PALM PLANTATION INDUSTRY has penetrated Sulawesi since the 1980’s and its expansion continues to this day. As in various regions in Indonesia, the Sulawesi palm oil industry is not free from various problems of practices that are not environmentally friendly, prone to land grabbing, violations of rights, both to workers and surrounding communities, and social and cultural changes. Urgent fundamental changes or reforms in oil palm plantation management have emerged, both in terms of law enforcement, as well as the establishment of more stringent new laws.
The Indonesian Government’s policy regarding the sustainability and improvement of oil palm governance began with the initiation of the Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) in 2011. The ISPO revision took place in 2015, at which time a number of reports and research revealed the Indonesian oil palm industry supply chain that was not resolved environmental problems, so that various parties ask Indonesia as the largest producer of crude palm oil (CPO) to pay special attention to ecological aspects. Since the adoption of the ISPO as of March 2011 to February 2016, there have been 225 ISPO certificates that have been granted, covering an area of 1.4 million ha area (the status is still the same as of February 2017), and certified CPO reaches 5.9 million tons per year. Issuance of ISPO certification increased significantly in the span of one year, February 2016-2017, which is 290% of the average percentage of ISPO certificate issuance per year since 2011.
However, the ISPO has not made any significant changes. The pace of ISPO certification is inversely proportional to the real improvement in the governance of the oil palm industry with the continuation of key issues.
Read more about the position paper of the Sulawesi Region CSO can be downloaded via the following link Kertas Posisi ISPO – Region Sulawesi
