By MALILA Harris
INDONESIA NEWS - The giant Indonesian palm oil producer company Golden Agri-Resources (GAR) has made a deal to work within strict parameters to protect forests, essential for storing carbon to save environment. The company has agreed with the international environment group The Forest Trust (TFT) that will look after the company's activities.
The palm oil industry has been accused to destroy the environment by cutting the old-growth forest. The present deal increases the existing standards agreed under the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), an international alliance of producers, processors, retailers and environment groups.
The organization has already banned cutting of old-growth forest or land with high conservative value, and if there is any development one should obtain a permit from local people before initiating new plantations.
Under the agreement GAR has to abide by vow to plant on peat and not destroy old forest where significant carbon is locked up in trees. This means a large part of logged forest will be restricted to the company.
Initially, the figure of 35 tons of carbon stored per hectare will be used as a ceiling but the situation would change in the progression of research.
GAR is a name reckoned in the production of palm oil, which is extensively used in food, fuels and cosmetics. The company in recent years has been criticized for its environmental destruction.
GAR’s chairman and CEO Franky Wijaya said that they were the foremost player in the palm oil industry and aware of the conservation of Indonesia’s forests. He further added that the partnership with TFT allowed them to grow palm oil so as to conserve forests and fulfill to Indonesia’s development needs at the same time.
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