RCA Carbon withdraws from Nangahale project as Diocese seeks investors

Nangahale — RCA Carbon withdrew from a proposed carbon-credit and agroforestry project in Nangahale, Sikka, after a land conflict made conditions unsuitable, Floresa reported on 22 October 2026. Bishop Ewaldus Martinus Sedu of the Diocese of Maumere said discussions with other prospective investors were continuing.

Haigan Murray, the company’s leader, told Floresa that the project had failed and that the announcement describing the planned partnership was later removed. The company’s website was also no longer active, according to the report.

Why it matters to readers

The development links investment prospects in Flores with an unresolved land dispute in Nangahale. The proposed project involved coconut processing for biochar and carbon credits, alongside agroforestry plans, on land claimed by the Diocese of Maumere’s company and by members of the Soge Natarmage and Goban Runut communities.

The report said the proposed partnership was discussed while efforts to resolve the land conflict were still under way. The dispute later included the demolition of 120 residents’ homes and plantation crops in January 2025, according to Floresa’s account.

Bishop Sedu said the Diocese of Maumere remained in contact with other potential investors, including a prospective investor from New Zealand working in the coconut-carbon sector. He also said the diocese needed to proceed carefully because the investment would involve foreign capital, known in Indonesia as PMA.

Floresa reported that the Diocese of Maumere’s discussions with RCA Carbon had ended, but that possible investment in Nangahale had not been abandoned. The report did not state a new investment agreement or a timetable for the next project.

Sources

• Floresa — investigative report on the Nangahale project
• examiner.org.hk
• insideindonesia.org