Breaking the Link between Environmental Degradation and Oil Palm Expansion: A Method for Enabling Sustainable Oil Palm Expansion

Abstract

Land degradation is a global concern. In tropical areas it primarily concerns the conversion of forest into non-forest lands and the associated losses of environmental services. Defining such degradation is not straightforward hampering effective reduction in degradation and use of already degraded lands for more productive purposes. To facilitate the processes of avoided degradation and land rehabilitation, we have developed a methodology in which we have used international environmental and social sustainability standards to determine the suitability of lands for sustainable agricultural expansion. The method was developed and tested in one of the frontiers of agricultural expansion, West Kalimantan province in Indonesia. The focus was on oil palm expansion, which is considered as a major driver for deforestation in tropical regions globally. The results suggest that substantial changes in current land-use planning are necessary for most new plantations to comply with international sustainability standards. Through visualizing options for sustainable expansion with our methodology, we demonstrate that the link between oil palm expansion and degradation can be broken. Application of the methodology with criteria and thresholds similar to ours could help the Indonesian government and the industry to achieve its pro-growth, pro-job, pro-poor and pro-environment development goals. For sustainable agricultural production, context specific guidance has to be developed in areas suitable for expansion. Our methodology can serve as a template for designing such commodity and country specific tools and deliver such guidance.

Hydrological and economic effects of oil palm cultivation in Indonesian peatlands

“…Facilitating the use of "degraded land" on mineral soil for oil palm expansion. Sumarga and Hein (2014) formulate an ecosystem services approach to identify areas where palm oil expansion would not compromise the supply of key ecosystem services and identify 1.8 million ha of land available in Central Kalimantan (see also Smit et al 2013). Given that land holdings are much more scattered in these mineral lands, the promotion of palm oil production in mineral lands may be well combined with an approach enabling smallholders to produce palm oil by providing them with technical advice, loans, high-quality seedlings, and so forth (Barlow et al 2003, Feintrenie et al 2010.…”

Green Road Transportation Using Biodiesel and Electric Mobility in Indonesia: A Benchmark Analysis of GHG Referring to Japan

“…When the tropical forests, peatlands, and other agricultural lands that are rich in carbon converted to biofuel crop's land, large quantities of GHG might release. However, these negative issues can be minimized if abandoned fields or degraded lands are utilized for biofuel crops which could help to mitigate the climate change and lessen the chance of raising food prices as well (Fairhurst and McLaughlin 2009, Gingold et al 2012, Smit et al 2013). If we can anticipate the biodiesel produced from non-abandoned land, its utilization has high potential to reduce a significant amount of emission from road transportation sector.…”

Restoration planning of degraded tropical forests for biodiversity and ecosystem services

“…My study should change the widely accepted perspective that views a degraded forest as a wasteland, which is better converted to other land uses (e.g. oil palm plantation; Santika et al, 2015b;Smit et al, 2013). I show that not all degraded areas are equal, with some degraded forests (e.g.…”

“…Restorasi Ekosistem Indonesia, 2015). From the perspective of conservationists, this degraded forest is regarded as a problem necessitating restoration while agribusiness entities view it as an opportunity for oil-palm plantation development, showing contrasting values between both groups (Smit et al, 2013). A restoration project in the form of an Ecosystem Restoration Concession (ERC), called Harapan Rainforest (The Forests of Hope), has been established to improve the habitat quality of the forest and to protect it from oil-palm expansion for the preservation persistence of wildlife (Birdlife International, 2014 The objective is an articulation of the goal, which commonly uses quantitative measures (Gregory et al, 2012;Pressey and Bottrill, 2009).…”

“…While the contribution of the oil-palm industry to economic development is prominent, the costs associated with its social and environmental impacts remain debatable (Meijaard and Wilson, in review). In recognition that these costs exist, there has been political and market pressure on the oil-palm industry to become more environmentally responsible (Smedley, 2015;Smit et al, 2013).…”