Cargill joins South Sumatra government’s mission to preserve high conservation value forests

Palembang, South Sumatra, April 23, 2018 — Cargill joined the Consortium Partnership for Landscape Management, KELOLA Sendang, a program protecting high conservation value (HCV) areas and the natural environment by supporting holistic restoration projects in Banyuasin, South Sumatra, Indonesia.

Commissioned by the Government of South Sumatra and project-managed by The Zoological Society of London (ZSL), the program will provide capacity building and best-management-practice advisory services to Cargill’s PT Hindoli palm plantations. The project will use SMART (Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tools) instruments to monitor and manage the earmarked HCV area. Aimed at addressing the challenges of wildfires and biodiversity conservation, the one-year partnership will cover 300 hectares, the equivalent of 349 football fields.

Prof. Dr. Damayanti Buchori, M.Sc, the Director of landscape management project, KELOLA Sendang appreciates Cargill’s for its continuous commitment in sustainability at its PT Hindoli plantation. “We hope this partnership will become the model for public-private partnership program (4P), where we work hand-in-hand for landscape sustainability. Thank you to Cargill for making this collaboration a reality. I believe this coordination between government and private sector, in this case with Cargill will be fruitful as the PT Hindoli plantation is at the forefront of sustainability practices.”

“Cargill is committed to sustainable palm oil production and sourcing, which includes the conservation of biodiversity, and we are honored to be a part of the consortium to support the Indonesia government to reach its goals of protecting and restoring HCV areas for future generations” said Ong Kee Chau, Cargill president director of PT Hindoli during the partnership signing ceremony.

Cargill is firmly committed to sustainable palm oil production and sourcing. Its palm policy
underlines the company’s commitment to sustainable, deforestation-free, socially responsible palm oil. This includes not planting on high conservation value forests (HCVF); not to develop new plantations on peat land or land that would threaten biodiversity; a strict no-burn policy for land preparation and ending deforestation in our supply chain. Cargill is collaborating and seeking the support of suppliers, customers, governments, non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders to implementing this policy.