This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on January 23, 2023 - January 29, 2023

The palm oil industry has been identified as a major cause of deforestation over the years. Sustainable palm oil producers, however, are hoping to halt and reverse the damage done to the environment following much pressure from stakeholders.

A few key strategies — which are also highlighted by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) — are to identify high conservation value (HCV) areas within plantations and turn these into protected zones, introduce “no deforestation, no peat and no exploitation” (NDPE) policies and limit further forest clearing for new plantations.

Wilmar International Ltd, one of the largest listed companies by market capitalisation on the Singapore Exchange, has done all of the above. It also established the Sekar Imej Conservation Area (Sica) in Beluran, Sabah, in 2019. It is the company’s largest conservation area in Malaysia at 2,496ha and one of the last remaining forest patches in the area.

In September 2022, the first-ever scientific expedition in Sica was organised by Wilmar International and the South East Asia Rainforest Research Partnership (SEARRP), giving scientists a rare chance to access the conservation site and document its biodiversity. A few members of the media were also invited to join the expedition.

“In some respects, oil palm is very unfairly treated as a crop. It gets a very bad publicity rap in Europe in particular. There’s no question that if you take down natural forests and replace them with an oil palm plantation or any agricultural crop, it’s going to have very serious effects on biodiversity.

“But nowadays, Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) members are committed to zero deforestation. The Malaysian government is also committed to keeping forest cover at 50% of the total land area,” says Dr Glen Reynolds, director and project lead of SEARRP. He has held the position since 2000.

“I think the more important question is how to improve sustainability within the plantation sector. Because it’s a perennial crop, planted palm stays in the ground for more than 20 years in most cases. There’s a lot you can do to a plantation to make it biodiversity-friendly by making sure riparian reserves are restored and forest patches are of high quality. [If the plantation is managed] in a way that is less hostile to biodiversity, then there’s no reason why the environmental impact of plantation agriculture can’t be minimised.”

Wilmar and SEARRP have been scientific collaborators since 2006, focusing on biodiversity conservation and sustainable management of oil palm. SEARRP’s research advances the understanding of oil palm plantation restoration projects. The projects include the rehabilitation of degraded forests and peatlands, the restoration of riparian reserves and the use of open spaces and unplanted areas.

“A lot of forest patches with oil palm plantations are small and damaged. We need to understand how to restore the areas. Thousands and thousands of hectares of oil palm plantations need to be restored, particularly in riparian areas. It’s important to understand how to do that,” says Reynolds.

There is much research on the impact of land clearing for oil palm plantations on biodiversity. But not much on how to reverse that process.

“At the moment, it’s not well understood how to do that. There are a lot of options. Do you take out the palms, cut them down and replant the trees? Do you leave the palms in place and plant tree species underneath? Or do you just abandon them and let nature take its course for the areas to recover naturally?” questions Reynolds.

This highlights an opportunity for scientists to work with plantation companies to find the answers to these questions. Such opportunities are rare, notes Reynolds. A well-designed project can attract many scientists, who will subsequently publish their work in peer-reviewed journals. The evidence found can aid in the restoration of damaged forest land.

“There are many conservation non-governmental organisations doing restoration work, but a lot of it goes unpublished. It is difficult to determine whether the work is of high quality unless it is in the public domain and can be scrutinised by others, particularly scientists,” he says.

In the September expedition, approximately 49 scientists and researchers from SEARRP, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) assessed the forest quality and estimated carbon stocks to establish biodiversity and carbon baselines.

Research activities during the scientific expedition include the placement of non-lethal small mammal traps in combination with camera traps and conducting surveys to observe the presence of orangutan nests and signs of other primate activity.

“This is the first opportunity scientists have been given to go in there and collect baseline data. The baseline data is a preliminary assessment of the area. Based on what we found, it does qualify as a high conservation area,” says Dr Nik Fadzly N Rosely, an associate professor at USM.

“We are hoping this programme continues this year and annually, [so] we will get new data. We will be able to see gradual changes at Sica and whether new species are coming in.”

There are a few species of interest recorded in the area. These include the sun bear, lesser mouse deer, Bornean yellow muntjac, and birds like the oriental pied hornbill and the great argus.

The research focused on species that are easily collected, such as dung beetles and butterflies. A high diversity of dung beetles suggests a diverse population of mammals. Meanwhile, a diverse population of butterflies indicates the presence of a range of plants that butterflies and larvae feed on.

Insects like dung beetles and butterflies are sensitive to environmental change. Thus, their numbers in the wild act as an early warning system. If their numbers are down, it means more management, restoration and conservation activities are needed. The population of these insects also serves as an indicator of the effectiveness of restoration efforts.

Other than conservation for biodiversity, Sica also provides natural resources to local communities. There are three villages near the area: Kampung Kinadaan, Kampung Mononood and Kampung Kaiboton. Sica is the main water catchment area for the surrounding region and the source of gravity-fed water supply.

Wilmar has introduced several low-impact livelihood schemes for these communities, such as the community honorary and junior ranger programme and the seedling buyback programme. There are also opportunities for alternative livelihoods through agroforestry and agrotourism.

Save by subscribing to us for your print and/or digital copy.

P/S: The Edge is also available on Apple's App Store and Android's Google Play.