Palm Oil Association Reveals New Alternative Rules in Forest Areas

The Indonesian Palm Oil Association (“GAPKI”) has highlighted the issue of palm oil plantations often being located in forest areas. Secretary-General of GAPKI Eddy Martono explained that this situation has the potential to cause serious problems in terms of compliance with sustainability standards and applicable laws.

“Many of the areas that will be cleared for palm oil partnerships are actually located in forest areas. This will cause problems with Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (“ISPO”) and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), so we cannot clear them,” said Eddy.

He added that if the land clearing is forced, companies could face criminal charges in addition to having to pay fines. To prevent this, Eddy revealed that new regulations are currently being processed. These regulations provide options for other productive activities besides palm oil for land that cannot be used.

“So new regulations have been issued for other productive activities. This is currently being processed, meaning that it has also been discussed by the Ministry of Agriculture to determine what the productive value will be,” he explained.