinsic case study draws on three evidentiary layers: in-depth interviews with six key actors on 9 June 2026; participant observation; and a coded documentary corpus of seventeen items carrying fourteen named speakers, nine of whom were not part of the leadership. The customary boundaries, the revoked concession, and patrol posts were verified in QGIS. When analyzed through the lens of New Social Movement theory, the findings reveal four non-linear phases: traditional protest (2011–2020); multi-scalar advocacy alliances (2021–2022); a partial, contested victory (2022–2025), in which central-government revocations were never matched by district-level cancellation; and institutionalization through Indonesia's first Indigenous-owned corporation (2024), owned by 44 clans across roughly 52,765 hectares. This study argues that the incompleteness of the legal victory, rather than its success, drove the shift from rejection to development. The study also documents the accompanying internal friction. The present study extends New Social Movement theory by proposing the Indigenous corporation as a new repertoire of resistance in the Global South. This is offered as an analytical, precondition-dependent generalization.Keywords: Agrarian conflict, Deforestation, Indigenous corporation, Indigenous movement, New Social Movement