JAKARTA (Nov 4): About 14,500 hectares, or less than 1%, of the more than 1.9 million hectares affected by fires across Indonesia between January and September 2026 were within Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)-certified concessions, said RSPO chief executive officer Joseph D’Cruz.

However, more than 6,500 hectares, or nearly 45% of the affected certified land, were concentrated in just two concessions, one of which was already the subject of a complaint under the global multi-stakeholder non-profit’s grievance system.

The other concession would be examined closely, D’Cruz said in his opening remarks at the annual Roundtable Conference on Sustainable Palm Oil 2026 (RT2026) at Swissotel Jakarta PIK Avenue in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Nov 3. 

He did not identify either concession when asked at a subsequent press conference.

RSPO had no evidence so far that any of its members, including those under scrutiny by Singapore, had deliberately lit fires, added D’Cruz. 

Singapore’s National Environment Agency issued notices to 10 Singapore-registered palm oil and forestry companies on Oct 23, seeking information about their Indonesian land concessions, corporate links and fire prevention and firefighting measures.

The agency separately issued notices to 10 Indonesian companies as part of its investigation into fires and transboundary haze.

D’Cruz said RSPO welcomed Singapore’s investigation, but cautioned that fires occurring within a concession did not establish that a company had deliberately started them.

Members found using fire to clear land risked losing their certification, he said.

“I’ve said this before and I will say it again, anybody who has any evidence of RSPO members deliberately lighting fires should come forward and lodge a complaint. We will investigate thoroughly and vigorously.

“We are not an industry hiding from scrutiny. We are a partnership that monitors ourselves more closely than anyone else monitors us,” stressed D’Cruz.

Remote-sensing scientist David Gaveau, founder of TheTreeMap, the team behind the satellite-based forest and fire monitoring platform Nusantara Atlas, said his team had detected burnt areas in some concessions belonging to the companies under investigation.

Those findings justified further investigation but did not establish who was responsible for starting the fires, he said.

“The fire may have started outside and spread within the concession, or it may have started in the concession. It could have started for multiple reasons. It could be accidental. It could be a company worker who is starting a fire by accident,” Gaveau said at the press conference.

Across all oil palm concessions in Indonesia, about 206,000 hectares were affected by fire during the same period, including 19,000 hectares of natural forest, according to Gaveau’s slides.

Within RSPO-certified concessions, the 14,500-hectare total included about 2,500 hectares of natural forest.

“14,500 hectares is still too much. We still need to analyse the data for October once it becomes available, so the figure will go up. We also need to assess what happened and how we can collectively improve,” D’Cruz said in his opening remarks.

“But the data is clear, RSPO-certified concessions have been impacted by fires at a far lower rate than the industry average. If specific concessions show unusual burning, we will identify them and investigate.”

D’Cruz said RSPO prohibited fire for land clearing and required members to maintain fire prevention, monitoring and response systems, with compliance checked through annual audits.

Members were also required to work with neighbouring communities to tackle fires around their concessions.

RSPO’s Firewatch system had sent more than 2,000 hotspot alerts between January and September, with about two-thirds investigated and reported back, he said.

Auditors were alerted to examine incidents involving extensive burning or damage to high conservation areas during the next audit.

D’Cruz added that almost no land had burnt in certified independent smallholder plots, even where farmers lived and worked in fire-affected areas.

He praised smallholders for fighting fires, helping neighbours and speaking publicly about their work, while stressing that they should not bear the cost of sustainable practices alone.

“We will not rebuild credibility by asking smallholders to carry the cost of sustainable practices alone. The efforts they have made to plant sustainably without burning, and the sacrifices they have made fighting these fires in their farms and neighbouring communities, need to be recognised and supported,” said D’Cruz.

However, estate workers in Sumatra and Kalimantan had faced accusations despite helping to fight the fires, he said.

“They come home in the evening, open their phones, and read strangers — people who know almost nothing about what’s happening on the ground condemning their company, their industry, their community, and them,” he said.

D’Cruz said people across the region had rushed to blame the palm oil industry for the fires, with RSPO member companies drawing scrutiny.

“Despite everything we have done over 20 years — all the systems, all the processes, all the certifications we built to demonstrate our credibility — the moment fires broke out on the ground there was an automatic assumption that our industry was to blame. Hardly anybody stopped to check. They just assumed the palm industry was guilty,” he said.

He also criticised the silence within RSPO, saying too few members had stood up for growers or explained their work, while some appeared willing to join the criticism.

“I have been very unhappy at our collective silence when our sustainable palm sector stood accused these past weeks. It is not because of the companies involved — it is because of our people.”