InfoSAWIT, JAKARTA – European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) that was recently published is considered to deliver the good to encourage palm oil industries to stop deforestation and minimize carbon emission globally. Indonesia as one goal of investment in forest and land – basis should take this moment to improve forest and land – governance particularly in palm oil sector that has become the mainstay sector.

Executive Director of TuK Indonesia, Linda Rosalina said that in economic perspective, Indonesia is the leading country within sustainable forest sources. Not only that, palm oil plantations that grow in Indonesia are the widest ones in the world and be the factor to determine crude palm oil (CPO) production in the globe. But this would be realized if Indonesia seriously improve environmental, social, and governance (ESG) index.

“The government has to focus the same ways to improve industrial governance in land and forestry – bases, such as, palm oil plantations. The government should not worry about EUDR. The same thing has to get the same example when the Government of Indonesia did not do anything when Europe protested nickel export ban from Indonesia,” Linda recently said, as in the official statement to InfoSAWIT.

In fact, our forestry and palm oil plantation industrial governance is really bad. This is proved by the revocation of 193 forestry permits that laid about 3,1 million hectares by Minister of Environment and Forestry, Siti Nurbaya Bakar in 2022.

The other fact is that Ministry of Environment and Forestry published palm oil plantations in forestry regions that laid about 3,3 million hectares. Many organizations warned it before but denied (by the government). “Take the moment of Undang-Undang Cipta Kerja. Palm oil plantations in forest regions would get ‘mercy’ by implementing administrative sanction,” she said. (T2)