RSPO integrity tested as wildfires hit orangutan habitat
Independent monitoring and analyses found thousands of land inside oil palm concessions operated by companies certified by the global certifier group have been burned, with some fires threatening habitats of local biodiversity such as the Bornean orangutan.
Wildfires have put the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) to the test as they ravage orangutan habitats in Indonesia. Independent monitoring revealed that thousands of hectares within oil palm concessions certified by the RSPO have been burned, threatening local biodiversity, including the critically endangered Bornean orangutan.
The RSPO, a nonprofit organization since 2004, certifies the entire palm oil industry chain and mandates strict environmental requirements, including a ban on using fires to clear land for plantations. However, fire hotspots and burned lands were found inside multiple RSPO-member concessions during Indonesia's dry season. In one case, the RSPO-certified concession of palm oil company PT Kayung Agro Lestari in West Kalimantan suffered significant damage, with fires spreading from a canal edge into the orangutan monitoring site.
Written by urgent.news from The Jakarta Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
