Pulau Pari (Pari Island) is one of 108 islands lying 45km off the north coast of Indonesia’s capital city, Jakarta. Collectively, they are known as the Thousand Islands, and include sandbars, coral reefs, and mangroves. The islands all rely upon one another for different needs: many do not have fresh water, while others have no fertile land for growing vegetables. Around 300 households with a total of 1,300 residents live on Pulau Pari. The island grows only breadfruit, which is traditionally eaten as the main carbohydrate in a meal. The island once had a thriving seaweed industry and exported up to 20 tonnes a year to Japan, but the growing areas were almost entirely destroyed by a change in ocean currents when a neighbouring island (Pulau Tengah or Pulau H) was bought by a private investor and turned into a resort, complete with land reclamation and multiple piers for yachts. Pulau Tengah was previously uninhabited and was used to plant fruits and vegetables for the residents of Pulau Pari; access is now off-limits.

In 2010, the islanders – who primarily work as fisherpeople – decided to open up to island to tourism as a response to the loss of the seaweed industry; up to 1,500 people now visit the island every weekend. Since 2014, a company by the name of PT Bumipari Asri has begun claiming they own 90% of Pulau Pari and intend to turn the island into a resort. It is unclear how the company came to own the island – all is known is that residents gave the village heads their land ownership certificates in the 1980s for updating, and never saw them again. The company forbids any alteration to or improvement of the land, including the erection of new buildings and the maintenance of beaches for tourism. Since 2015, four people have been arrested and jailed for up to six months for entering without permission and maintaining a beach without permission. Residents live under constant threat of eviction and do not know where they will live if forced to leave.