Pursuing deforestation-free palm oil through landscape partnerships

Golden Agri-Resources (GAR) is among the world’s largest palm oil producers with a total planted area of 500,000 hectares across 45 plantations in Sumatra and Kalimantan. In Kapuas Hulu district in West Kalimantan, a landscape of approximately 100,000 hectares, GAR operates three plantations that cover a total of 20,000 hectares and overlap with 14 village boundaries. The rest of the landscape comprises forest areas, wetlands, agricultural areas and so-called ‘mixed gardens’. In this landscape, GAR has pioneered efforts to comply with the no-deforestation voluntary requirement of the High Carbon Stock Approach (HCSA). The commitment includes halting deforestation in village forests inside and outside GARs plantation boundaries.