No one is safe. This is the conclusion of a new report released by the Indonesian NGO coalition Eyes on the Forests, demonstrating how even certified oil palm companies are dealing with a product coming from illegal deforestation. Oil palm plantation illegally developed inside the protected areas continues to supply the major producers. Despite far reaching industry commitments to stop deforestation the remaining ever smaller and ever more precious forest blocks continue to be converted to oil palm plantations whether they are legally protected by government or not.
Palm oil has caused dramatic deforestation in Indonesia, particularly in Sumatra. In 2015, Indonesia and neighboring countries suffered one of the most far reaching tangible impacts of deforestation - regional haze and green house gas emissions caused by long-lasting widespread fires. They resulted in estimated emissions of 1.75 billion metric tons CO2 equivalent, more than all German or Japanese fossil fuel emissions. Fires are often used to after deforestation to prepare land for planting with oil palms.
Eyes on the Forest investigations found subsidiaries of the Royal Golden Eagle (RGE) group, Golden Agri- Resources (GAR) of the Sinar Mas group (SMG), Wilmar, Musim Mas and many other smaller companies receiving illegal fresh fruit bunch or crude palm oil tainted with illegal palm fruits.
Eyes on the Forest investigations found subsidiaries of the Royal Golden Eagle (RGE) group, Golden Agri- Resources (GAR) of the Sinar Mas group (SMG), Wilmar, Musim Mas and many other smaller companies receiving illegal fresh fruit bunch or crude palm oil tainted with illegal palm fruits.
So far, palm oil produced far away from protected area has been considered safe from the risk of illegal logging. Unfortunately, Eyes on the Forest research shows a different picture: trucks with illegal palm fruit drove up to 128 km and spent up to 5 days on the road, long and far enough to reach dozens of palm oil mills along the way. Given the small scale of the investigations, the investigators believes its study identified only the tip of an iceberg. There are no safe distances in Riau and Sumatra. The issue appears to be systemic and the majority of the world’s palm oil supplies may be tainted with palm oil fruits illegally grown in some of the last remaining habitats of critically endangered species like tigers, elephants, and orangutan.
Four oil palm companies with the certification of sustainable palm oil (RSPO) has been found involved in trade with palm oil mills supplying from illegal sources. The fact is that RSPO Supply Chain Certificate is not enough to prevent such contamination. These certificates do not include verification and transparency on the origins of the fruits. There are ways to certificate that the oil is form a clean origin: the RSPO “Identity Preserved (IP)” or “Segregated (SG)” Supply Chain Models. However, today, most palm oil mills in Indonesia do not have this certification.
The focus of Eyes on the Forest report is on legality. However legality is only on first step towards sustainability. Most palm oil companies, after decades of massive deforestation, are now committed towards zero deforestation, which also means that they need to address their legacy of past deforestation. By now however, it looks they are even failing to buy oil from legal sources.
A recent Greenpeace investigation shows that the food industry is failing to fulfilled its commitment towards zero deforestation. Only a few companies are making significant headway towards ensuring that there is no deforestation in their palm oil supply chains, and most are moving far too slowly. It turns out, some companies might think that making a promise is easy - and that no one's going to notice if they don't keep it.