InfoSAWIT, BALI – The management of palm oil within forest areas continues to be a focus, particularly concerning environmental sustainability. Irfan Bakhtiar, Director of Climate and Market Transformation at WWF-Indonesia, emphasized the importance of long-term strategies in managing palm oil encroachment in forest areas to ensure ecological balance.
According to Irfan, the concept of "long-term recovery" is one approach developed to reorganize palm oil plantations that have entered forest areas. However, its implementation is still in the early stages, and more mature strategies are needed for effective execution.
One of the main steps proposed is the development of more adaptive planting patterns and the provision of ecological corridors to maintain wildlife habitats and prevent conflicts with protected wildlife. "These corridors should be prepared in certain proportions, for example, sacrificing 5-10% of the planting area to plant tree species with high ecological value. This way, we can create a balance between palm oil production and environmental conservation," Irfan explained to InfoSAWIT during the 7th ICOPE event.
Furthermore, WWF-Indonesia has identified the presence of illegal palm oil plantations in forest areas as a significant challenge in plantation governance. Recent findings indicate that many illegal palm oil plantations have been discovered in Riau, Central Kalimantan, and several other regions. Some small and medium enterprises have been found to have encroached into forest areas, leading to serious ecological issues.
Additionally, intervention efforts in this sector also include the development of alternative food crops through agroforestry concepts. Irfan mentioned that commodities such as corn, upland rice, petai, or other perennial crops could serve as solutions for more sustainable agricultural diversification. "We have analyzed various planting patterns in several regions, including Jambi and Central Kalimantan. This approach is expected to provide more environmentally friendly solutions while still supporting the local farmers' economy," he added.
With these measures, WWF-Indonesia hopes that long-term strategies in palm oil management can create a balance between economic needs and environmental sustainability in Indonesia. (T2)
