What is the case?

The debate around palm oil and sustainability has been going on for several years. On the one hand, palm oil cultivation offers unprecedented opportunities for the agro-food industry and local farmers in tropical countries. On the other hand, there is a lot of protest from environmental groups and local groups because land rights are violated and the environment is heavily degraded.

What is the project doing about this?

In this project, we are working with colleagues from Malaysia and Indonesia to improve the criteria and indicators of sustainable palm oil. As a result, buyers of palm oil will be able to determine with greater certainty whether palm oil has really been grown sustainably.

What does the project deliver?

The project has produced a series of background documents for the RSPO (Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil). These can be downloaded from our website (www.sensorproject.net) and are used by stakeholders in the palm oil industry, NGOs, and government policymakers. We also advise the RSPO in drafting improved guidelines for certifying small palm oil farmers.

Project details

Associate Professor: Peter van de Meer, Oil Palm and Tropical Forests
Duration: 2016 - 2020
Budget private: 80.000 euro per jaar
Project partners: WUR, Oxford University UK, UNLAM Indonesia, UPM Malaysia, Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Sciences