Jakarta Globe, Dec 08, 2014
Jakarta. Following last week’s strong pro-peatlands and forests commitment by newly inaugurated President Joko Widodo, two of the world’s largest palm oil producers and traders have announced policies to address the criticism of deforestation in their supply chains.
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| The practice of burning peatlands has not only damaged the environment but also triggered health problems. (EPA Photo/Azwar) |
Jakarta. Following last week’s strong pro-peatlands and forests commitment by newly inaugurated President Joko Widodo, two of the world’s largest palm oil producers and traders have announced policies to address the criticism of deforestation in their supply chains.
However,
Greenpeace says that where Musim Mas commits to immediately protect High Carbon
Stock (HCS) forests, Kuala Lumpur Kepong (KLK) does not define exactly what it
will protect.
The High
Carbon Stock Approach, the global environmental group argues, is a tested tool
that identifies degraded areas suitable for plantation development and forest
areas that merit protection to maintain and enhance carbon, biodiversity and
social values.
It is being
overseen and further refined by the multi-stakeholder High Carbon Stock
Approach Steering Group, which involves international non-governmental
organizations including Greenpeace as well as palm oil producers Cargill,
Agropalma, Wilmar, New Britain Palm Oil, Daabon and Golden Agri Resources, and
one of the world’s largest pulp and paper companies Asia Pulp & Paper
(APP).
“While
Musim Mas will use the leading methodology to break the link between palm oil
and deforestation, KLK fails to identify what forests the company plans to
protect,” said Greenpeace Indonesia forest campaigner Annisa Rahmawati.
“Without a clear definition, it is hard for us to believe that the company is
serious about its commitments.”
Both Musim
Mas and KLK are part of the Malaysia-based Sustainable Palm Oil Manifesto
(SPOM), an industry initiative that has commissioned further carbon study. In
their new policies, the companies say they will adopt the outcomes of that
study after 2015.
Where the
HCS Approach has explicitly been developed to implement commitments to break
the link between palm oil and deforestation, the objective of the SPOM appears
to rather be balancing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and socioeconomic
aspects.
Greenpeace
and other leading NGOs do not support the SPOM as it falls short of new
benchmarks for responsible palm oil production and trade, and is not a
multi-stakeholder driven initiative. However, the HCS Approach Steering Group
has stated an openness to any new credible science and will consider
recommendations from the SPOM study.
“With
deforestation rates rising in Indonesia, KLK and Musim Mas need get their
priorities [straight]. We urge these companies to make a long-term commitment
to the best tools available, in particular the HCS Approach, to break the link
between palm oil and deforestation. They also need to require their third party
suppliers to do the same,” Annisa said.
KLK and
Musim Mas’s announcements come days after a visit by Joko to the coastal
peatlands of Riau. The president assured that his minister for environment and
forestry is reviewing plantation concessions, and will revoke the permits of
those that have damaged the ecosystem.
Greenpeace
has declared its support of Joko’s push for environmental law enforcement, and
pointed to a recent case in which a director and a manager of KLK subsidiary
Adei Plantation and Industry were found guilty of negligence over forest fires
in Pelalawan, Riau.
In his
visit to the province Joko declared his preference for farms owned by
individuals — as opposed to corporations — to curb the haze crisis that stems
from peatland fires in Riau and across Sumatra and Kalimantan.
Joko said
private farmers had minimal impact on the environment when compared to
corporate monoculture plantations such as those for oil palms and pulpwood,
which have been the main cause of environmental damage in the province.
The
president added that he had ordered Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya
to review and monitor concessions currently operated by large companies across
the country.
“If they
are indeed destroying the ecosystem with their monoculture plantations, they
will have to be terminated,” Joko said.
“We must
put a stop the [destruction], we mustn’t allow our tropical rainforests to
disappear.”
The
president revealed that the government also plans to employ a new approach in
managing Indonesia’s peatlands, vast expanses of which can be found in Sumatra
and Kalimantan.
Fires on
these two Indonesian islands, which often lead to transboundary haze problems
in Singapore and Malaysia, begin on peatlands as it is drained and subjected to
slashing and burning to give way for the cultivation of commercial plants.
Local
farmers and large corporations have for years been placing the blame on each
other for igniting fires on peatlands.
Corrupt
government officials, meanwhile, have been blamed for lax law enforcement that
allows fires and haze problems to recur every year, harming the health of both
local and neighboring residents, and increasing economic losses as airports are
forced to close.
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